Madame George Lyrics
With a childlike vision sweeping into view
The click- and clacking of the high heeled shoes
Ford and Fitzroy, Madame George
He's much older now, with hat on, drinking wine
And the smell of sweet perfume comes drifting through
On the cool night air like Shalimar
Kids out in the street collecting bottle-tops
Goin' for cigarettes and matches in the shops
Happy taking Madame George
Oh, that's when you fall
Wo-wo-wo-wo-wo-wo, that's when you fall
Yeah, that's when you fall
Sitting on a sofa playing games of chance
With your folded arms and history books you glance
Into the eyes of Madame George
You're getting weaker and your knees begin to sag
In a corner playing dominoes in drag
The one and only Madame George
She jumps up and says, "Lord have mercy, I think that it's the cops!"
And immediately drops everything she gots
Down into the street below
On that train from Dublin up to Sandy Row
Throwing pennies at the bridges down below
In the rain, hail, sleet, and snow
Dry your eye for Madame George
Wonder why for Madame George
wo oh oh wo oh oh wo oh oh wo oh oh oh oh
Laughing music, dancing music all around the room
And our little boy's comin' around, walking away from it all, so cool
She jumps up and says, hey love, you forgot your glove
And to love is to love to love is to love to love is to love
to love is to love to love the glove
Dry your eye for Madame George
Wonder why for Madame George
Dry your eye for Madame George
In the wind and the rain, in the backstreet
In the backstreet, in the backstreet
Say goodbye to Madame George
In the backstreet in the backstreet in the backstreet
Yeah, way down home, down home in the back street
Gotta go, say goodbye goodbye goodbye
Dry your eye your eye your eye your eye your eye your eye
your eye your eye your eye your eye your eye your eye your eye your eye
Say goodbye to Madame George
to love is to love
Say goodbye goodbye goodbye
Say goodbye goodbye goodbye goodbye to Madame George
Dry your eye for Madame George
Wonder why for Madame George
The love's to love, the love's to love, the love's to love
Say goodbye goodbye
Get on the train, the train, the train
This is the train, this is the train
Whoa, say goodbye goodbye goodbye goodbye
Get on the train, get on the train
I guess it's set before the partition of Ireland, and therefore the narrator isn't Van Morrison, but a protestant schoolboy in Dublin. The song begins with his adult self in a reverie on Cyprus Avenue, remembering bygone days, seeing himself as a teenager, clutching history books, entranced by the sight of Madame George, a glamorous transvestite, leading a drunken soldier boy back to her flat.
The narrator finds himself in the flat, a sort of speakeasy, with gambling, drinking, drugs and dancing on offer - and perhaps sex. The narrator is captivated by this outré character and her Bohemian life. It's a place to which he returns again and again. The song tells of two episodes from the flat: a police raid which results in Madame George throwing the drugs out of the window; and the final tearful goodbye, as the narrator leaves for a new life in Belfast.
The song is about a juvenile infatuation with someone fearlessly living a life which breaks all the rules, and a wistful reflection of adolescent freedom and possibility.
@Paega This seems right to me. I don't know much about Ireland at the time, but the song reminds me of cities in the US that have undergone gentrification and lost their bohemian culture. It's bigger than Madame George specifically.
@Paega This seems right to me. I don't know much about Ireland at the time, but the song reminds me of cities in the US that have undergone gentrification and lost their bohemian culture. It's bigger than Madame George specifically.
@Paega Wait hold a second... why is this madame george a transvistite.... where is the proof to that. Lots of people have last names that start with George. I believe most times, it goes Madame/Monsieur (last name). Clarification please.
@Paega Wait hold a second... why is this madame george a transvistite.... where is the proof to that. Lots of people have last names that start with George. I believe most times, it goes Madame/Monsieur (last name). Clarification please.
@josh101586 Van doesn't choose the names of his characters by accident, we're meant to infer something from them: no-one in Ireland is referred to as Madame, in the British Isles a Madame is a brothel-keeper. So we know she's an outsider. Nor is it an accident that she's given the name George, the sexual ambiguity is intended: Van's painting a picture of an outsider of indeterminate sexuality who draws enlisted British soldiers into a shabby house for drugs and whatever else is on offer.
@josh101586 Van doesn't choose the names of his characters by accident, we're meant to infer something from them: no-one in Ireland is referred to as Madame, in the British Isles a Madame is a brothel-keeper. So we know she's an outsider. Nor is it an accident that she's given the name George, the sexual ambiguity is intended: Van's painting a picture of an outsider of indeterminate sexuality who draws enlisted British soldiers into a shabby house for drugs and whatever else is on offer.
The picture he paints for me is of a transvestite, the archetypal outsider - outside of...
The picture he paints for me is of a transvestite, the archetypal outsider - outside of society and outside of gender. If he's painting an outsider, why not?
I have a very strong emotional connection to this song. He perfectly captures the adolescent fascination with someone living completely outside the rules. It's a defining moment that many sensitive artists will relate to, the feeling of liberation that you feel in the presence of someone who simply doesn't obey the rules you were brought up to believe as the order of the world itself. In this sense, it also articulates a sense of the uncanny, the occult, which have a long association with transvestitism. In native American cultures the two-spirited or transgendered were considered to have a stronger connection to the spirit world because of the fluidity of their identity. It's also a reminiscence on a young man's imagination of the adult world. Young people can distinguish authenticity better than grown-ups, and the narrator of the song senses something different in Madame George, and this has a profound effect on him, so much so that it acts as a kind of landmark in his personal history around which many memories orbit. I wouldn't say it can be reduced to a this happens and then this happens and then this happens kind of narrative, as the nostalgic perspective of the song is so poignant that the song comes to be about memories of childhood and its defining moments generally.
Those are backgrounds on the subject. But I think the mood of the song is basically that feeling when you know you've moved on from youthful days... and you're stepping into a new life. It nostalgic.
The main theme of the song is about leaving the past behind. The character of Madame George is considered by many to be a drag queen, although Morrison himself denied this in a Rolling Stone interview.[2]He later claimed that the character was based on six or seven different people: "It's like a movie, a sketch, or a short story. In fact, most of the songs on Astral Weeks are like short stories. In terms of what they mean, they're as baffling to me as to anyone else. I haven't got a clue what that song is about or who Madame George might have been
@SPLINTER318 "Morrison has said in at least one interview that the song has nothing to do with any kind of transvestite – at least as far as he knows, he is quick to add – but that's bullshit." -Lester Bangs
@SPLINTER318 "Morrison has said in at least one interview that the song has nothing to do with any kind of transvestite – at least as far as he knows, he is quick to add – but that's bullshit." -Lester Bangs
Someone pointed out the Van himself states it doesn't have a specific meaning. Even if it did, it wouldn't matter. This song, like most good songs, is very open to interpretation, so you all are correct, except anyone claiming their opinion is more correct since they are an "expert". There's nothing wrong with the "drug dealer" interpretation, especially since she is so worried by the cops and dumps some stuff. I think drugs were just being used, myself. Besides their ability to provide background info, you can usually ignore "experts" when it comes to art.
Personally, I felt more inclined to the idea of her being a prostitute. Am I the only one who took the "drag" line as meaning trannie, but that it is simply a girl wearing male clothing, perhaps just as a joke? Or maybe wearing some of her john's clothing, as they goof around afterwords? It reminds me of the whorehouse scenes in James Joyce's Ulysses. I do like the idea of it simply being "drag on a cigerette" though too. Regardless of all that, it is a haunting and sad song that makes me think of the things I left behind growing up.
This is about a transvestite living in Belfast. THis man is very nice and socialable. Every one goes to his parties and eats his food but wont even look him in the eye. He is a very sad character and Van feels for sympathetic and maybe even empathetic. Then the cops show up or maybe george gets frustrated with the whole thing and just says that in order to clear the room. He then realizes he doesnt belong and has to leave. But he must leave out the back so noone will see him(is he ashamed?) He decides to go from the Sandy Row(protestant Ireland) to Dublin (Catholic). ANd finally he says goodbye in one of the most beautiful touching parts in music, in my opinion. This song is a little iffy on the exact meaning but in any event its sad stuff.
If you listen to the song you will realise "And you know you gotta go On that train from Dublin up to Sandy Row" and not the other way. I think your other suggestions are equally wide of the mark and "iffy" to quote yourself - you are not the song!
If you listen to the song you will realise "And you know you gotta go On that train from Dublin up to Sandy Row" and not the other way. I think your other suggestions are equally wide of the mark and "iffy" to quote yourself - you are not the song!
@johnpauljones86 ...."On that train from Dublin up to Sandy Row"... ????
@johnpauljones86 ...."On that train from Dublin up to Sandy Row"... ????
Wait hold a second... why is this madame george a transvistite.... where is the proof to that. Lots of people have last names that start with George. I believe most times, it goes Madame/Monsieur (last name). Clarification please.
Wait hold a second... why is this madame george a transvistite.... where is the proof to that. Lots of people have last names that start with George. I believe most times, it goes Madame/Monsieur (last name). Clarification please.
A sadly neglected masterpiece - one of greatest works of art last century
ballocks!
ballocks!
snobsnarl
snobsnarl
its actaully about a transvestite drug dealer from dublin who used to travel to belfast to do business which is where van came in contact with him when he himself was just a boy. maddame georges death obviously had an effect on morrison. "dry your eye for maddame george"
Wait hold a second... why is this madame george a transvistite.... where is the proof to that. Lots of people have last names that start with George. I believe most times, it goes Madame/Monsieur (last name). Clarification please.
Wait hold a second... why is this madame george a transvistite.... where is the proof to that. Lots of people have last names that start with George. I believe most times, it goes Madame/Monsieur (last name). Clarification please.
Willard- I am a Van Morrison expert and I can assure you that Madame George was not a drug dealer. Anyway, having said that, this is probably Van Morrison's greatest song alone for the string bit at the end. Tear jerking stuff. Madame George is still alive, by the way, living as a recluse in Eire where it was more liberal than Ulster.
A Van Morrison expert? Well that statement automatically made me switch off.
A Van Morrison expert? Well that statement automatically made me switch off.
Van absolutely denies this is about a transvestite living in Belfast.
The action in the song takes place in Dublin - the swirling "the loves to love to love the love....." is sexual congress - don't see Van doing it with a tranny!!
btw - Michelle Rocca lives in Dublin - a premonition? Van came south to Dublin long before it was fashionable - ahead of his time, as ever.
Wait hold a second... why is this madame george a transvistite.... where is the proof to that. Lots of people have last names that start with George. I believe most times, it goes Madame/Monsieur (last name). Clarification please.
Wait hold a second... why is this madame george a transvistite.... where is the proof to that. Lots of people have last names that start with George. I believe most times, it goes Madame/Monsieur (last name). Clarification please.