Since this board is practically dying and a few music topics like 'I will rank 100 songs' have kind of revived it a small bit, I'm going to do my part. Yes this is a ripoff of Seg's topic. Who cares, I'm sure no one does. It's not like it was unique in any way other than Seg being able to convey his feelings almost perfectly, which I won't be able to because I suck at writing.
I'm completely obsessed with Van Morrison right now. At this point in time, I would even call him my favorite songwriter, which is not exactly an easy achievement because that has been Thom Yorke for the past 5 years of my life. Considering I'm only 19 and obsessed with everything that even remotely relates to music, that's not exactly a small thing. It only seems natural I would pick Van for a topic like this.
Some information:
- You can recommend 2 songs each time you post. After your post, you have to wait until I get to your songs before you can post again. Why 2 songs? Considering there's probably less Van Morrison fans on this board than Radiohead, it seems appropriate. - I have not heard all Van Morrison songs. Frankly, I only know about 10 of his albums well enough to form a kind of stative opinion about them. I have only been obsessed with the man for the past year: It would almost be impossible to memorize all of his songs in a year. He has more than 30 albums for christ's sake. So if you post a song I don't know, it will be either a very brief write-up if it doesn't catch me immediately or you could be praised for showing me another Van song that I absolutely love.
Expect detailed write-ups whenever someone posts a favourite. Expect tiers (and a personal top 10 that will slowly be revealed), ratings, and all that. Don't expect them to allign with your own opinions, you will be disappointed at some point. Just stating the obvious.
This topic is EXCITING because I don't view every critically acclaimed Van record to be one of his best. Obviously a lot of them I appreciate, but there are a few records by him that are not received as well that I do adore too.
There are many people that believe Moondance is Van's best record, or at least his second best. I am not one of them. Don't get me wrong: It's a fine record, and I might consider it one of my favorites of his quite large collection. But there are a few others that are above it, simply because Moondance is mostly nothing more than a great mix of pop, folk and jazz. Not to say there aren't any stellar songs on that record, but we'll get to those later. As a whole it's great, and the song Moondance works in its context. But I rarely put the song on by itself, it just does not stand out as much as some of his other songs do.
This does not mean I don't like the song: I really do. It's a very catchy swing-jazz song. The more upbeat rhythm kind of makes it feel like it was written in the 'cool' 50s and it's clearly the mood Van is trying to grasp. If I recall correctly, he even said himself it could be a song Sinatra would sing. And I can clearly see it. (a quick look on wikipedia says I'm right)
The instrumentation here fits well and I love the piano soloing and the sax solo that comes right after it. It's got schwung, it's got rhythm it's basically got everything a jazzy pop song needs. Which is ultimately also its Achilles heel: It's nothing more than that. It's a good pop song, like Brown Eyed Girl is a good pop song. It's enjoyable, well written (it is Van Morrison after all), and as always Van does a stellar vocal performance. But it misses the spiritual, Romantic feel that I search for in a top Van Morrison song. Not many of his songs have that mind you if you look at how many songs he has, but that's what makes them special.
I'll never be satisfied with a write-up about this song, so this is it.
Song: Sweet Thing Album: Astral Weeks (1968)
Studio version: Live in 73:
It's really hard for me to write about this song. Simply because I know it simply can't live up to what I really feel about it. Some of you may know that this song, since short, is basically my favorite song. And while that seems quite a conclusive statement, to have a favorite song in all of music, it's how I feel. I'm also kind of sad this song was named so quickly because no matter what comes next, there's nothing that will live up to this.
Basically any Van fan will tell you that Astral Weeks is one of his best records. Most of them will even tell you it's his magnum opus. I consider myself one of those people. Ever since I've heard the record it's been creeping up on me more and more. At first I thought it was just a great folk record, but about a year and a half later it's become way more than that to me.
Astral Weeks has shown me that no matter what type of instrumentation you use, as long as your heart is in the songs, they will come out shining. I loathe the sound of a flute most of the time for example, but in a song like Sweet Thing it only enhances it.
Basically everything about this song is perfect to me: The subtle, but unavoidable drums march on and give the song its lingering flow. The playful double bass swings along and drives the song and the rhythmic guitar has one of the most hypnotizing chord progressions I've ever heard. It starts off with a F# minor chord to misdirect you but then revolves around the actual E major scale to lift your spirits. Add the improvising nylon lead guitar line to that and you have a jazzy approach to a folk love song. The strings here, like on any song on Astral Weeks, are essential and out of this worl. They give the song the full harmonic feel it needs to hit you right in the stomach; their atmospheric Celtic sound give the song a whole new colour.
The most essential parts of the composition remain, like almost any Van Morrison song, the vocal performance and lyrics. They are spot on here. Van not only paints a picture of idealistic, yet at the same time unconditional love with lines like “And I shall drive my chariot down your streets and cry.. Hey, it's me, I'm dynamite and I don't know why”, he makes you feel it through his voice. What's beautiful about a song like Sweet Thing is the fact that everyone who is not a sociopath can relate to it: It doesn't even need to be the blind love for a girl or woman, it can be love for anything. It's simply a feeling we've all felt at least once in our lives. And while most of the time I relate to songs that are about either broken love or another negative feeling, Van manages to lift my spirit every time I hear this song. There's something very nostalgic and soothing about it. It clocks in at about four and a half minutes, but it seems much shorter and longer at the same time. I can't fully explain it, you have to hear it. Or relisten to it. Again, and again, and again.
"And It Stoned Me" reminds me of that other artist from the late sixties, early seventies that rose to prominence then whom I'm obsessed with: The Band. It's a very nostalgic, down to earth song that seems to be about his youth, or at least something of the sort. There's talk of a fishing trip and everything that revolves around such a thing. The lyrics are pretty straight forward and simple, which makes it a nice little story that Dylan, Young or Robertson could've written. The chorus mentions that the water 'stoned' him to his 'soul', the latter word being used in half of Van's catalogue, which makes me believe the message here is to appreciate the simple things in life and that they can even make you high.
The composition itself is a straight forward mix of rock and country too. This doesn't mean the song itself is boring, because it's actually really good and one of my favorites off Moondance. The brass here is on the same level as any brass on Moondance, which is formidable and maybe my favorite instrument section of this album.
The piano is another key instrument in this song: It's what the song revolves about, after every important section in the song the piano ties things together along with the guitars. Those guitars are great and the solo, again tied together with the last verse by the piano fits extremely well, which is a great feat considering guitar solos are not something you find easy in Van Morrison's discography. Come to think of it, that's pretty weird because his music is so improvisational it screams solos.
Back to the song: Like six other songs on “Moondance”, “And It Stoned Me” is in G, a common key in western music. It generally holds the same feel throughout the whole record, and this song is no different. As I said in the “Moondance” write-up, this means that it's not a very spiritual song, except for the lyrics in the chorus. What differs “And It Stoned Me” from its loungy followup is that it's a song I do play on its own every now and then. And that's because this song is just really good. There's nothing more to say, listen to it if you haven't already.
8/10
Tiers:
Nothing can top this Sweet Thing - Great song And It Stoned Me - Good song, nothing more, nothing less Moondance
Song: Snow in San Anselmo Album: Hard Nose the Highway (1973)
Studio version: Live in 74:
The streak of records Van put out from Astral Weeks until Veedon Fleece is just mind boggling. Don't believe what any critic or casual Van fan will tell you: Astral Weeks isn't his only good record. Hard Nose the Highway, for example, is incredibly underappreciated.
The opener of that record, Snow in San Anselmo, might be my favorite song on it. It starts off with a very curtailed, but effective use of a choir and then transforms into a soothing, dramatic ballad. I love how Van stresses each second part of his verses with his lower register along with his typical hypnotic repetition of a sentence.
The chorus is omitted, and in its place a groovy bass and horn section accompany the choir into a climax. After erupting, it goes back to the intro section and into the second verse. Here the choir joins in on Van's stressing of the last sentences. You can feel the build-up to the second time the climax will appear, but it's never too clear when it will explode again. After it finally does at the end it's very enjoyable.
The lyrics are a descriptive tale of, you guessed it, snowfall in San Anselmo. I'm not too sure on the underlying meaning of it, it could very well just be a description of the unique case of snow in California. Van's way with words is great as always.
All in all Snow in San Anselmo is a strong song and definitely one that caught my ear recently. Good choice, Giggs.
Rating: 8.5/10
Nothing can top this Sweet Thing - Great song Snow in San Anselmo And It Stoned Me - Good song, nothing more, nothing less Moondance
Gah I can't be bothered to write at the moment but here it is
Song: You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push The River Album: Veedon Fleece (1974)
I can't find a youtube link but hey, you should have the album in your collection anyway.
Veedon Fleece is a very spiritual record, even by Van standards. I think only Astral Weeks may top it in terms of allusions to Romanticism and stream of conciousness writing. You Don't Pull No Punches is the longest of the bunch. It's a moody song about nature, people and literature. Like many Van songs, I haven't figured out the lyrics yet. I have no idea what 'Veedon Fleece' is but it seems to be some kind of mythical object he's searching after in the song.
That's exactly what this piece of music is: a search for the mystical. It does that quite well. More than that even, I'd say it's in my top 10 Van Morrison songs. Everything here is top notch: The way the instruments can linger on and eventually play in full stops and then go back to playing their chords out in full again. If I'd have to pick a favorite instrumental part on here, it'd be the piano. It just fits the mood so well, from the first time it shows its dominance in the beginning with the arpeggiated notes and then just goes in the back to give the song another layer. That doesn't mean the other instruments aren't great too: They are. The drums fit in well, the flute and guitar give the song its necessary flair and the bass brings them all together. Let's not forget the once again marvelous string section.
As I said before, it's a long song but it goes by extremely quickly. Good songs do that to you.
Rating: 9.5/10
Nothing can top this Sweet Thing - #2-#10 material You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push The River - Great song Snow in San Anselmo And It Stoned Me - Good song, nothing more, nothing less Moondance
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http://img.imgcake.com/vincetrumenttabletpnget.png An abstract painting called 'Vincetrument', Cokes, 2012