“Ghost Town” by Benson Boone

Most simply explained, “Ghost Town” is akin to a breakup song. But that noted, it is far more complex than your typical teenage love fare.

Usually in such cases, we are dealt with either a vocalist complaining about the addressee, or him taking the blame for being unprepared for a serious relationship. And whereas this case is more along the lines of the latter, as in Benson being able to admit that the less-than-ideal state of things is primarily his fault, ultimately it’s as if he is criticizing both himself and his sweetheart.

On the part of the addressee, he is presenting her as basically being too romantically passive for her own good. And as for himself, being allowed the opportunity to take over her being, Benson has now apparently depleted her emotionally to the point that now she doesn’t have ample energy left to truly ‘love herself’.

Or let’s say that ultimately, the idea being put forth is one of those kinds of situations that is too complex to be concisely put into words. But what it boils down to is the vocalist being compelled to call things off for the addressee’s own good. Interesting to note is that he does this even though it’s quite clear that she’s in love with him and obviously vice versa. 

In other words, for one reason or another he has come to realize that loving him is proving detrimental to her own personal development. So now in the aftermath he has likened her heart to “a ghost town”. This is a metaphor which most easily explained alludes to the notion of this romance having far exceeded its heyday.

Summary

All in all, the narrator truly cares about the addressee. However, he has come to the sad conclusion that ending their relationship would be helpful for his partner.

In describing this song, Benson said there are times when love can do more harm than good. He went on to say that sometimes parting ways with someone is the best way to show them that you care.

Facts about “Ghost Town”

On October 15 of 2021, American singer Benson Boone released the song, “Ghost Town” as his debut single.

Earlier that year, Benson quit the music reality show, “American Idol” to pay more attention to his music career. Soon after leaving the show, he signed a record deal with Warner Records which led to the release of the single, “Ghost Town”.

The song debuted at No. 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It went on to top the Norwegian charts and score a top-10 in Belgium.

Furthermore, in early 2022, “Ghost Town” enjoyed significant success on multiple music streaming platforms, including Spotify.

Benson shares writing credits for the song with three other songwriters, namely:

• Tushar Apte
• Nolan Sipe
• JT Daly

The song was produced by co-writer Daly.