The Ghost of Cincinnati
Producer
There the bell tolls noon on 12th and Vine
And I still need this overtime
'Cause I'm over myself
I'm over the hill
I'm Over-the-Rhine
For the millionth time
For the millionth time
[Verse 1]
I park at this spot and stare at the water
Try to remember I'm somebody's father
Dawn commute across Covington Bridge
Get lost in my head, just looking at it
Now I'm looking at you
Through the hole in my sheet
And I still need this overtime
[Chorus 1]
'Cause I'm over myself
I'm over the hill
I'm Over-the-Rhinе
For the millionth time
For the millionth timе
I'm overspent
Overworked
Overlooked
I'm Over-the-Rhine
For the millionth time
Cut through Ault Park 'cause it's safe now
I stalk the streets in my nightgown
The Ghost of Cincinnati slinks past
I smell your coffee, can you taste that?
My lip on your cup won't even feel real
I'm rushing there, all the way there
[Chorus 2]
'Cause I'm over myself
Over the hill
I'm Over-the-Rhine
For the millionth time
For the millionth time
I'm overspent
Overworked
Overlooked
I'm Over-the-Rhine
For the millionth time
I feel over my head
Over the hill
I'm over myself
I'm Over-the-Rhine
For the millionth time
[Bridge]
Stalk the spring grove
Rot in my old clothes
Pardon Pete Rose
And wonder why the evil grows
Now I'm in the big time?
Not a suicide
I'd stalk the streets
And haunt you from the northside
I pace the hedge row
Dodge the low blows
Play the Fountain Square
And wonder where my cousins go
I haunt the northside
Stop the traffic lights
Cycle up Price Hill
And stare up at the Pepsi sign
I'm overextended
I'm over it all
I'm Over-the-Rhine
For the millionth time
I'm overextended
I'm over it all
I'm Over-the-Rhine
For the millionth time
For the millionth time
About
‘The Ghost of Cincinnati’ is the second single from Big Red Machine’s sophomore album. The song is Aaron Dessner’s debut as a main vocalist. According to Dessner’s Instagram post, It was inspired by a sreenplay (‘Dandelion’) by the filmmaker Nicole Riegel, the co-writer of the song.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Aaron Dessner told Variety:
‘The Ghost of Cincinnati’ wasn’t written as a song for Big Red Machine. That’s one that I played for Taylor [Swift], and she said, ‘This has to be on the record.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, but it’s just me playing guitar by myself.’ She said, ‘No, it’s perfect. It’s exactly what this record should be.’
Aaron Dessner:
It’s about the feeling of someone that’s empty, overextended to the point where they feel empty and hollow, like a ghost. They’re still alive, but they kind of feel like they’re running on fumes and searching for a remedy through fleeting memories and fleeting images of the past. It’s a sense of catharsis just by giving voice to a feeling that might be bleak. It kind of helps you get over it.
—via Apple Music
- 1.Latter Days
- 2.Reese
- 3.Phoenix
- 4.Birch
- 5.Renegade
- 6.The Ghost of Cincinnati
- 7.Hoping Then
- 8.Mimi
- 10.Hutch
- 11.8:22am
- 12.Magnolia
- 13.June’s A River
- 14.Brycie
- 15.New Auburn
- 16.No More Knees On
