Ghost (Poem) Lyrics
Did you know sometimes it frightens me
when you say my name and I can't see you
will you ever learn to materialize before you speak
impetuous boy, if that's what you really are
how many centuries since you've climbed a balcony
or do you do this every night with someone else
you tell me that you never leave
and I am almost afraid to believe it
why is it me you've chosen to follow
did you like the way I look when I am sleeping
was my hair more fun to tangle
are my dreams more entertaining
do you laugh when I'm complaining that I'm all alone
where were you when I searched the sea
for a friend to talk to me
in a year where will you be
is it enough for you to steal into my mind
filling up my page with music written in my hand
you know I'll take the credit for I must have made you come to me somehow
but please try to close the curtains when you leave at night
or I'll have to find someone to stay and warm me
will you always attend my midnight tea parties
as long as I set your place
if one day your sugar sits untouched
will you have gone forever
would you miss me in a thousand years
when you will dry another's tears
but you say you'll never leave me
and I wonder if you'll have the decency
to pass through my wall to the next room
while I dress for dinner
but when I'm stuck in conversation
with stuffed shirts whose adoration
hurts my ears, where are you then
can't you cut in when I dance with other men
it's too late not to interfere with my life
you've already made me a most unsuitable wife
for any man who wants to be the first his bride has slept with
and you can't just fly into people's bedrooms
then expect them to calmly wave goodbye
you've changed the course of history
and didn't even try
where are you now
standing behind me
taking my hand
come and remind me
who you are
have you traveled far
are you made of stardust too
are the angels after you
tell me what I am to do
but until then I'll save your side of the bed
just come and sing me to sleep
I take it very literally also. I thinkit's about an aristocratic type young woman who has a ghost companion. I don't think it's a women mourning her husband as the poem is fairly light hearted and the tone in her voice is all wrong for that. Also things like "how many centuries since you've climbed a balcony" if she was mourning then I he'd not have been born centuaries ago. "why is it me you've chosen to follow" It would be obvious why he'd chosen her is he was her dead lover no?
I think people are trying to look into this too much, it's just an iteresting little story.
Maybe I'm wrong but that's what I think.
Maybe she looks like the ghost's lover,who had also passed away.That could have made him follow her.
Maybe she looks like the ghost's lover,who had also passed away.That could have made him follow her.
From what I've heard, Emilie Autumn grew up with lots of mental illnesses. One in particular, audible hallucinations. Which means that she hears things that aren't really there. Such as she hears her name being called, when no one is really calling her name. So, I think this song is based on this illness. "Did you know sometimes, it frightens me. When you say my name, and I can't see you." Most people who have audible hallucinations often get frightened, when they hear things like that. Also when she was young she used to write poems a lot, but never actually thought that they would ever become songs. So, " is it enough for you to steal into my mind, filling up my page with music written in my hand" means that the hallucinations used to give her ideas for her poems. Basically, what I think this poems about is, her questioning her illness. And her beginning to like the voices because she was lonely. Emilie Autumn is one of my favorite singers, and this is another beautiful poem she has made. So....great work Emilie! :D
i want to know the meaning as well. it's a very lovely song and i wish i had it on my ipod so that this poem would sing me to sleep, actually. i thought it had to just do with a ghost that visited a woman as well. that it gave her company at night. but akaikoutan has opened my eyes to their point of view. it does seem like it could be a lost lover. although, i would be displeased for the widow to call her deceased husband a "ghost" and just that. i would think that if this woman did truly love her husband, she would call to him by name, or something sweet.
well if he has passed on, she may well be aware that she only talks to a ghost
well if he has passed on, she may well be aware that she only talks to a ghost
Well, when I hear it, I think of a royal princess. It sounds weird, but I think it's about how princesses or queens are forced into marrying someone and never being free to make there own choices. The song is written in the princesses POV, and how she wishes the ghost would keep her company and be with her when she's forced to attend dances and things.
I think it also could be about a girl who is in love with someone she shouldn't be in love with, and they keep it a secret, like a ghost.
I agree with TryNotToPanic. Also, it feels a bit as if she puts herself in this womans situation, simply because of the line "will you always attend my midnight tea parties as long as I set your place if one day your sugar sits untouched will you have gone forever"
We all know how Emilie loves her tea parties ^^
The story kind of makes me think of Taltos by Anne Rice, the resident "ghost" in that book is a bit like the one of this poem.
I think the ghost is supposed to symbolize the lack of empathetic and compassionate men. When she says "But when I'm stuck in conversation with stuffed shirts whose adoration hurts my ears", she's saying that she's surrounded by men with over-inflated egos, and that the only man who is perfect for her is dead. That's another possibility too. That she's haunted by her dead lover or husband, who was the perfect man, and she can't find his equal.
I think it's more like here Lover is not dead, but gone a lot and she misses him badly.... while awaiting his return, she imagines him calling her name; being there.... She trusts him with her life but him being gone this much makes her think about what he's doing.... is he with another girl or not.... It does seem obvious to me that he is her true Love and inspiration.... and she wants him to come home....
i agree with kinderbell
i also have a feeling that the poem might be about a girl who is actually insane. cus notice that when she's alone, she believes he's there. but when she's around other people, he's not. like when he doesn't cut in when she dances with other men and wont help her out when someone is boring her with conversation. it makes me think that since the ghost never disturbs what's really happening, that when she believes he's there it is very likely her fanastical imagination.
i also feel the same as TryNotToPanic!
i agree with kinderbell
i also have a feeling that the poem might be about a girl who is actually insane. cus notice that when she's alone, she believes he's there. but when she's around other people, he's not. like when he doesn't cut in when she dances with other men and wont help her out when someone is boring her with conversation. it makes me think that since the ghost never disturbs what's really happening, that when she believes he's there it is very likely her fanastical imagination.