submissions
| Foy Vance – Burden Lyrics
| 3 years ago
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This is a song about connecting with someone who is lonely and perhaps socially isolated from what many of us take for granted with pillars around us like a spouse or close family. Vance sings this like he can identify with who the song is directed at and with a soulfulness that seems to really care about the individual who is in the ‘slough of despond’ and feels they have no one to share their dark experience.
The song starts with an invitation into that person’s world offering not just sympathy but empathy and to go deeper with them and work together to make things better. There is the offer to spend time with who is carrying the burden with an optimistic note that a problem shared really can take someone into a brighter place. The language progresses intimately referring to him as a ‘brother’ and that in time things can change but that progress is conditional on them agreeing to the invitation to let him in to carry the burden. There is a recognition that the problem is real and not imaginary and collectively by working together a smile will emerge from the darkness.
A great song which also encourages us all to be burden bearers and be on the lookout for those in our social circle who are hurting and are open to sharing that deep hurt they feel and where the outcome can even be just a smile where without your intervention wouldn’t happen. |
submissions
| Eric Bibb – Champagne Habits Lyrics
| 5 years ago
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Only Mr Bibb could write a song like this with his tongue in cheek humour and a tinge of attack at the materialistic western world we live in. Champagne and beer are at the opposite ends of the alcohol spectrum with their cost but not necessarily their value. The song is a conversation between a mother and her son as each offer views on a lifestyle which is basically living beyond ones means. Consumerism and more stuff do not satisfy the heart of man and can actually contribute to more anxiety in a life. Lovely light hearted song which lifts the spirit.
Matthew 6:19-21 offers good advice, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." |
submissions
| Van Morrison – The Prophet Speaks Lyrics
| 5 years ago
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This title track concludes the album with its searching about a nameless prophet who no-one wants to listen to. It’s a somewhat “spiritual” song but clothed in typical Van mystery that only the few want to hear this prophet’s message. Perhaps shades of biblical passages are in mind like Matthew 11:15, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Who this prophet is appears unclear but to seek the truth may not be popular with the masses but only to those with listening ears. Whatever this prophet is saying is worth listening out for and at times Van appears to suggest that it is he who is this prophet! Musically the song is a soft bluesy ballad with Spanish sounding guitar over a once more laid-back jazz melody with great bass and harmonica to end. |
submissions
| Ray Davies – Americana Lyrics
| 5 years ago
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Such a warm and inviting song to what he thought would be the good life – filled with nostalgia and optimism. This opening title track of the album sets the scene beautifully for the experiences that would follow. He recalls during the song how he grew up dreaming of "my baby brother and me, in the land of the free." But when Ray and younger brother Dave eventually made it to the States after the Kinks hit it big with their early hit singles "You Really Got Me" and "All Day And All Of The Night," their illusions were shattered from the moment an immigration official mockingly asked Davies if he was a boy or a girl!
"That was just the beginning," he recalled to The London Times. "I remember people with guns coming backstage, trying to intimidate us. It was the same thing with the Sex Pistols ten years later. I did a gig in Atlanta where the promoter told me, 'We've got the Sex Pistols coming and we're gonna kick their asses.' And that ended up with Sid Vicious dying. There is an element of America that accepts foreign invaders, but they can only deal with so many. The fear of the outsider has always been there." |
submissions
| Van Morrison – Satisfied Lyrics
| 6 years ago
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Satisfaction - a much sought after condition. The Rolling Stones struggled to find it but in this song Van seems to be almost there. A great funky / blues sound and much underrated track from an equally underrated album. Van said at the time of being knighted that this was the album he was most proud of when the musicians and the sound all came together resulting in this exemplary piece of work.
He sounds like a theologian when he sings "Spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst, But you got to change it, On the inside first, To be satisfied". Ordinary religion dresses up the man from the outside whilst Christianity, by contrast, changes the man from the inside out. |
submissions
| Paul Brady – Nothing but the Same Old Story Lyrics
| 6 years ago
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Perhaps this one has become dated with its lyrics but it’s a belter of a song and the culmination from his first contemporary album of 1981. The song describes a young Irishman travelling over to England for the first time and the on-going suspicion with which he is viewed. It also articulates the experience of working Irish people so vividly encompassing the emigrant’s fears, frustrations, hopes and dreams, as well as themes of racial tension, the solace of the pub, nostalgia and homesickness.
It is a gutsy song not for the fainthearted with its high levels of energy and provocative lyrics describing the hopes and fears of this young man. Ultimately he resists the lure of the US and remains with a girl from home after being somewhat disillusioned with “nothing but the same old story”! This perception from the English may well remain that “we're nothing but a bunch of murderers” but that thinking can possibly be applied in the modern age to other ethnic minorities. Brady probably still performs this song at gigs, acoustic or with band, but probably only to insightful audiences. |
submissions
| Brian Houston – Good News Junkie Lyrics
| 6 years ago
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I think this is autobiographical from the writer and a song from the album of the same name back in 1996. A somewhat satirical reflection on his life injected with Ulster humour particularly the final two lines at the end of verse three. Punctuated with biblical terms and life experiences the song is quietly expressed with just an acoustic guitar in the background. Nice one. |
submissions
| Paul Simon – The Riverbank Lyrics
| 6 years ago
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This song from the album, Stranger to Stranger (2016), is one of a number of highlights with the expected unusual arrangements and instruments this artist seems at home with particularly from the Graceland period all those years ago. The lyrics have their roots in a visit Simon made to Walter Reed hospital in Bethesda, Maryland to talk with some of the wounded veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who were rehabbing there. It was also inspired by a teacher that he personally knew who was slain in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012 and the emotional experience of playing at his funeral. The result is an eclectic sound from his enjoyment of Flamenco music particularly hand-clapping and dancing heels on a wooden floor with two clappers, one dancer, a cahon player and Jamey Haddad (percussionist) on frame drum which is the basis for three of the other main high spots on the album. The lyrics themselves might appear a bit disjointed without knowing this background but the sound is haunting and diverse and in the middle he brings it almost to a stop before starting up again. Credit is due to Paul Simon’s continued experimentation with sound, instruments and his vocals still maintaining a quality in range after many decades. |
submissions
| James Mcmurtry – Lost in the Back Yard Lyrics
| 7 years ago
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My favourite antepenultimate track from his third album, Where’d You Hide The Body, and a low key number about drifting through life with no real purpose. The song is a slow, acoustic, bluesy type number about being lost in the back yard which seemed to start for him as a child and continues into adulthood. There’s a nice instrumental around the middle which fits beautifully into the overall context of the song which is synonymous with this artist and his unique type of roots music. He seems quite content to be lost in the back yard until he gets home again. A sort of contradiction in terms but then again James McMurtry writes about obscurity and the mediocrity of life. |
submissions
| Van Morrison – Holy Guardian Angel Lyrics
| 7 years ago
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This song sits bang in the centre of Van's 'Keep Me Singing' album release of 2016 and has established itself as my favourite track for reasons I cannot adequately explain. He is in mellow mood throughout the album even though the lyrics here are not particularly special but there is something in that soulful voice and the expression given by the other musicians that make it extraordinary not least with the shuffling acoustic guitar playing of John Platania.
There are several nods on the album to the great Sam Cooke with more prolonged acknowledgement here with the chorus of, "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, Nobody knows my sorrow, Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, Nobody but me". The title of the song has been evident in his 'live' shows now for a number of years and has finally been given expression in this song. There is reflection here, contemplation here over the years of his life and a comfort he seems to experience with his holy guardian angel. |
submissions
| Iris Dement – Easy's Gettin' Harder Every Day Lyrics
| 7 years ago
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A song with the title of 'Easy's Gettin' Harder Every Day' just grabs your attention. It's all about the routine of life which when you do it an excessive number of times becomes "easy" in itself but ironically also becomes "harder" because of the monotonous routine. The singer with her gritty voice makes the song all the more relevant as she itemises the events and pleasures of our lives albeit with a degree of acceptance. The repetition of the song title at the end of each verse reinforces the reality of the song's sentiment. A beautiful song not trying to airbrush the responsibilities and realities of life but perhaps helping the listener to accept what they feel, at times, in the mediocrity of the daily grind. |
submissions
| Van Morrison – Look Beyond the Hill Lyrics
| 7 years ago
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This is the shortest track on the "Keep Me Singing" latest Van album at 2.28 minutes but I find it quite striking and uplifting. The first half of the song is phased in with a beautiful array of instruments which includes piano, Hammond organ, trumpet, trombone and vibes with a nice jaunty lilt and feel before the lyrics begin.
There is a positivity throughout as Van expresses emotive encouragement for when your troubles come and of course to look beyond the hill. The song reminds the listener to be patient and not to be deceived with false dawns and ultimately that better days will come. Simple stuff but good advice articulated in true Van style. |
submissions
| Chris Rea – I Will Go On Lyrics
| 7 years ago
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Chris Rea has been through the mill in terms of his health so this final track on his last studio album, 'Santo Spirito Blues', in 2011 finishes with this positive note of encouragement to keep going. I think too that we can all relate to the sentiments of the song and the graphic symbolism in the lyrics as the writer tries to paint a picture of his own trials and tribulations. It is a slow blues ballad missing the usual heavy instrumentation from Rea and band but the lyrics and delivery are heart-felt and genuine as he articulates his own struggles, and perhaps yours, as he signs-off the album. The oft repeated refrain, "I pick myself up, And I will go on" is where many of us are at times and this is like a song to us all not to let the difficulties of life drag us down. |
submissions
| Gregory Porter – Take Me to the Alley Lyrics
| 7 years ago
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A beautiful ballad from the man with the velvet voice and perhaps a parallel being drawn between this king and the second coming of the King of Kings. This title track and other songs from the album have accompanying vocals from Alicia Olatuja which complement serenely the main man. The piano playing is delicate throughout enhancing listeners appreciation of a master at work.
The thrust of the message is that this king would rather be taken away from all the public adulation of his subjects and the trappings of royalty and brought to the outcasts, the afflicted ones, the lonely ones and those who have lost their way. I see shades here of King David's kindness to Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel 9 who was lame on both his feet and was brought into a place of honour in his palace.
Back to the song and the king welcomes into his palace this former outcast(s) who is now his friend, will sit at his table, rest in his garden but is now pardoned. The analogies in the gospel are there to see too. |
submissions
| Paul Brady – The Game of Love Lyrics
| 7 years ago
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This song is the final track from the album 'Primitive Dance' released 1987 and is Brady at his most insightful and lyrically inspired. The classic story of boy meets girl, they fall in love, marry, have a baby and then the pressures kick in and their relationship falls apart. All too familiar a story these days.
Financial help from "daddy" and a new born, but, in themselves not enough if there are cracks already in the relationship. The chorus implies they both want to make it work but the relationship is clearly doomed. The song presents more questions than answers to this game of love. Painful for the couple but what a great song.
Paul Brady's writing is so underrated. |
submissions
| Eric Bibb – Pockets Lyrics
| 7 years ago
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A simple song about what we use our pockets for and he then contrasts all these physical pockets with what he describes as, "the pocket for your love inside my heart". Eric Bibb is a performer with many 'feel good' songs and a range of stories which lift your spirits.
Throughout the song he tells us about pockets for his keys, cash, tickets, pen, book, glasses, comb, candy bar, passport, watch, silver flask, wallet, cough drops and handkerchief but it's the metaphorical pocket in his heart for her love which he cherishes most. A jaunty little number on the simple things in life and ultimately what is the most important pocket. |
submissions
| Neil Young – When I Hold You in My Arms Lyrics
| 7 years ago
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The man is fresh in my mind having seen him in Belfast last week. He didn't do this one but it remains one of my favourites for romanticism, vulnerability, environmental concern and sheer positivity. An album track from "Are You Passionate?" released in 2002 the song exudes freshness and beauty in its delivery with that need we all have to reach out and hold on to something to make life worth living. At the end of each chorus he declares, "You gotta hold onto something / someone in this life". Whatever that is for you it is important to do just that. |
submissions
| Anthony Toner – The Road to Fivemiletown Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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I don't know whether the lyrics are based on a true story but it certainly does mirror a life of not one but two generations subject to apparent abuse. The song tells the story with intricate interwoven lyrics of an abusive husband whose youngest daughter, in an attempt to escape a horrendous home life, marries somewhat prematurely into a relationship where she too seems to have become trapped perhaps for different reasons.
I imagine there aren't many songs written about the small village and townland of Fivemiletown in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is 16 miles east of Enniskillen and 26 miles west-south-west of Dungannon with a population in 2008 of 1,356. The song describes a false concept of marriage, physical abuse, idealism of relationships, risk and uncertainty in business and a trapped lifestyle. The song has a relaxed and appealing tune and brings the listener into difficult lives and fades out hauntingly to the sound of a passing car possibly on the road to Fivemiletown! |
submissions
| J.J. Cale – Sensitive Kind Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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This is a fairly self explanatory song presumably directed at some of us insensitive males! A song from one of the coolest dudes of blues music who I'm sure didn't always get it right himself with women either - despite his lyrics! A laid back song and the more enjoyable for the instrumentation throughout. Local Belfast blues man, Ronnie Greer, does a very acceptable cover on his album, "A Lifetime With the Blues" with friends singing and playing. The song is perhaps a bit dated in these enlightened times with independent thinking women but deep down the sentiments expressed are on the ball. |
submissions
| Keith Green – So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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This is a song about the children of Israel grumbling in the desert to the God who had delivered them from Pharaoh in Egypt. I think he is also drawing comparisons with some Christians today who might want an easier life! The song exudes biblical truth, humour and challenge from an historical and present day viewpoint. The children of Israel had got tired and bored with the manna which God had miraculously provided for them in the desert and had a good moan about it (Exodus 16). There is also a reference to God's judgement on the sons of Korah (Numbers 16:31-33) with, "Well we once complained for something new to munch, The ground opened up and had some of us for lunch".
On balance a funny song tinged with biblical rebuke and reflection on the grumblings of the children of Israel which wasn't just because of the manna - though they did eat it for 40 years (Exodus 16:35)! |
submissions
| Bob Dylan – Saving Grace Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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@[robertcousins:8829] The John 5:24 reference is correct but it does not relate to the Samaritan woman. These were comments Jesus made in the aftermath of Him healing the man at the pool of Bethesda. My apologies. |
submissions
| Bob Dylan – Saving Grace Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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Saving Grace is a term familiar to all Christians and encapsulates their salvation with Jesus Christ. It's not just that moment of conversion where they are "saved" but also the experience afterwards and throughout the rest of their lives. The "Saved" album with its poignant cover of a brand being plucked from the burning (Zechariah 3:2) is language used to describe getting saved. It was the second in a trilogy of Christian albums Dylan made between 1979 and 1981 when his apparent conversion to Christianity rocked the music world.
I like this song because I understand what he's talking about - the ups and downs of being a Christian. The distinction he makes between the saved and the unsaved is peculiar to many and at the time lots of people thought he had become a religious freak! When Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman at the well, in John 5:24, He said that believers in Him, had "passed from death unto life". Elsewhere (Colossians 1:13) the experience is described as being, "translated into the kingdom of his dear Son".
The culmination in the last verse sums it up quite nicely as the final line from all the previous verses is repeated similarly as a felt reality to him:
The wicked know no peace and you just can't fake it,
There's only one road and it leads to Calvary.
It gets discouraging at times, but I know I'll make it
By the saving grace that's over me. |
submissions
| Van Morrison – Village Idiot Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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Surely a song of observation and not written at all in a condescending manner. We've all seen individuals like this, have we not, who we thought have missed out and don't know much. Reminds me of Johnny in 'Police Squad' who shined Frank Drebin's shoes and gave him the lowdown and clues on the case he was investigating.
The language in the song is respectful of this guy even though the title suggests it is not - "he does know something but he's just not saying". The song finishes to, "Sometimes he looks so happy, When he goes walking by". We wouldn't take his place for the world but there is a contentedness about his lifestyle which contrasts with perhaps our own. |
submissions
| David Gray – Easy Way to Cry Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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This is the penultimate track on 'A New Day At Midnight' his sixth studio album and follow up to 'White Ladder' and an album with his father's death permeating throughout. The track 'December' is a case in point. The song clearly reflects a relationship (perhaps a one night stand) which ultimately feels very empty. The reference in the chorus to, "my house of straw" reinforces his own vulnerability and regret that this relationship was not working out - perhaps unrequited love. The song is a ballad, written and sung with deep emotion by a thoughtful writer often not credited with such skill. The song's actual title and how the phrase is used within the song however reflect two different expressions of emotion do they not? |
submissions
| Van Morrison – You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push the River Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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I agree with the commenter of 31 October 2010 that the song is fantastic but it can only be appreciated through listening to it rather than reading the lyrics alone. "Veedon Fleece" is such a chilled out album and this song one of its many highlights. Van apparently said that, "aside from 'flashes of Ireland'—the song had 'other flashes on other kinds of people. I was also reading a couple of books at the time...[there's] a bit of Gestalt theory in it, too." In the lyrics are Morrison's first referral to William Blake, and the Eternals from Blake's The Book of Urizen. The Sisters of Mercy, also mentioned in the song, is a religious organisation of women founded in Dublin, Ireland. The song seems to begin as a love song celebrating a young girl's childhood and then goes into a journey along the west coast of Ireland and then suddenly goes into a mythological search for an object he calls the "Veedon Fleece". |
submissions
| Van Morrison – Choppin' Wood Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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This is clearly biographical and focussed on his late father George who worked in the Belfast shipyard and covers a journey to the United States to start a new life which didn't really work out. Whether he chopped wood as a sideline to the day job - who knows. Van showed a deep respect for his dad and as the song says about him, "you did just the best that you could". I think he died around 1989. Another Van song, "Memories" was allegedly about his father but that is pure speculation. |
submissions
| Van Morrison – See Me Through Part II Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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This song is built around the traditional gospel song, "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" (circa 1941) that has been covered by many artists and is perhaps the most frequently played number in the hymn and dirge section of traditional New Orleans jazz funerals. It alludes to the biblical passage from 2 Corinthians 5:7 which states, "We walk by faith, not by sight."
That background is important because a young Van growing up in Hyndford Street in the early 50s would have been surrounded by gospel influences in the culture of that time and nearby churches and Gospel Halls. See link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_a_Closer_Walk_with_Thee
Van uses the original tune to form the opening and closing stanzas and in the middle he narrates what is clearly his experiences of growing up of what was going on around him and this is accompanied with gospelesque backing vocals to the original tune. His timing is immaculate and precise as he finishes just in time for the final chorus. There are parallels with this song and 'On Hyndford Street' and I love the line which epitomises that period, "Not rushing, being". Fabulous to reminisce and take us all back to the days when the world made more sense. I could go on and on and on.
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submissions
| Van Morrison – Burning Ground Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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There remains a lot of mystery in this song from Van's 1997 album, The Healing Game. He sang it recently at the Cyprus Avenue gigs when he made reference to his "daddy" taking him to this place. It may refer to the old Belfast Rope Works off the Albertbridge Road in east Belfast so he may have got his inspiration from a common scene from his childhood when jute was shipped to Belfast from India in the 1950s. The original is sung at a fast pace but at concerts now he tends to weave seamlessly into Burning Ground from another song and he becomes slightly animated with various actions but the enigma maintains the mystery of what actually the song is about. I'm sure there are other connections I know nothing about.
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submissions
| Bob Dylan – Hazel Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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Possibly the best track on the much underrated 'Planet Waves' released in 1974. Dylan sings this one with apparent genuine affection for Hazel - maybe a fictitious character with the ousing theme of unrequited love. His voice is relaxed and romantic for this simple love song. |
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| Van Morrison – Back On Top Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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This is a song about the ultimate futility of ambition whether it is career, cause or personal achievement. They can all bring personal fulfillment but the satisfaction is momentary and one yearns for something else. This is the philosopher in philosophical mode, perhaps reflecting on his own life but also giving advice to others in their own pursuit of happiness or contentment. This experience epitomises every human being (if they are honest) and particularly those who are successful whatever way that is defined. The chorus bears repetition.
Always strivin', always climbing way beyond my will
Same old sensation, isolation at the top of the bill
Always seeming, like I'm moving but I'm really going slow
What do you do when you get to the top and there's nowhere to go
Keep your achievements in perspective but enjoy the song.
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submissions
| The Divine Comedy – Eye Of The Needle Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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Thankfully the Bible says "easier" and not "impossible". Riches can bring "a snare" to quote 1 Timothy 6:9, "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition". And again in 1 Timothy 6:10, "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows". LOVING money is the problem though money in itself where used appropriately and unselfishly can bring blessing to others.
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| The Divine Comedy – Eye Of The Needle Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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@[TheBluestCrowe:4546] Thankfully it says "easier" and not "impossible". Riches can bring "a snare" to quote the Bible in 1 Timothy 6:9, "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition". And again in 1 Timothy 6:10, "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows". LOVING money is the problem though money in itself where used appropriately and unselfishly can bring blessing.
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submissions
| Van Morrison – They Sold Me Out Lyrics
| 9 years ago
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A song clearly about personal betrayal but on a day like today it has another meaning - Cyprus Avenue gig "sold out" within 23 minutes! The track is taken from 'Magic Time' his 31st studio album in 2005. Possibly hinting at another betrayal from way back... |
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| Van Morrison – It Once Was My Life Lyrics
| 9 years ago
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A song of nostalgia, escapism and maybe for some - reality as in the now. For the author it's biographical but yet we can all relate to some of its sentiments and the frustrations in the daily grind. It is a track from 'The Healing Game' released in 1997 (a sort of over produced album) but bang up-to-date with life in the 21st Century. The last verse is good with "tripe" the inevitable Ulsterism. Van once said at a gig when introducing this song that it was for people who were not in control of their life which sort of meant everyone!
"Now everything is so complicated, just to speak or use the phone
Some people try to use me, just 'cause they don't have their own
Don't know who's round the corner, trying to sell me some more tripe
It used to be my life, it used to be my life". |
submissions
| Paul Brady – Blue World Lyrics
| 9 years ago
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Paul Brady is truly one of the greats but yet only known for others who have covered his songs i.e. Cher and Ronan Keating to name but two. I am surprised that there are no comments against a lot of his songs on your site. This one is arguably from one of his most consistent albums, 'Trick or Treat', released in 1991. Originally from Strabane in Northern Ireland, he started out as a traditional Irish folk singer but after hearing Gerry Rafferty's 'Baker Street' switched to more contemporary music in 1981 with 'Hard Station' from which 'Crazy Dreams' was a hit record.
This song to me is about him trying to persuade someone that the world is much more colourful and attractive than they think. It starts with a very haunting tone and develops into a lovely ballad as he tries to suggest an alternative point of view. This is a theme he would return to in a later album, 'Oh What a World' in 2000. He puts a lot of work into his albums and only tends to release new material every 5 years or so but he is an artist worth getting into. A very talented writer and performer and very faithful to his Irish audience (north and south) over the last 40 years. This is a very positive song and so is he in his outlook on life and his gigs will always lift your spirits. In the chorus he recognises the difficulties of life but turns it round to give hope:
"Everybody feel the same pain
Everybody doing time
I can't be the one you're needing
I can just be who I am" |
submissions
| Van Morrison – No Religion Lyrics
| 9 years ago
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I am casting my mind back to Belfast City Hall around Christmas 1995 and Van's performance for President Clinton at the front of that building. Northern Ireland was in the throes of its peace process (it's still called that nearly 20 years later) and Van did a rendition of this song accompanied by Brian Kennedy.
The 'Days Like This' album had been released that summer from which this track is taken. Van is in reflective mood and observing a world where religion doesn't seem that important anymore - or is it! I wonder what he means when he says near the end of the song, "And it's so cruel to expect the savior to save the day
And there's no religion, no religion, no religion here today". There have always been religious undertones in Van's music as he has explored and apparently rejected most of them. As a generalisation most religion is about "doing" trying to do enough to merit some kind of divine favour beyond this life - like a heavenly insurance policy. Whereas, biblical Christianity, tells us that it's all been "done" and if we can grasp that one - difficult though it is - our approach to divine acceptance may start to look much brighter. James 1:27 says that "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world". There is an alternative to No religion.
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| Van Morrison – Celtic New Year Lyrics
| 9 years ago
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If Ireland is ever reunited (and I hope that remains an if rather than a when) this would make a good new national anthem. The opening line is such an Ulsterism and so comical for a first line in any song. The version on Jools Holland show, Later, (as referenced by mikeb330) is something else helped immensely by a great strings section. The song is off Van's 'Magic Time' album where the late David 'Foggy' Lyttle, guested on guitar and the album was dedicated to him as he died within weeks of completion of the recording.
The references to the "Gloriana tune" and "bonfires burning" suggest a backdrop of Belfast yet other places are named checked taking us further afield. Van sings "bonefires" if that helps the reader to understand how it's said in Northern Ireland unless you come from a middle class background! On the album version Van changes his vocal expression about 4 times during the song which enhances the production and quality to what is essentially a folk ballad. I am writing this on 2 January at the start of a new calendar year, which, if you will indulge me, let's call it a Celtic New Year.
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submissions
| Van Morrison – Mystic of the East Lyrics
| 9 years ago
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This song is from Van's most recent album (2012) and is typically biographical of his roots in and around Hyndford Street in east Belfast. I think the song title describes himself - Mystic of the East - intensely private, enigmatic and yet proud of his humble upbringing. His website supports and endorses this by having a page dedicated to the Van Morrison Trail at www.vanmorrison.com/trail and the booklet is punctuated by all the various landmarks in the immediate vicinity of his parents home with excerpts from songs and photographs of key locations.
The song is unashamedly personal and reflective of that area which by and large hasn't changed significantly over the past 50 years. His 'Healing Game' album of 1997 is all about east Belfast and the surrounding environment. The expected customary Ulsterism is there in the song too, "Fed up to the teeth", which is characteristic of many of his songs over the decades. I live just a few hundred yards from the "Trail" and finally after all these years it is being developed as a tourist attraction for fans of Van all over the world.
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| Van Morrison – Meaning of Loneliness Lyrics
| 9 years ago
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This song is a bit of a dirge and certainly not the most melodic thing Van has ever done but there is enough in it to suggest it is part biographical and part applicable to most of our lives. Note the contrast throughout to the so called 'celebrity' lifestyle and the back streets that he came from. Some might say "slap it into him for being such a grump" and if he behaved differently he may not be as lonely but I think that misses the penetrative substance and meaning of the song. One line says, "It takes more than a lifetime just to get to know yourself" suggests we have still a bit to go on the journey of life in finding out about ourselves. I don't think this is a depressing song as it expresses the sentiment that no matter how fulfilling your life may appear to be "you can also be lonely standing in your own backyard".
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submissions
| Them – The Story of Them Lyrics
| 9 years ago
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This song was written so long ago, actually in the early Them days, by Van, clearly reminiscing on that era around 1962. It really is a story name dropping the "Spanish rooms on the falls" in west Belfast and where the band first played at "the Maritime" a hotel, now demolished, near to what is known to locals as the 'Black Man' a few hundred yards from the "city hall". He even mentions himself as "the little one sings" and then goes on to describe other members of the band. The song epitomises a sort of good old days period of life and the lyrics are narrated or spoken by Van rather than sung - something he would return to many years later on "On Hyndford Street" in 1991. "Scrumpy" sounds like that cider stuff still available in the stores. Them weren't always so popular and one story goes that an audience threw pennies at them they were so bad! However, the Maritime was where it all began and there are many Northern Ireland locals out there with great memories of those days. Good times - as is repeated throughout the song. |
submissions
| Van Morrison – T.B. Sheets Lyrics
| 9 years ago
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Written by a young Van around 1967. This song exudes deep emotion and a rousing blues sound. The story goes that it is biographical and sees Van writing about an associate / friend of his (possibly female) who was dying from tuberculosis around that time and it broke his heart. A lot of the symptons of the disease are expressed in the song. Rumour has it that Van broke down and cried after he recorded it. This is the ring tone on my phone! |
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