Ghosts

"Ghosts" was written by David Sylvian alone and is 4:33 on the album and 3:55 on the single, issued on Virgin on March 12, 1982 as the third single from Tin Drum, with "The Art of Parties (Version)" on the other side. Sylvian sings and plays the Prophet-5, Barbieri plays the Roland System 700 and Oberheim OB-X and Jansen plays marimba; the sleeve does not credit Karn. The arrangement is minimalist and drumless, with the marimba the only rhythmic element, and Barbieri described the sounds as metal-like sounds that hardly have a pitch.

Sylvian is quoted by Songfacts, a secondary aggregator, as saying it was the only time he let something of a personal nature come through, and to the NME that he finds it optimistic, not pessimistic; by the same source Virgin did not want to release it as a single and he lobbied. He told Red Bull Music Academy that he was quite resigned to the fact that he might stop making music completely. It reached number five in the UK on March 20, 1982, for eight weeks, number 19 in Ireland, and re-entered at 14 on November 9, 2013. Smash Hits' Tim de Lisle called it arguably the best thing they've ever done, slow, spare and mesmerising, and Mark Fisher's book Ghosts of My Life takes its title from the lyric.

They played it on The Old Grey Whistle Test on March 4, 1982, with Ryuichi Sakamoto on Prophet 5, David Rhodes on guitar and Jansen on marimba, with Karn sitting on the stage without playing, and on Top of the Pops on March 18. A 6:23 live version from Hammersmith Odeon in November 1982 is on Oil on Canvas, with Karn's saxophone intro as a coda to "Visions of China". Sylvian performed it on his 1992 tour with Robert Fripp and in 1995, and re-recorded it in 2000. Deftones covered it on the 2011 compilation Covers, and dance versions by Chris and James (1997) and Tenth Planet (2001) were minor UK hits. We hold two uploads, one titled with the album, presumed to be the studio song.