David Gilmour is finally kicking off his first new song in five years, “Yes, I have ghosts.” Previously, the former Pink Floyd frontman released the song via audiobook edition of his wife’s novel and longtime collaborator Polly Samson, A theater for dreamers.
On an acoustic guitar line and a waltz harp performed by Gilmour’s daughter Romany, she sings about “ghosts of strangers” and fleeting faces in a crowd. “Yes, I have ghosts”, he sings, “Not everyone is dead / Dusting my dreams / Going round and round, turning in my head”. With its folkloric textures and melodious melodies, the song has strong echoes of the music of Leonard Cohen, who appears as a character in A theater for dreamers. It also benefits from Romany’s backing vocals, which combine beautifully with her father’s soft sound.
“I was working on this song just as we got into the block and I had to cancel a session with backup singers,” Gilmour said in a statement, “but it turned out that the solution was here and I couldn’t be happier.” with the way Romany’s voice mixes with mine and her beautiful harp has been another revelation. “
Until now, the song has been available only on A theater for dreamers, which is currently not available in the United States. The book is set on the Greek island of Hydra in 1960 when Cohen visited and befriended other poets, painters, and musicians. To complement Samson’s story, Gilmour also recorded more scores for the audio release.
“We didn’t set out to work together on the audiobook, but the closure meant I had to narrate and I am grateful to David Gilmour for stepping on the producer’s chair,” Samson said earlier about how it all came together. “We wanted to explore the creative possibilities of the format and produce something new, refreshing and innovative. By collaborating with David, as I have done many times in the past 30 years, writing songs for Pink Floyd and his solo albums, we were able to unite the worlds of literature and music to enhance the listening experience and connect with the audience in one of a way that I don’t think has been done before. “
To mark the book’s release, Gilmour, Samson, and their children have streamed live questions and answers and performances from their home, where they first performed “Yes, I Have Ghosts.” Gilmour has also covered many songs by Leonard Cohen in these sessions, including “Bird on a Wire”, “So Long, Marianne”, “Fingertips” and “Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye”. He also tackled two solo songs he produced for his Pink Floyd bandmate, Syd Barrett, “Octopus” and “Dominoes”.
