“Ghost Town” by Sam Barber

“Ghost Town” is a song that the (currently somewhat) mysterious Sam Barber dropped on 4 May 2023.  The singer, who appears to be a social-media based indie artist at the time, wrote this piece himself, with its producer being industry vet Eddie Spear.

The Lyrics of “Ghost Town”

Country singers can be pretty imaginative at times, but this genre also has its standard themes which it seems every artist therein is compelled to tackle. So in actuality, “Ghost Town” is another of those songs which, in its own creative way, points to the idea of small-town country life being idyllic. 

And in this case, the way the vocalist goes about presenting that argument is by harping back to the day when people were more committed to maintaining a connection with the ‘hood, i.e. before most residents went about following their own respective paths in the outside world. 

Furthermore, this isn’t something he knows firsthand per se – that the community used to be closer – but was rather put on this fact by older folk, such as grandfather, who actually experienced that reality. And as Sam puts it, them “letting go of these roots has let this damn world grow so weak”. Or put otherwise, he perceives that one of main issues with modern society being a lack of interconnectedness amongst its residents, as in people having lost touch with where they came from.

“Remember days when you could go roll around
Crank a little George Strait and know every face in this town
Remember days a helping hand could always be found
Ice cold beer and baseball games were always common ground”

So whereas this song is based on a well-known country music theme, that of traditional small-town culture being one in which relationships are closer and more meaningful, it does take a bit of an unconventional approach in relaying that idea. That is to say that it does not necessarily appear as if such a lifestyle is something the vocalist himself has experienced, as is usually the case with these pieces. But he knows that it was once so due to the tales of older people in his life.