It’s a shame you didn’t see the video with his paintings. It makes the song so much more vivid and descriptive.

Watch the official video that shows the painting as he sings about each one. they're not just words, they are the paintings!

The alliteration is about his paintings.  All of it references his paintings.

Lyric wise, one of the greatest songs ever written, it paints pictures of an artist.

A beautiful song. Van Gough was mentally unwell and I think he was just tortured and that was the subject of his paintings. Starry Night is glorious madness !!

all the lines are about different paintings. Thats why he is so descriptive.

The emotions of the song are expressed through the imagery of the paintings.
Poetically it is quite clever.

OMG I couldn’t be more surprised by your reaction. This is my favorite song ever and it is a true masterpiece and fitting tribute to an artistic genius. It goes far beyond nice adjectives describing Van Gogh’s work. I think if you listen again you will realize he is talking about Van Gogh’s work trying to give dignity to the impoverished laborers and peasants. Society rejected not only his message but also his work at the time. So ask yourself what is it that Van Gogh tried to tell us that is still not understood.

I love how he describes all of Van Gogh's paintings those adjectives in the lyrics.❤💙💙💙💙💙🎵🎶 what a sad tumultuous life he had😢😭😭😭

There is a version of this song that show van Gogh's art - which makes the song even more haunting.

That was a time when singers could sing. No autotune, simply professionalism

OMG the most beautiful song writing that ive ever heard.  How could anyone not love this.

Maybe the most beautifully tragic song ever written…and performed brilliantly.

It's a deep song.  I've grown to appreciate and understand it more  as I've got older.  It is about Vincent Van Goh and his struggles.  But I can relate it to people in my life who have shared struggles with mental illness and it touches me deeply.  The lyric video with the paintings throughout the song is very powerful.

The poetry is just jaw-dropping. The man could make words do whatever he wanted them to.

One thing that many people miss: the "snowy linen land" refers to canvas he paints on.

Maybe watch the video with the actual scenes he is describing. If not his work, of which he only sold one painting before he
died,  what else would he sing about? His paintings are his tortured life.

I’ve loved this song from day one, but never cried. It’s just a beautiful song paying tribute to a great artist

To appreciate this song best you have to know his paintings. His descriptions bring the paintings to life and you can see them as you listen.There is a reason why Van Gogh's paintings are revered till today and continue to force you stand still in front of them.

A very reductive analysis of this beautiful and brilliant song.  Yes, it's true--he does not seem to know that the images refer to Van Gogh's paintings and, if I listened to this correctly, I am not even sure he realizes the refrain refers to one of the most iconic paintings in the history of art.  :-(

The last words of Vincent Van Gogh were, “The sadness will last forever.” The music is the alliteration of Van Gogh’s work. In his lifetime he only sold one painting, and that one painting was secretly bought by his brother.