The Friday Frolic- Vincent Van Gogh and Don McClean

Vincent Van Gogh

My friend, Sherri Robbins, came over to visit yesterday. I love Sherri. She's not only an amazing singer, but she carries a contagious enthusiasm for life and people that makes everyone around her joyful just being in her presence.

Sherri loves art, and Vincent Van Gogh is her favorite artist. One of my personal favorite songs of all time is a tribute to Van Gogh called "Vincent", which many people also call "Starry Starry Night", and I have a promise from Sherri that she'll sing this for me sometime soon.

Don Mclean's song is hauntingly beautiful. The lyrics bring such a rich and vibrant tribute to Van Gogh that you really should have them handy when you hear the song, especially if this is the first time you've ever heard it.
Vincent by Don McClean
Starry, starry night.
Paint your palette blue and grey,
Look out on a summer's day,
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul.
Shadows on the hills,
Sketch the trees and the daffodils,
Catch the breeze and the winter chills,
In colors on the snowy linen land.

Now I understand what you tried to say to me

How you suffered for your sanity
How you tried to set them free.
They would not listen
They did not know how

Perhaps they'll listen now.

Starry, starry night.
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze, Swirling clouds in violet haze,
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue.
Colors changing hue, morning field of amber grain,
Weathered faces lined in pain,
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand

For they could not love you,
But still your love was true.
And when no hope was left in sight
On that starry, starry night,
You took your life, as lovers often do.
But I could have told you, Vincent,
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you.

Starry, starry night.
Portraits hung in empty halls,
Frameless head on nameless walls,
With eyes that watch the world and can't forget.
Like the strangers that you've met,
The ragged men in the ragged clothes,
The silver thorn of bloody rose,

Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow.


Now I think I know what you tried to say to me,
How you suffered for your sanity,
How you tried to set them free.
They would not listen, they're not listening still.
Perhaps they never will...


A bit of explanation is in order if you're not a Van Gogh fan. There are several competing theories as to what disease(s) he may have suffered from in his life. These include epilepsy, bipolar disorder, sunstroke, acute intermittent porphyria, lead poisoning and Ménière's disease. He did not eat well, drank copious amounts of absinthe, was known to nibble on his paints, and wrote several times about having serious stomach pains and digestive issues. He spent time in an asylum at Saint-Remy.

From the site "Ten Things You Didn't Know About Van Gogh":

'He never signed any of his paintings with Van Gogh. During his stay in England, he was used to everyone misspelling his name: instead of van Gogh, they called him van Gof. So he began signing all his painting with Vincent.*

Vincent  always thought of stars fondly. He painted his Starry Nights at night. Starry Night 1, painted in Arles was done by putting candles in his straw hat just to have enough light to paint. The second one was done in the time he spent in the hospital in Saint Remy. He wrote to his brother, Theo, in a letter: “Death is like a journey to the stars; to die peacefully is like going there on foot.”*

Yes, he did indeed cut his ear and sent it to his favorite prostitute. Most people blame his gesture on insanity. But most people don’t know the context in which it happened. Vincent was living  with his friend Paul Gaugain, in Arles, where they used to go to bullfights together; usually, after a matador defeated the bull, he’d get the ear of that bull as a symbol of his triumph. Picture everything in this context and think about the fact that Gaugain was successful with women, unlike Vincent who actually wanted to hand his ear to his friend and admit his defeat.*

During his life, Vincent wrote more than 800 letters to his younger brother, Theo,  who supported him in his work. Theo was also the one who bribed Gaugain to stay with Vincent in the yellow house from Arles. All these letters are now bound into hefty volumes entitled Dear Theo. After Vincent’s death, Theo’s health weakened and he perished as well. The two now rest peacefully next to each other, in the Auvers- sur- Oise cemetery.'*

Don McClean's tribute contains many references to his life. From the sites, Van Gogh Gallery and Don McClean.com:

'Expressing Van Gogh's inspiration for the painting. One line says :
"Look out on a summer's day."
This is giving Van Gogh's vantage point looking out from the asylum at Saint-Remy. When he first entered the asylum, he painted mainly from his room or the courtyard garden, but later went further afield to paint.

There are references to other Van Gogh paintings.

• Flaming Flowers: The Sunflower Series
• Swirling Clouds: Starry Night
• Field of Amber Grain: Wheat Field with Crows
• Weathered Faces: The Potato Eaters