Ghost Town

Album: Ye (2018)
Charted: 17 16
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Songfacts®:

  • Self-love and acceptance is a central theme to the Ye album, and on "Ghost Town" Kanye West talks about letting go of fear and pain. He wants to be in a more relaxed state of mind enabling him to focus on enjoying time with his family rather than obsessing over his legacy.

    Some day, some day
    Some day I'll, I will wear a starry crown
    Some day, some day, some day
    I wanna lay down, like God did, on Sunday


    The beginning of the Bible describes God's creation of the world. After creating the Universe in six days, the almighty rested on the seventh day.
  • Traditionally Greek and Hebrew numbers all applied to a letter (Alpha =1, Beta =2 etc). Many numbers in the Bible contain symbolic meaning and the number 7 means spiritual perfection. In the scriptures the sentences are made up of an abnormally high amount of combinations of 7s.

    Ye was one of five albums produced by West released in the summer of 2018, with a seven-track album being released every week following the release of Pusha T's Daytona. Speaking with radio personality Big Boy, West said that the seven-track concept is derived from the number 7 as it relates to biblical numerology.

    West added that the album's title Ye was also inspired by the Bible. "I believe 'ye' is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible it means 'you.' So I'm you, I'm us, it's us," he said. "It went from Kanye, which means the only one, to just Ye – just being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confused, everything. The album is more of a reflection of who we are. Just beings."
  • The guitar-charging rap banger features Kid Cudi on the chorus. Kanye and Kid Cudi also paired up as a hip hop duo, going by the name Kids See Ghost. The pair released their self-titled debut album a week after Ye was dropped. "Ghost Town" even appeared on an early tracklist for Kids See Ghosts.
  • New Jersey-based rapper and G.O.O.D. Music signee 070 Shake closes the track out. She also features on Pusha T's Daytona track "Santeria" and another Ye song "Violent Crimes."

    070 Shake revealed that "Ghost Town" wasn't finished until the day it came out. Speaking to Pigeons and Planes she explained that the reference for her part was recorded a while beforehand and then resurfaced at the last minute.

    "I had done a reference for it, and then I guess he forgot about it. We put that reference on another song, then Kanye did his own reference for that 'free' concept. At the end we were talking and asking, 'Is this the one right here?' And I kind of mentioned 'Ghost Town,' and said maybe we could use something from that. He listened to the reference again, and said 'Oh yeah, this is the one.' So 'Ghost Town' almost didn't make it."
  • The instrumentation samples San Antonio Chicano soul group The Royal Jesters' version of the Trade Martin-penned song "Take Me for a Little While." The track was a hit for Dusty Springfield, Vanilla Fudge and Dave Edmunds at different times.

    The vocals at the beginning of the song are sampled from "Someday" by gospel singer Shirley Ann Lee.
  • This topped the Genius community's list of the Best Songs of 2018. They said: "'Ghost Town' proves that no matter what Kanye West is going through, his ability to craft and curate meaningful songs is unrivaled."

Comments: 1

  • Reece Bird from Hertfordshire, United KingdomAbsolutely banga lad
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