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Ghost of a Living Man

by Daryl James

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about

This song is about the experience of seeing familiar things in a completely different way, feeling like a stranger in a once-familiar place, and the journey of rediscovering where you truly belong after feeling lost. Like going through an inner apocalypse and finding your way out to the other side. The burning effigy of a former self.
I wrote the song not long after Covid kicked in. During lockdown I, like most people, found myself reassessing everything, and feeling quite hopeless about it all. I began to feel like I was fading away, becoming a ghost.

I finally realised it was all in my head, my preconceived ideas being challenged sending me into an existential crisis. With perception, there are infinite ways of seeing the same thing, so I found it was merely a case of re-adjusting and re-aligning it. However, that is easier said than done and is more of an ongoing process than ever being completed, but that’s ok, that in itself is part of it.

We all see the same moon at night and the same sun in the morning, we are never truly alone in this, we are all ultimately trying to figure out the same thing. With this knowledge I feel we more than ever need to be united rather than let it push us further apart. It is but a choice, and I feel optimistic, I have to.

lyrics

I am the ghost of a living man, footprints forming in the sand
If I close my eyes, it’s me who disappears
So hold my hand, and keep me here
Please hold my hand, and keep me here
Here

Surroundings move as I stand still
River flows over cold skin
If I open my eyes it’s you who disappears
So let me sleep, forever more
More, evermore

Under the same moon,
I see myself in you
Feet on the same old earth (yet)
Unrecognisable, illuminated anew

Unfamiliar, but i’ve been here before

I am the host of a dying man, footprints fading in the sand
If I narrow my eyes, I see you standing there
Open arms, as I alight this earth
And ascend, we ascend

Sun, rise like never before
We’re no longer who we were
Let it conquer and unite
A kiss of life from slumber rise

credits

released August 23, 2023
Ft Lachlan Swampdog on Double Bass and Dawn Lysons on Backing Vocals

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all rights reserved

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Daryl James Brisbane, Australia

Multi-instrumentalist and award-nominated (QMA 2022) singer/songwriter, Daryl James fuses heavy blues with the raw Celtic roots of his North Wales homeland. Wielding a wild array of stringed instruments and custom foot percussion, many-a-tall-tale is sparked to life through his captivating live performances. ... more

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