Since the release of his previous album, “Photographs of 1971,” Don DiLego … Read Full Bio ↴Since the release of his previous album, “Photographs of 1971,” Don DiLego has produced and released two EPs as Beautiful Small Machines with his long-time musical partner Bree Sharp (which included a guest appearance by Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon), penned a soundtrack to the feature film “Ranchero”, and helped co-write many of the songs that would appear on Jesse Malin’s “Love it To Life” album. During that same “interim” period, he also played on the Light of Day Tour in Europe, which traveled to over 10 countries sharing the stage with Malin, Marah, Willie Nile, and for a brief fleeting moment, even Bruce Springsteen.

At the beginning of 2010, Don joined Jesse Malin & the St. Mark’s Social and set out on the road with Gaslight Anthem and later Gogol Bordello to begin support of the new album. But soon the inspiration of new songs would begin to pour in, and after returning home, it was back to the writing process again at his wooded escape, Velvet Elk Studios. The “Western & Atlantic EP” was born of a week of isolation in a Portland recording studio called The Secret Society, with Don enlisting Colin Killilea (Yost/Pocketknife) and Marwan Kanafani (City Breathing) as multi-instrumentalists, Gregg Williams (Dandy Warhols, Sheryl Crow) on drums, and longtime songwriting partner and bassist Erik Olsen. The result is a what-you-hear-is what-you-get sort of affair, with everything being tracked live in a room...a highlight of which was an unlikely one-take cover of The Replacements “Here Comes a Regular.” Mixing was done in Charlottesville’s White Star Sound and at the Velvet Elk Studios. But what started out as one album, became two, and upon the release of the Atlantic & Western EP, Don is right back at work finishing the full-length “Magnificent Ram A”. Whereas “Western” is more along the lines of the eclectic soundscape that Don has become known for, “Magnificent Ram A” is it’s alienated older cousin. And so it goes.

Don has released three...check that...now four solo albums, the last of which was the well-received Photographs of 1971 (Velvet Elk Records), until his recent July 2012 release of The Western & Atlantic EP on Velvet Elk. His first two albums, “The Lonestar Hitchhiker (Universal/Kingcuts)” and “The Lonestar Companion (Velvet Elk Records)” were also well-lauded for their retro-twang storytelling.

Recent Press for Western & Atlantic:

From the EP's opener, the slide guitar driven Midnight Train to the final track, the intimate Carry On he touches base with Jeff Tweedy and Howe Gelb. Television Sun starts like an outtake of Neil Young's Harvest Moon before evolving into a road movie theme song that could have been written by Steve Earle. - Here Comes The Flood
Mesmerizes and enlightens. - CD Insight
I know what I like, and I like his new EP "Western & Atlantic", coming out next week on the excellently named Velvet Elk label. - 27Leggies UK

DiLego is cut from the same cloth as performers like Wilco and the Avett Brothers—his songs take country ballads one step beyond their obvious conclusion, yielding a genre-bending hybrid of indie rock and country. - Examiner.com (Elizabeth Rowe)
The seven songs on this EP can qualitatively be with the best americana we’ve heard this year...an album on Jayhawks/Jeff Tweedy level. - Heaven Magazine (Netherlands)

Ghosts
Don DiLego Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Ghosts in the middle of the night are walking
Ghosts in the middle of the night are talking, to me
Sharing their daydreams about life
Right now
How come they always disappear?

Ghosts in the middle of the night are cooking
Ghosts in the middle of the night are

Laughing at me
With their tattoos and blue scars and big skies now
So how come they always disappear?

Ghosts in the middle of the night are crawling
Ghosts in the middle of the night are
Feeling like they should
All run around and try to find a better time
A piece of mind
That's why they always
That's why they always, re-appear

Guess they found another way
Guess they were not afraid

Guess they found another way
And they were not afraid

Overall Meaning

The song "Ghosts" by Don DiLego may be interpreted in a few different ways, but at its core it seems to be about feeling haunted by one's past and the memories that come along with it. The "ghosts" referred to in the lyrics could be literal, as in the ghosts of people who have passed on, or they could be more metaphorical, representing the memories, regrets, or missed opportunities that continue to haunt the singer.

The first verse sets up this idea of ghosts walking and talking to the singer in the middle of the night, sharing their daydreams about life. The second verse describes the ghosts cooking and laughing, with tattoos and blue scars and "big skies" (perhaps representing the vastness of life or the unknown). The repetition of the question "So how come they always disappear?" suggests a sense of frustration or longing on the part of the singer - why can't these ghosts stay and provide some kind of comfort or guidance?

The third verse shifts slightly, describing the ghosts as "crawling" and feeling like they should be running around trying to find a better time or a piece of mind. This could be interpreted as the singer's own feelings - perhaps they feel stuck in the past and want to find a way to move forward. The final lines of the song seem to suggest that the ghosts have found a way to move on or find some peace, while the singer is still grappling with their own haunted memories.

Overall, the song paints a picture of someone who feels stuck in their own past and haunted by memories and missed opportunities. The "ghosts" in the song could represent a variety of things - literal ghosts, memories, people from the past - but the theme of feeling haunted and unable to move on is clear throughout.

Line by Line Meaning

Ghosts in the middle of the night are walking
The memories of the past haunt me at night when everything is quiet and still.

Ghosts in the middle of the night are talking, to me
The memories speak to me and remind me of the moments that have passed.

Sharing their daydreams about life
The memories share their wishes and aspirations with me and make me wonder about life.

Right now
At this moment.

How come they always disappear?
Why do the memories vanish so quickly, leaving me with a sense of emptiness?

Ghosts in the middle of the night are cooking
The memories bring back the delicious aromas and flavors of the past.

Ghosts in the middle of the night are laughing at me
The memories mock me with their happiness and joy, reminding me of what I have lost.

With their tattoos and blue scars and big skies now
The memories are filled with vivid details of the past, like body art, wounds, and expansive views.

So how come they always disappear?
Why do the memories fade away so fast, leaving me with only a fleeting glimpse?

Ghosts in the middle of the night are crawling
The memories creep up on me and invade my thoughts.

Ghosts in the middle of the night are feeling like they should
The memories are struggling to find their place and make sense of the past and the present.

All run around and try to find a better time
The memories are searching for a happier and more fulfilling period of life.

A piece of mind
A sense of peace and contentment.

That's why they always
That's why the memories keep coming back.

That's why they always, re-appear
That's why the memories keep returning, reminding me of what I had and what I've lost.

Guess they found another way
Maybe the memories have discovered a new path or perspective that I haven't seen before.

Guess they were not afraid
Perhaps the memories are not hindered by fear and uncertainty like I am.

And they found another way
They discovered a different route to happiness and fulfillment.

And they were not afraid
They moved forward without fear or reservation.

Contributed by Charlotte B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS