My Old Flame Lyrics
poor ghost old love
my old flame, my wife,
one day in june, I drove by our old house in maine
everything changed for the best
how quivering and fierce we were
simmering like birds
with our videos and records
everything’s changed
bleached out and aired, ikea-d and swept bare,
poor ghost, old love,
speak with your old voice
of flaming insight
that kept us awake at night
in one bed and apart, my old wife
my old flame
This song is absolutely beautiful. I don't know what his intentions lyrically were, but I this song reminds me of my parents after they divorced. Both are happier in their present situations, but i've seen them both also get choked up on occasions when we've been talking about the past. I think that the lyrics slightly incinuate that although the wife and husband have moved onto better situations, they both undeniably can't forget their past together and the 'old flame' will always remain.
I agree, this song is amazing. Personally, I think that given JV's penchant for narrative, he means this song at face value: his wife is dead, he misses her. It does add a lot of strangeness to an already alienated song, but I enjoy it. This might be my favorite JV song, mostly because of the vocal harmonies.
jv didn't really write the lyrics, it's a robert lowell poem
It isn't word for word a Robert Lowell poem, but every line in it (almost) is from the poem "The Old Flame".