The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "Ghosts" by Yungblud

To observe National Poetry Month, once a week I am featuring lyrics of rock n' roll or pop songs that also double as exquisite poetry.

"Ghosts" by Yungblud is an ode to tenacity, about finding beauty in the face of ugliness, tenderness in the face of barbarism, hope in the face of despair, and good in the face of evil...something we could use now. It is an organically arising resistance based on a simple, undying desire to be present in this world...really present.

I always post songs in this series without any link to the video or music since the lyrics are the point. But this is one of those instances where being able to hear the music--and see the performance--only enhances the strong message, so click here for a soaring, energetic experience!

Ghosts
by Yungblud (Dominic Harrison)

I see the distant smoke
Across the water way
I’d swim a thousand miles
Just to hear you say
The words that never come
When you need them most
To dry your eyes out

Is it your mother's tongue
Or your fathers ghost
Remember sticks and stones
And how they broke your bones
Pain is how you learn
And boy you learned a lot
When they hit you in the face
And you begged them all to stop
Until you rose up again
And you tried your best to surrender
Bowed down your head
Then you looked up to the sky and said

My god, what a beautiful scene
Now I know what you mean
Wanna stay here forever
God, what a beautiful scene
Now I know what you mean
You’re my gateway to heaven

From underneath the dust
You see the curtain call
Can’t bear to watch another generation stall
To the hands of greed
That will take it all
And cut your heart out

See the face in the shadow
Just a thread in the seams
We’ll be ghosts by tomorrow
Just a day in a dream

But you’ll rise up again
And you’ll fight against the surrender
My friends don’t wait
Just look up to the sky and say

My god, what a beautiful scene
Now I know what you mean
Wanna stay here forever
God, what a beautiful scene
Now I know what you mean
You’re my gateway to heaven
God, what a beautiful scene
Now I know what you mean
Wanna stay here forever
God, what a beautiful scene
Now I know what you mean
You’re my gateway to heaven

https://www.yungbludofficial.com/