Famously, Doris Duke was soul music evangelist and scholar Dave Godin's favourite singer. One of the finest and most moving songs on her "I'm A Loser" lp was "Ghost Of Myself":
Its lyrics recount a tale of pure heartache:
I cry
You live
I die
I made you happy
You made me hurt
I gave you honey
You gave me dirt
Now, I look at myself
And there ain’t nothing left
But a ghost of myself
Don’t want to live
But I’m scared to die
My tears are all gone
When I’m sad I can’t cry
Met some other people
That weren’t good enough
Cos what you left me to work with
Sure made it rough
Now, I look at myself
And there ain’t nothing left
But a ghost of myself
If another man were to come along
I couldn’t even give him a sincere smile
You took away my womanhood
Stripped me of all my pride
When you left you didn’t give a damn
Whether I lived or died
Now, I’ll just wander from pillar to post
Don’t nobody want to love a ghost
You’re the winner
I’m hanging up my gloves
Cos I’m through fighting
Trying to win your love
Now, I look at myself
And there ain’t nothing left
But a ghost of myself
Woah…
There ain’t nothing left
But a ghost of myself
Since receiving Kent's Doris Duke cd for Christmas 6 or 7 years ago, I was fairly certain that I'd never hear it performed better. That was before I heard Sandra Phillips' softer, richer, even more sobering interpretation:
Like Duke's it was produced by the song's writer, the legendary Swamp Dogg, Admittedly, there's not a lot in it, but I'd say Phillips delivers the key lines - listen to, say, "You took away my womanhood / Stripped me of all my pride" - with just a touch more emotion and overall her version flows a little better. Dogg's production is more lush on Phillips' take on it, too. Each guitar note in the intro unfolds like a rose petal and the swell of the strings moistens the eyes. As if to underscore just what a monopoly they have on top quality soul music, it's available once again through Kent, this time on their impressive "Swamp Dogg's Southern Soul Girls: Sandra Phillips & Bette Williams". Incredible music from an amazing time and place.
