Vincent (Don McLean song)



"Vincent" is a song by Don McLean, written as a tribute to Vincent van Gogh. It is often erroneously titled after its opening refrain, "Starry, Starry Night", a reference to Van Gogh's 1889 painting The Starry Night.

McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading a book about the life of Van Gogh. It was released on McLean's 1971 American Pie album; the following year, the song topped the UK Singles Chart for two weeks, and peaked at No. 12 in the United States, where it also hit No. 2 on the Easy Listening chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 94 song for 1972.

The song makes use mainly of the guitar, but also includes the accordion, marimba, and violin.

In July 2020, the original handwritten lyrics went up for sale for $1.5 million.

Background
McLean said the following about the genesis of the song:

"'In the autumn of 1970 I had a job singing in the school system, playing my guitar in classrooms. I was sitting on the veranda one morning, reading a biography of Van Gogh, and suddenly I knew I had to write a song arguing that he wasn't crazy. He had an illness and so did his brother Theo. This makes it different, in my mind, to the garden variety of 'crazy' – because he was rejected by a woman [as was commonly thought]. So I sat down with a print of Starry Night and wrote the lyrics out on a paper bag.'"

Critical reception
The Telegraph wrote, "With its bittersweet palette of major and minor chords, "Vincent"'s soothing melody is one of high emotion recollected in tranquillity". Record World called the song "artful", saying that "the Vincent Van Gogh story is told with melody and poetry." Cash Box called it "another of those tunes for people who like to pick apart lyrics and messages. AllMusic retrospectively described the song as "McLean's paean to Van Gogh ... sympathiz[ing] with Van Gogh's suicide as a sane comment on an insane world." The site also said McLean performs "a particularly poignant rendition" of "Vincent" on the 2001 live album Starry, Starry Night.

The song was a particular favorite of the rapper and actor Tupac Shakur, and was played to him at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, the hospital that he was admitted to just before he died of gunshot wounds from a drive-by shooting.

English musician Jake Bugg credited hearing the song in an episode of The Simpsons as his formative musical moment.

Notable cover versions
Jane Olivor recorded the song for her 1976 album release First Night.

Julio Iglesias covered the song in his 1990 album Starry Night.

In 1996, a punk rock cover by NOFX was published on the compilation album Survival of the Fattest by the record label Fat Wreck Cords.

Josh Groban recorded a version on his 2001 self-titled album.

Rick Astley released a cover version on his 2005 album Portrait.

Marina Prior recorded the song for her 2012 album Both Sides Now.

Lianne La Havas recorded a cover for the soundtrack album and credits of the 2017 film Loving Vincent.

In December 2017, James Blake performed a live piano-backed cover at Conway Studios, Los Angeles.

Ellie Goulding released a cover of the song on Valentine's Day 2018, apologizing to her fans about delays in her recording projects. McLean tweeted Goulding, saying "'Vincent' is not an easy song to sing and you sing it very beautifully." She included her cover in her 2020 Songbook for Christmas EP.

Sophia Kruithof covered the song in her blind audition for The Voice of Holland season 10, which she would go on to win.