Ghost of David
Encyclopedia
Ghost of David is an album by the singer-songwriter Damien Jurado
, released in 2000 on Sub Pop
records. The David of the title is Jurado's friend and former bandmate in Coolidge, David Bazan
, who is most famously Pedro the Lion
's frontman. In tone, Ghost of David is bleak, spare, and depressing. Most of its thirteen songs concern deception, death or tell tragic stories of deception and death. For example, "Medication," the album's opener, is a first-person tale: the narrator, under the strain of having an adulterous affair with a police officer's wife as well as caring for his mentally unbalanced brother, prays for his brother's death. "December" laments a man who froze to death in his car. "Paxil," as its title suggests (referring to an anti-depressant drug
), mentions medicating "a heart that doesn't work." The title track came from a dream Jurado had that his friend David Bazan had died, and the words he would have said to comfort his widow.
Damien Jurado
Damien Jurado is an American indie rock singer/songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Over the years he has released albums on many labels; today, his primary label is Secretly Canadian.-Music career:...
, released in 2000 on Sub Pop
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
records. The David of the title is Jurado's friend and former bandmate in Coolidge, David Bazan
David Bazan
David Bazan is an indie rock singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Bazan was the lead singer and creative force behind the now-defunct band Pedro the Lion and was the lead singer of Headphones, a band he formed out of his interest in synthesizers...
, who is most famously Pedro the Lion
Pedro the Lion
Pedro the Lion was an indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. Singer-songwriter David Bazan formed the band in 1995 and represented its main creative force, backed by a varying rotation of collaborating musicians. T. W. Walsh is considered to be the sole official band member besides Bazan. In...
's frontman. In tone, Ghost of David is bleak, spare, and depressing. Most of its thirteen songs concern deception, death or tell tragic stories of deception and death. For example, "Medication," the album's opener, is a first-person tale: the narrator, under the strain of having an adulterous affair with a police officer's wife as well as caring for his mentally unbalanced brother, prays for his brother's death. "December" laments a man who froze to death in his car. "Paxil," as its title suggests (referring to an anti-depressant drug
Paroxetine
Paroxetine is an SSRI antidepressant. Marketing of the drug began in 1992 by the pharmaceutical company SmithKline Beecham, now GlaxoSmithKline...
), mentions medicating "a heart that doesn't work." The title track came from a dream Jurado had that his friend David Bazan had died, and the words he would have said to comfort his widow.
Track listing
- "Medication" – 4:34
- "Desert" – 2:57
- "Johnny Go Riding" – 3:42
- "Great Today" – 2:58
- "Tonight I Will Retire" – 5:09
- "Ghost of David" – 2:34
- "Parking Lot" – 4:00
- "Rearview" – 2:05
- "Paxil" – 2:16
- "Walk with Me" – 3:16
- "December" – 4:19
- "Rosewood Casket" – 2:58
- "Ghost in the Snow" – 3:07