Not the complete ghost to be able to ask, but it is
a question that haunts. The star studs still shine
even if in reflecting from the past, and the lines
echo messages about needing and wanting that we
too can hear though they might not last as well.
This is about how a song connects with another
time, and when we are lucky the moment is one
and the same. He listens again to the words –
some that are his own, some of others’ making, and
those that merge or
come and go as wires are
crossed and signals fade exactly like memories.
A better question would be whether a god really
wants him and us to forget for a greater purpose, or
when we hear our lines we sing along like knowing.
Last night I watched the very good BBC documentary on the music and life of the great Glen Campbell, diagnosed in 2011 with Alzheimer's. Near the end, Jimmy Webb - lifelong friend and collaborator - tells the sad anecdote of how at a recent concert, Campbell is on stage and when spotting Webb at the side asks him the question of the poem's title, itself prompted by this story. Campbell's last album Ghost On The Canvas is reviewed here, August 30th, 2011.
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