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Ghostly Love

from Eve by Áine Minogue

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about

“Everyday the real caress [must replace] the ghostly lover.” Anais Nin

The ghostly lover was a term coined by a female Jungian psychologist in the 1930s. While many old Irish songs refer to the idea of a ghostly lover, this is a different take on it. In the Irish tradition, the ghostly lover is actually dead and his love imagines that her/she seems their true love, perhaps at a fair, or often in a public place walking about as tho still alive. In this context, the theme is tied to themes of loss, grief and sometimes complicated loss.

The ghostly love in this song is clearly the archetypal reference to a lover who is very much alive, however his partner's view of him/her is such that it's not rooted in reality. The woman or man who lingers in an alcoholic relationship, the woman who only sees married men and doesn't see herself as being worthy of her own life are typical examples of those drawn to Ghostly Loves. The relationship is essentially impossible, but at the heart of that impossibility lies a failure to be in the present, in reality. It is at its core, living in a fantasy where people, places, goals, dreams and reality itself are a kind of daydream. The life of the parter of the ghostly love is full of "whens." "When I..."

In Jungian psychology, the archtype is often associated with an unhealthy extension of a woman's time as "Daddy's Little Girl." He or she generally belong in a family pattern that enables and accepts as normal the comings and goings (mostly emotional) of the elusive form of the Ghostly Lover, with whom true intimacy can never be possible.

In this song, there is hope because she is starting to realize that not all is well.

lyrics

My ghostly love comes to me in deep of night
Wandering through crevices of mind, before morning light
Unexpected through memories of each room
In cellars of this castle in my deepest gloom
He's drawn the drawbridge far too soon

I feel desire run through my veins,
he climbs stairs with me
a handsome prince, and I a fool, I try in vain
little girl’s getting older now, And descending to despair ’s
not, for the faint of heart, or silent vow

CHORUS

Yet all harken to him
like a moth to the flame of our undoing
such penance for my sin
Oh my ghostly love, hmm


My ghostly love pulled the drawbridge tight
father left the castle long ago
He made a hasty flight,
mother’s waiting by the well; water long gone
"you’ld better make the best of it?,” she said

CHORUS

And all, harken to him
like a moth to the flame of my undoing
such ransom for our sin
Oh my ghostly love, hmm

My ghostly Love wanders these creaking doors, I hardly recognize his face,
still, I long all the more….
his ghostly gaze sends shivers down my spine
Ah, wouldn't I just love it if he were mine
But he'll never, ever, be…

CHORUS
And all, harken to him
like a moth to the flame of my undoing
such ransom for a sin
Oh my ghostly love, hmmm


Verse V
Oh grandma, he's the deepest eyes I've ever seen
“A wolf in sheep's clothing”
She said, “that’s the way they all first appear”
And, I've seen father come and go and we'll all melt in sunlight,
disappear before we can go…

OUTRO:
My phantom lover kissed me in the night
I'ld swear he was flesh and blood
Then he disappeared from sight…

credits

from Eve, track released May 25, 2018
Seamús Egan: Irish whistle
Jon Evans: Bass
Eugene Friesen: Cellos
Alasdair Halliday: Harmony vocals
Áine Minogue: Irish harp, vocals
Billy Novick: Clarinet

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about

Áine Minogue image

Áine Minogue Boston, Massachusetts

Born and raised in Borrisokane, County Tipperary, Ireland, Áine Minogue is an award-winning harpist, singer, arranger and composer

She has fourteen solo albums and extensive soundtrack work to her credit.

Áine’s music, in varying styles - Celtic, World, Folk and Spiritual - has appeared on compilations for major and indie labels.

She has an MA in Performance from the University of Limerick. ... more

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