Ray Brown writes:

I have a different perspective on the line from Don McLeans song, Vincent.

The line "A silver thorn, a bloody rose, lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow." I believe that this line refers to the way that Van Gogh felt about himself and his talent. He thought of himself and his talent as the rose, something beautiful. Others, however, could not get past the "thorns" of his personality to accept his beauty. He felt like the rose mentioned in the lyrics, crushed and disgarded.

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