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VINCENT And how you suffered for your sanity
(Don McLean) And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know Starry, starry night how Paint your palette blue and gray Perhaps they'll listen now Look out on a summer's day For they could not love you With eyes that know the darkness in my But still, your love was true soul And when no hope was left in sight on that Shadows on the hills starry, starry night Sketch the trees and the daffodils You took your life, as lovers often do Catch the breeze and the winter chills But I could have told you, Vincent In colors on the snowy linen land This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you Now I understand What you tried to say to me Starry, starry night And how you suffered for your sanity Portraits hung in empty halls And how you tried to set them free Frameless heads on nameless walls They would not listen, they did not know With eyes that watch the world and can't how forget Perhaps they'll listen now Like the strangers that you've met Starry, starry night The ragged men in ragged clothes Flaming flowers that brightly blaze The silver thorn, a bloody rose Swirling clouds in violet haze Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow Reflect in Vincent's eyes of China blue Now I think I know Colors changing hue What you tried to say to me Morning fields of amber grain And how you suffered for your sanity Weathered faces lined in pain And how you tried to set them free Are soothed beneath the artist's loving They would not listen, they're not listening hand still Perhaps they never will Now I understand What you tried to say to me ENGLISH 9
A. 1. Who speaks in the song? 2. Describe the night in the first stanza. 3. Describe the hills. Why are there shadows on the hills? What do these shadows do to the trees and the daffodils? 4. What season of the year is depicted in the first stanza? Support your answer. 5. Describe the night in the fourth stanza. What do we mean by “portraits hang in empty halls?”, “frameless heads on nameless walls” mean? 6. What kind of a man is described in the song? Mention his traits and attributes. 7. What attitude does the speaker in the song have for Vincent van Gogh? Why? Prove your answer. 8. Who do you think was the speaker to Vincent? Would you have understood Vincent the way the speaker did? Why? Why not? 9. Was Vincent misunderstood by his fellowman? Why do you say so? Write the lines that prove your answer. 10. What happened to Vincent? How do you feel about what he did? 11. . What is the message of the song?
B. 1. Who is the main subject of the song "Vincent," and what is the significance of the title "Starry, Starry Night"? 2. In the lyrics, what do the phrases "blue and gray" and "flaming flowers that brightly blaze" likely represent in the context of Vincent van Gogh’s art? 3. What does the line "They would not listen, they did not know how" imply about how society viewed van Gogh during his lifetime? 4. The lyrics mention "morning fields of amber grain." What painting of van Gogh’s might this line refer to, and why? 5. What does the phrase "weathered faces lined in pain" suggest about the subjects van Gogh chose to paint? 6. Why might Don McLean describe van Gogh as someone for whom "this world was never meant"? 7. What do the "silver thorn" and "bloody rose" symbolize in the song, especially in connection to Vincent van Gogh? 8. How does the repeated phrase "Now I understand" deepen the listener’s understanding of the singer’s feelings toward Vincent van Gogh? 9. What impact did society's inability to "listen" or "know how" have on van Gogh’s life and legacy, as suggested by the song? 10. In the song, how does Don McLean use imagery to capture the beauty and sadness of Vincent van Gogh’s life and work? Provide two examples.
