Each Friday I pick a song–new, old, borrowed, blue–that’s been on my mind and in my ears, and write a short post about it.

Here’s “Ghost on the Canvas” by Glen Campbell:

I watched a documentary about Glen Campbell on the BBC this week.  The film itself was so-so: not all that well-written or narrated.  On the other hand, there were some nice interviews with his brother and sister and nephew talking about the family he grew up in, and a really wonderful interview with Jimmy Webb talking about his working relationship with Campbell, and of course, “Wichita Lineman“.

“Ghost on the Canvas” is the title track from Glen Campbell’s final album, released in 2011.  Campbell has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and he wanted to make a new album, and perform a farewell tour, while he still could.  The album features a number of Campbell’s own compositions, as well as a cover of “Hold on Hope” by Guided by Voices.  In addition, Teddy Thompson, Jakob Dylan and Paul Westerberg contributed songs for the album (and Roger Manning wrote instrumental interludes that appear between many of the songs).  This song is one of Paul Westerberg’s, and I’m featuring it here not only because I like it a lot, but also because I like Paul Westerberg (and particularly the Replacements) a lot, too.  Ghost on the Canvas is definitely an album worth buying; it not only provides a moving and fitting end to Glen Campbell’s long career, it’s also just a very beautiful album.