Vincent

VINCENT
by Don McLean

Starry starry night
Paint your palette 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.
And now I understand what you tried to say to me
How you suffered for your sanity
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 flo'rs 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.
And now I understand what you tried to say to me
How you suffered for your sanity
How you tried to set them free
Perhaps they'll listen now.

For they could not love you but still your love was true
And when no hope was left in sight 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 stranger that you've met
The ragged men in ragged clothes
The silver thorn of bloody rose
Lie crushed and broken in the virgin snow.
And now I think I know what you tried to say to me
How you suffered for your sanity
How you tried to set them free.
They would not listen they're not list'ning still
Perhaps they never will.

I am a big fan of this song, sung beautifully by Don McLean. A poetry written to describe how Vincent suffered from mental illness, which led to his suicide. Vincent, a tribute to the 19th century Dutch painter, Vincent van Gigh. This song was also covered by Josh Groban in the early 2000s. The above rendition is the best so far I ever heard.

To learn more about Don McLean, click here