This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
The streets are always wet with rain
After a summer shower when I saw you standin'
In the garden in the garden wet with rain
You wiped the teardrops from your eye in sorrow
As we watched the petals fall down to the ground
And as I sat beside you I felt the
Great sadness that day in the garden
And then one day you came back home
You were a creature all in rapture
You had the key to your soul
And you did open that day you came back to the garden
The olden summer breeze was blowin' on your face
The light of God was shinin' on your countenance divine
And you were a violet color as you
Sat beside your father and your mother in the garden
The summer breeze was blowin' on your face
Within your violet you treasure your summery words
And as the shiver from my neck down to my spine
Ignited me in daylight and nature in the garden
And you went into a trance
Your childlike vision became so fine
And we heard the bells inside the church
We loved so much
And felt the presence of the youth of
Eternal summers in the garden
And as it touched your cheeks so lightly
Born again you were and blushed
And we touched each other lightly
And we felt the presence of the Christ
Within in our hearts
In the garden
And I turned to you and I said
No guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature
And the father in the garden
Listen no guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature
And the Father and the
Son and the Holy Ghost
In the garden, wet with rain
No guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature and the Father
And the Son and the Holy Ghost
In the garden, in the garden, wet with rain
No guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature
And the Father in the garden
After a summer shower when I saw you standin'
In the garden in the garden wet with rain
You wiped the teardrops from your eye in sorrow
As we watched the petals fall down to the ground
And as I sat beside you I felt the
Great sadness that day in the garden
And then one day you came back home
You were a creature all in rapture
You had the key to your soul
And you did open that day you came back to the garden
The olden summer breeze was blowin' on your face
The light of God was shinin' on your countenance divine
And you were a violet color as you
Sat beside your father and your mother in the garden
The summer breeze was blowin' on your face
Within your violet you treasure your summery words
And as the shiver from my neck down to my spine
Ignited me in daylight and nature in the garden
And you went into a trance
Your childlike vision became so fine
And we heard the bells inside the church
We loved so much
And felt the presence of the youth of
Eternal summers in the garden
And as it touched your cheeks so lightly
Born again you were and blushed
And we touched each other lightly
And we felt the presence of the Christ
Within in our hearts
In the garden
And I turned to you and I said
No guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature
And the father in the garden
Listen no guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature
And the Father and the
Son and the Holy Ghost
In the garden, wet with rain
No guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature and the Father
And the Son and the Holy Ghost
In the garden, in the garden, wet with rain
No guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature
And the Father in the garden
Lyrics submitted by yuri_sucupira
In the Garden Lyrics as written by Van Morrison
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Recently saw Van perform his Astral Weeks concert in Chicago. He sang In the Garden just before performing his Astral Weeks album, and it was such a gorgeous prelude. The hush in the theater as Morrison and the brilliant musicians seemed to make the stage inhale and draw everything in was mesmerizing especially as he whispered into the microphone. I already loved this song, but truly fell hard for it that evening.
And since this is suppose to be a site focused on the meaning of songs....I just want to note that the parallel drawn between religion and the relationship in this song adds such a feeling of reverence and purity to me.
@aKatB1 I know this is 7 years after the comment but reverence and purity (as a return to innocence through grace) are 2 of the essential qualities that I feel ITG communicates. Were also at AW in Chicago...<br />
The lyrics communicate - quite clearly, IMO - the idea of grace. Grace is a concept that transcends - and possibly predates - Christian imagery in this tune. All the prayers, practice, rituals, incantations, and so forth are revealed of little use. Enlightenment has never been anywhere but in this moment. No guru, method, or teacher can bring you to where you already are. Yet a mere impression can trigger this realization...a memory of youth, the smell of a summer rain, a glimpse of the object of our love, etc... The lyric seems to indicate a separation followed by a reunion. The reunion leads to the grace of realization that the "the garden" is where one's love is...
This song is absolutely beautiful. Someone else please awknowledge this song!
Borntorun is right. Absolutely beautiful song.
Obviously this song is about a soul that goes on to live a human life, then come back to the garden which could be the garden of eden or heaven , (a creature all in rapture) had the key to your soul and you did open, the violet color always means changes, so while the person was still sitting with mother and father, it was changing from human form, to it's original form of soul and spirit, and it goes on that nothing matters as long as you are protected in the arms of GOD. Just beautiful piano playing in this one in my opinion.
We've seen Van 3 time. Astral Weeks in Chicago was the last. Before that Montreux Jazz Fest with Patti LaBelle and Solomon Burke. And the 1st time? Auditorium Theater in Chicago for No Guru "tour". I think he did like 5 US dates with band and string quartet. I think of NGNMNT as Van's last Celtic Soul album and In The Garden as the functional title cut. This song is sublime. I will assume that it ties in to the tir na nOg legend. The idea of sacrificing enlightenment/heaven/oneness for the chance to be reunited with the object of our love - be it a person, family, a place - resurfaces numerous times in this period. Beautiful Vision to No Guru is, IMO, the best period of VM's career. And "In The Garden" is among the best of the best.