Two Ghosts (song)

"Sweet Creature"
"****Two Ghosts****"
"Kiwi"

"**Two Ghost**" is a song performed by Harry Styles. It serves as the fourth track from Harry Styles. It was released as a single on August 8, 2017.

## Background

*Two Ghosts* was first written in 2013 for One Direction, but decided to keep it for his solo work due to the song being too personal, speculated to be about his relationship with Taylor Swift. It later appeared as the third track on Harry's debut album, *Harry Styles*. He performed the song throughout *Live On Tour* and *Love On Tour*.

The song was announced as the second single from the album on July 6, 2017.

On 17 May 2017, Styles performed "Two Ghosts" on *The Late Late Show with James Corden*, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. In *Rolling Stone*, Elias Leight opined the singer demonstrated "impressive" vocal range, contorting his voice into a "bruising" rasp and a "light, angsty" falsetto moments later. On 9 June, Styles performed the song from the rooftop of London venue Central Hall Westminster on *The Late Late Show*.

## Music and composition

"Two Ghosts" is a country-influenced folk rock ballad. Performed on slide guitar, the track leans toward country folk. Lyrically, it is about a relationship that did not last and the singer trying to reclaim his sense of humanity after its end, according to critics. An editor from *Entertainment Weekly* interpreted the song as a "mournful acoustic autopsy of love lost." Written in the key of E major and set in a common time signature, it has a relatively slow tempo of 70 beats per minute.

## Critical Reception

Leonie Cooper of *NME* opined the "subtle" song offers up a "country-indebted Laurel Canyon sound." In *Pitchfork*, Jamieson Cox considered Styles "makes a convincing alt-country troubadour" on the song. Anjali Raguraman of *The Straits Times* thought the "sombre, country-tinged" track lyrically borrows from Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here". In the *Los Angeles Times*, Mikael Wood commented that the song has "the slow-rolling swagger of The Rolling Stones' "Tumbling Dice." In Consequence of Sound, David Sackllah noted the slide guitar "could fit on Ryan Adams' *Gold*." *Chicago Tribune*'s Greg Kot wrote "forlorn references drop to the Allman Brothers' "Melissa" on the song." Annie Zaleski of *The A.V. Club* wrote it "acutely captures the discomfiting, empty feeling of realizing that the spark is gone."

Kitty Empire of *The Guardian* said it "packs some good writing." Allan Raible in ABC News found the song influenced by George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass." Rob Sheffield of *Rolling Stone* thought the "lovelorn" song "could pass for vintage Bread. Eve Barlow of *Variety* believed "it's very easy to imagine an extended hyper emotional scene from *The Notebook* in the background" while listening to the "tragic, mystifying tale." In a similar way, David Dunn of *The National* thought its "plaintive" hooks and "easy-going" strum helps the song fits in a "teary" scene of *Grey's Anatomy*. BBC Music reporter Mark Savage noted references to Taylor Swift's "Style" in the storied lyrics; *Pitchfork*'s Cox stated the song "only succeeds because it leans" on these references. In an interview with Nick Grimshaw on BBC Radio 1, Styles said in response to whether the song was about Swift: "I think it's pretty self-explanatory."

*Billboard*'s critics' list placed it seventh on "Every One Direction Solo Single, Ranked" in May 2017, stating "a plaintive strummer in the mold of Beck at his most contemplative or Ryan Adams at his most hungover, "Two Ghosts" is largely underplayed and undeniably effective [...] Not as grand or as riotous as some of Harry Styles' more obvious highlights, but sweetly winning all the same."

## Music video

The official music video was recorded during 2018-2019 but for unknown reasons it was never released. However, video clips were used during the Harry Styles: Live on Tour.

A live in studio version of Two Ghosts was released on Harry's VEVO account on August 31, 2017. The performance is a part of Styles's documentary.

## Lyrics

Same lips red, same eyes blue

Same white shirt, couple more tattoos

But it's not you and it's not me

Tastes so sweet, looks so real

Sounds like something that I used to feel

But I can't touch what I see

We're not who we used to be

We're not who we used to be

We're just two ghosts standing in the place of you and me

Trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat

The fridge light washes this room white

Moon dances over your good side

This was all we used to need

Tongue-tied like we've never known

Telling those stories we already told

'Cause we don't say what we really mean

We're not who we used to be

We're not who we used to be

We're just two ghosts standing in the place of you and me

We're not who we used to be

We're not who we used to be

We're just two ghosts swimming in a glass half empty

Trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat

We're not who we used to be

We're not who we used to be

We're just two ghosts standing in the place of you and me

We're not who we used to be

We don't see what we used to see

We're just two ghosts swimming in a glass half empty

Trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat

Trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat

I'm just trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat

## References

1. ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/see-harry-styles-perform-aching-new-song-two-ghosts-on-corden-117306/
2. ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/watch-harry-styles-perform-two-ghosts-from-london-rooftop-on-corden-251099/
3. ↑ https://ew.com/music/2017/05/12/harry-styles-review/
4. ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/watch-harry-styles-perform-two-ghosts-from-london-rooftop-on-corden-251099/
5. ↑ https://variety.com/2017/music/news/harry-styles-solo-album-track-breakdown-1202424544/
6. ↑ https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-harry-styles-review-20170512-story.html
7. ↑ https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/harry-styles-paramore-zac-brown-band-music-reviews/story?id=47477007#1
8. ↑ https://ew.com/music/2017/05/12/harry-styles-review/
9. ↑ https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0174323
10. ↑ https://www.nme.com/reviews/harry-styles-harry-styles-album-review-nme-2069763
11. ↑ https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/23204-harry-styles/
12. ↑ https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/soft-rock-with-an-edge
13. ↑ https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-harry-styles-review-20170512-story.html
14. ↑ https://consequence.net/2017/05/album-review-harry-styles-harry-styles/
15. ↑ https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-music-harry-styles-one-direction-ent-0515-20170512-column.html
16. ↑ https://www.avclub.com/harry-styles-takes-a-bold-step-forward-by-leaning-on-th-1798191350
17. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/may/14/harry-styles-album-review-one-direction-carolina-sign-of-the-times
18. ↑ https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/harry-styles-paramore-zac-brown-band-music-reviews/story?id=47477007#1
19. ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/review-harry-styles-harry-styles-w481586
20. ↑ https://variety.com/2017/music/news/harry-styles-solo-album-track-breakdown-1202424544/
21. ↑ https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-39883061
22. ↑ https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/23204-harry-styles/
23. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7793007/harry-styles-taylor-swift-two-ghosts-bbc-radio-1-interview-video
24. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/one-direction-solo-singles-ranked-list-7808577/
25. ↑ https://twitter.com/thehsupdate/status/1192649988104433664

## Navigation

"Sign Of The Times"
"Carolina"
"**Two Ghosts**"

"Only Angel"
"Kiwi"
"Ever Since New York"

"From The Dining Table"