Don McLean – Vincent lyrics

Don McLean – Vincent lyrics

Starry, starry night
Paint your pallet blue and grey
Look out on a summer's day with eyes that know the darkness in my soul

Shadows on the hills
Sketch the trees and the daffodils
Catch the breeze and the winter chills in colors on the snowy, linen land

Now I understand what you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity, and how you tried to set them free
They would not listen - they did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now

Starry, starry night
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue

Colors changing hue
Morning fields of amber grain
Weathered faces lined in pain are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand

Now I understand what you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity, and how you tried to set them free
They would not listen - they did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now

For they could not love you - but still your love was true
And, when no hope was left inside on that starry, starry night, you took your life as lovers often do
But I could have told you, Vincent, this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you

Starry, starry night
Portraits hung in empty halls
Frameless heads on nameless walls with eyes that watch the world and can't forget

Like the strangers that you've met
The ragged men in ragged clothes
The silver thorn, a bloody rose - lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow

Now I think I know what you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity, and how you tried to set them free
They would not listen - they're not listening still
Perhaps they never will

Lyrics taken from /lyrics/d/don_mclean/vincent.html

Songwriters: Don McLean

Vincent lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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+ 7
Unregistered 2017-01-28 00:26:56

My interpretation is that Vincent is wanting to be appreciated and remembered long after he has left this earth. When he eventually dies from suicide, it's only when the world truly begins to appreciate him for his creativity and unique look on life. I also think that the song is explaining that Vincent wasn't long for this earth.

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+ 4
MikeyGM 2015-03-31 03:56:08

Van Gough painted "Starry starry Night" based on the view from his bedroom in a lunatic asylum. The lyric "...with the was based on a letter to his brother Leo in which he wrote "...this restaurant where I am is very queer; it is completely grey; the floor is of grey bitumen like a street pavement, grey paper on the walls, green blinds always drawn, a big green curtain in front of the door which is always open, to stop the dust coming in. Just as it is it is a Velasquez grey - like in the Spinning Women - and the very narrow, very fierce ray of sunlight through a blind, like the one that crosses Velasquez's picture, even that is not wanting. Little tables, of course, with white cloths. And then there are two women who wait, both in grey, a little like that picture of Prevost's you have in your place - you could compare it point for point - referred to the soft bluish grey white of the walls.

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+ 3
Shadow55 2015-03-01 20:47:58

His eyes of ''china blue'' (which is grey-blue) suggests that whilst Vincent tries to see his live clearly, the negative things cast a 'grey sky' in front of him. For me, the line ''ragged men in ragged clothes'' reminds me about how in ''Vincent and the Doctor'' (Doctor Who) The ''raggedy'' Doctor met Vincent, (However, this song was made about 30 years before this episode). The ''bloody rose'' suggests that whilst we now see the artist's work as outstanding, the suffering he had to face whilst he was alive has ''broken'' the purity of his art.

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+ 2
jcuddeback 2015-03-20 14:27:45

The theme of this song is treat others the way you would wish to be treated this is because it shows how what other people did to Vincent (VanGough) affected his life and his work. For example, the line "the silver thorn, a bloody rose, crushed upon the virgin snow" is a comparison of Vincent's work and how we see his work and they saw his work as horrible, like he was insane or something. And it ruined the purity of his artwork and his feelings. Vincent killed himself because of the way he was treated. That's a problem with the world nowadays, we all act as if the world is just there for us and even when life is fair to us we just treat it like a worthless piece of trash. And it can really making other people feel horrible and they would just want out. Thus this songs theme is treat others the way you would like to be treated.

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