“Vincent” (Don McLean)

Your classic song written about a legendary painter of the day is “Vincent” by Don McLean. In case you’ve never heard it, the song is about the artist Vincent Van Gogh, and if you’ve never heard of him, that’s your loss. The song “Vincent” is a moving tribute to that troubled painter that captures the essence of Van Gogh’s work and his life in a set of evocatively beautiful lyrics and an equally beautiful melody.

You probably know the song by its opening lyrics, “Starry, starry night,” which reference Van Gogh’s famous painting, The Starry Night. Van Gogh’s work is a lovely piece, one most people recognize when they see it, even if they don’t know that much else about the art world. Mr. McLean was inspired to write the song after reading a book about the artist, as he later recalled:

“In the autumn of 1970 I had a job singing in the school system, playing my guitar in classrooms. I was sitting on the veranda one morning, reading a biography of Van Gogh, and suddenly I knew I had to write a song arguing that he wasn’t crazy. He had an illness and so did his brother Theo. This makes it different, in my mind, to the garden variety of ‘crazy’—because he was rejected by a woman [as was commonly thought]. So I sat down with a print of Starry Night and wrote the lyrics out on a paper bag.”

It is a touching and exquisitely crafted song with lyrics that use Van Gogh’s own work to tell the story of his life. Look how painterly McLean approaches his subject in the first verse:

Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and gray
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

This isn’t your normal “moon/June/swoon” pop song—but then again, Don McLean wasn’t your normal pop artist. He came up through the world of folk music and his songs reflect that sensibility. Helen Brown of The Telegraph wrote “With its bittersweet palette of major and minor chords, “Vincent”‘s soothing melody is one of high emotion recollected in tranquility.” Those are beautiful words to describe a beautiful song. I can’t say much more.

“Vincent” was the third track on the first side of McLean’s chart-topping album, American Pie. The lead track on the album was the song “American Pie,” which captivated listeners the world over and held the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks early in 1972. “Vincent” was released as a single after “American Pie” had peaked and hit #12 on the charts, which ain’t bad for a piece of poetry about a dead post-Impressionist painter. I think it’s the best track on the album, possibly the best song McLean ever wrote. It’s that good.

A short personal story. A few years back I was driving in my car with granddaughters Hayley and Lael when “Vincent” came on Casey Kasem’s Top 40 rebroadcast on SiriusXM radio. Both kids knew about Vincent Van Gogh from art classes in school and Hayley knew of the famous painting, The Starry Night, referenced in this song. I told them the story of Van Gogh and McLean and this song, then we just stayed silent for three minutes and fifty-five seconds, listening. It really affected the kids and brought a tear to my eye, too. Perhaps they’ll listen now.