Sylvian has since said to Mojo magazine that "Ghosts" pre-empted the band splitting up: "It was the only time I let something of a personal nature come through and that set me on a path in terms of where I wanted to proceed in going solo.

"[6] The song was arranged by Richard Barbieri and David Sylvian using a minimalist approach and sounds influenced by Karlheinz Stockhausen.

Barbieri created the odd, slightly discordant synth sound at the beginning of the song, using a Roland System 700.

Writing in Smash Hits, Tim de Lisle described the single as "arguably the best thing they've ever done – slow, spare and mesmerising".

The single version is featured on a bonus disc issued with the box set release of the Tin Drum album in 2003.

[13] In 2000 David Sylvian re-recorded "Ghosts" using the original Japan backing track and included it on his compilation albums Everything and Nothing (2000) and A Victim of Stars 1982–2012 (2012).

[citation needed] The song was discussed at lengths in – and its lyric provides the title for – theorist Mark Fisher's 2014 critical work Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures.