i woke up this morning with van morrison's 'into the music' on my mind. more specifically the song 'and the healing has begun'. this is better than what i usually wake up with. thoughts of (names and situations deleted) and (actions deleted) and how i'm gonna (more actions deleted).
no, this morning i awoke gently, almost, dare i say, hopefully, with a song in my head. more like a series of songs, a culmination of the entire album swimming through my brain. songs rubbing my shoulders and legs, easing me out of bed, into the cold air. i heard horns, violin, crisp drums, a clean bass, a choir of women, and a voice unlike any other in the library of rock.
maybe it was the easy stop and go of 'steeping out queen' that got me rolling.
or maybe it was the downright buoyant 'bright side of the street' that sent the shadows running.
oohhh, the female chorus breakdown at the end of 'stepping out queen' is playing. beautiful.
i bought this album for 3 bucks. hardly seems fair now. i should have had to pay alot more. this is the van i like. full on irish poet, gypsies, days of yore, troubadours, etc.
no one else could get away with these lyrics. they'd sound trite. only coming from this well know curmudgeon could these words sound so romantic and sincere.
pt.2
just took a break. know what i mean? now my head is swimming in notes again. glad i got this on vinyl. i wonder if 'angeliou' would have the same impact if it were just track no. 7, instead of side 2, track 1. it sounds like a side 2, track 1.
some of the music i like, i like because i don't understand it. guys like scott walker, or pere ubu, where i just can't get my head around how someone can compose music that way. with van morrison i understand. it's pretty basic stuff. beautifully done, but basic. with van, it's the summoning of emotion i can't understand. how do you summon and control such overpowereing emotion. how do you sing the lines:
and we'll walk down the avenue again
and we'll sing all the songs from way back when
and we'll walk down the avenue again
and the healing has begun
: without becoming overwhelmed? with the gospely music swirling behind you, with the ring of a ride cymbal chiming in your ears? and how do you call up the melancholy required for the vocal blowout during the mid-section? and how do you do this over and over again for decades, without losing your mind? or your spirit?
and i see where the hopefulness i woke with came from.
1 comment:
Van Morrison is indeed singular. You can listen to ANY one of his albums, and one more than one track, experience the buoyancy you mention. It's the seeming effortlessness of his performances that allow you to so easily get lost in the sound.
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