Van Morrison Quotes (100 quotes) | Quotes of famous people

Interview in Musician magazine (1987)
Context: Where I feel this has cost me is in the personality situation, where you're expected to be a personality. You not only have to write and record, but you have to go out and sell it. Well, I'm not a salesman, and I'm very bad at selling things. If I had to do that for a living, I'd probably be completely broke. I can't sell myself. And I don't even want to. That's something that's not going to change.

Change

“Music to me is spontaneous, writing is spontaneous and it's all based on not trying to do it.”

Van Morrison

Interview by Dermot Stokes in Hot Press (March 1978)
Context: Music to me is spontaneous, writing is spontaneous and it's all based on not trying to do it. From beginning to end, whether it's writing a song, or playing guitar, or a particular chord sequence, or blowing a horn, it's based on improvisation and spontaneity.

Music

“If I ventured in the slipstream,
Between the viaducts of your dream,
Where immobile steel rims crack,
And the ditch in the back roads stop,
Could you find me?
Would you kiss my eyes?
To lay me down,
In silence easy,
To be born again.
To be born again.”

Van Morrison

Astral Weeks
Song lyrics, Astral Weeks (1969)

Dreams , Kiss , Silence

Van Morrison Quotes

“Someone once described me as a maverick and that's what I would say. I'm a maverick not by choice but by conviction.”

Van Morrison

As quoted in Too Late to Stop Now (1993) by Steve Turner

“Hark, now hear the sailors cry,
Smell the sea and feel the sky.
Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic.”

Van Morrison

Into the Mystic
Song lyrics, Moondance (1970)

Feeling , Soul , Cry , Flying

“And I shall get to know you
In these lifetimes
In awe and wonder
On down through the years
The nighttime angel spreads her wings around me
I feel the silence
And my doubts are cleared.”

Van Morrison

Lifetimes
Song lyrics, Wavelength (1978)

Angels , Feeling , Silence

“Ambition will take you
And ride you too far and
Conservatism bring you to boredom once more
Sit down by the river
And watch the stream flow
Recall all the dreams
That you once used to know
The things you've forgotten
That took you away
To pastures not greener but meaner.”

Van Morrison

I'm Tired Joey Boy
Song lyrics, Avalon Sunset (1989)

Dreams

“Sometimes, when the spirit moves me
I can do many wondrous things
I wanna know when the spirit moves you
Did ye get healed?”

Van Morrison

Did Ye Get Healed?
Song lyrics, Poetic Champions Compose (1987)

“I'd love to write another song
Baby especially for you
I'd love to write another song
And feel things bright and new
In poetry I'd carve it well
I'd even make it rhyme
I'd love to write another song
Just to get some peace of mind.”

Van Morrison

I'd Love to Write Another Song
Song lyrics, Avalon Sunset (1989)

Love , Peace , Feeling , Baby

“Whenever God shines his light on me
Opens up my eyes so I can see
When I look up in the darkest night
I know everything's going to be alright
In deep confusion, in great despair
When I reach out for him he is there
When I am lonely as I can be
I know that God shines his light on me.”

Van Morrison

Whenever God Shines His Light
Song lyrics, Avalon Sunset (1989)

God , Light , Despair , Night

“Got a home on high
Ain't nothing but a stranger in this world
I'm nothing but a stranger in this world
I got a home on high
In another land
So far away.”

Van Morrison

Astral Weeks
Song lyrics, Astral Weeks (1969)

World , Home

“Well let them take you for a clown
And they're bound to bring you down.
You got to make it through the world if you can.
Think they're doing you wrong
But you got here on your own.
You got to make it through the world if you can.”

Van Morrison

You Gotta Make It Through the World
Song lyrics, A Period of Transition (1977)

World , Thinking

“Look at the ivy on the cold clinging wall
Look at the flowers and the green grass so tall
It's not a matter of when push comes to shove
It's just an hour on the wings of a dove.”

Van Morrison

Warm Love
Song lyrics, Hard Nose the Highway (1973)

Flowers , Grass

“Saw you early this morning
With your brand new boy and your Cadillac
Saw you early this morning
With your brand new boy and your Cadillac
You're gone for something
And I know you won't be back”

Van Morrison

Slim Slow Slider
Song lyrics, Astral Weeks (1969)

Boy

“Laying underneath the stars
Can be so much fun
Especially when you're feeling good
When you're with the one you love.”

Van Morrison

Gypsy
Song lyrics, Saint Dominic's Preview (1972)

Love , Feeling , Star

“Beside the garden walls,
We walk in haunts of ancient peace.
At night we rest and go to sleep
In haunts of ancient peace.
The love and light we seek,
The words we do not need to speak,
Here in this wondrous way we keep
These haunts of ancient peace.”

Van Morrison

Haunts Of Ancient Peace
Song lyrics, Common One (1980)

Love , Peace , Way , Sleep

“Leaves of brown they fall to the ground.
And it's here, over there leaves around.
Shut the door, dim the lights and relax.
What is more, your desire or the facts?”

Van Morrison

Autumn Song
Song lyrics, Hard Nose the Highway (1973)

Light

“Open your arms in the early mornin'
When the light comes shinin' through
Can't you hear my heart beat just for you?
It's beating so wild, honey.
And light comes shinin'
Singin' my song
And the band is playin'
And the music is tried and true.”

Van Morrison

Wild Honey
Song lyrics, Common One (1980)

Music , Light , Heart

“Yonder comes my lady
Rainbow ribbons in her hair
Yonder comes my lady
Rainbow ribbons in her hair
Six white horses and a carriage
She's returning from the fair”

Van Morrison

Cyprus Avenue
Song lyrics, Astral Weeks (1969)

Horse

“The people I was listening to never sold a lot of records. John Lee Hooker was never on the charts, so I was never in it from a commercial point of view. Other people expected things from my records, but I never did.”

Van Morrison

An Oral History of Popular Music (1989)

People

“When the ghost comes round at midnight
Well you both can have some fun
He can drive you mad, he can make you sad
He can keep you from the sun
When they take him down, he'll be both safe and sound
And the hand does fit the glove
And no matter what they tell you,
There's good and evil in everyone.”

Van Morrison

Who Was That Masked Man
Song lyrics, Veedon Fleece (1974)

Sadness , Evil , Sun , Madness

“I walked in my greatcoat
Down through the days of the leaves.
No before after, yes after before
We were shining our light into the days of blooming wonder
In the eternal presence, in the presence of the flame.”

Van Morrison

A Sense of Wonder
Song lyrics, A Sense of Wonder (1985)

Light

“These are the days of the endless summer
These are the days, the time is now
There is no past, there's only future
There's only here, there's only now.”

Van Morrison

These Are the Days
Song lyrics, Avalon Sunset (1989)

Time , Past , Future , Summer

“So hard to find my way,
Now that I'm all on my own.
I saw you just the other day,
My how you have grown,
Cast my memory back there, Lord
Sometimes I'm overcome thinking 'bout
Making love in the green grass
Behind the stadium with you
My brown eyed girl
You my brown eyed girl.”

Van Morrison

Brown Eyed Girl
Song lyrics, Blowin' Your Mind! (1967)

Love , Making love , Way , Girl

“Got my ticket at the airport
Well I guess I've been marking time
I've been living in another country
That operates along entirely different lines
Keep me away from porter or whiskey
Don't play anything sentimental it'll make me cry
I've got to go back my friend
Is there really any need to ask why?”

Van Morrison

Got to Go Back
Song lyrics, No Guru (1986)

Time , Cry , Country

“Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it.”

Van Morrison

Take It Where You Find It
Song lyrics, Wavelength (1978)

Men , Books , Star , Sea

“And when that foghorn blows,
I will be coming home,
When that foghorn blows,
I wanna hear it, I don't have to fear it,
And I wanna rock your gypsy soul,
Just like way back in the days of old,
And magnificently we will fold
Into the mystic.”

Van Morrison

Into the Mystic
Song lyrics, Moondance (1970)

Fear , Way , Home , Soul

“The warm look of radiance on your face
And your heart beating close to mine
And the evening fading in the candle glow
This must be what it's all about
Oh this must be what it's all about
This must be what paradise is like
So quiet in here. So peaceful in here
So quiet in here, yeah, so peaceful in here.”

Van Morrison

So Quiet In Here
Song lyrics, Enlightenment (1990)

Peace , Heart

“When a man comes through
He must do what he's supposed to do
When a man comes through.
He can't do what everyone expects him to.”

Van Morrison

A New Kind of Man
Song lyrics, A Sense of Wonder (1985)

“Put your money where your mouth is
Then we can get something going
In order to win you must be prepared to lose sometime
And leave one or two cards showing.”

Van Morrison

Hard Nose the Highway
Song lyrics, Hard Nose the Highway (1973)

Money

“When you come down
From your Ivory Tower
You will see how it really must be
To be like me, to see like me,
To feel like me.”

Van Morrison

Ivory Tower
Song lyrics, No Guru (1986)

Feeling

“Fair play to you,
Kilarney's lakes are so blue,
And the architecture I'm taking in with my mind,
So fine.”

Van Morrison

Fair Play
Song lyrics, Veedon Fleece (1974)

“And I shall search my soul,
I shall search my very soul,
For the lion,
For the lion,
For the lion,
For the lion inside me.”

Van Morrison

Listen to the Lion
Song lyrics, Saint Dominic's Preview (1972)

Soul , Search

“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.”

Van Morrison

In the Garden
Song lyrics, No Guru (1986)

Nature , Teachers

“I don't think I will ever mellow out. I think if you mellow out, you get eaten up. You become like a commodity. So I don't think I will mellow out. It is not in my blood.”

Van Morrison

An Oral History of Popular Music (1989)

Thinking

“Waiting for the sun to shine
And you know sometimes it gets so painful
Just like talking to yourself
When everything don't seem to have no rhyme or reason we all go
Do do loo do do, do do loo do do
Waiting for the sun to shine.”

Van Morrison

(Straight to Your Heart) Like a Cannonball
Song lyrics, Tupelo Honey (1971)

Pain , Waiting , Sun

“Someone to hold onto
And keep me from all fear
Someone to be my guiding light
And keep me ever dear
To keep me from my selfishness
To keep me from my sorrow
To lead me on to givingness
So I can see a new tomorrow.”

Van Morrison

If I Ever Needed Someone
Song lyrics, His Band and the Street Choir (1970)

Fear , Light , Selfishness

“I've never been comfortable working live, and I'm still not. I was always more music-oriented and less star-oriented, which is why I've never been comfortable on big stages in big halls.”

Van Morrison

An Oral History of Popular Music (1989)

Music , Star

“When I was fifteen, I became a professional musician. I got involved with people and did certain things which led me to start making records and touring. And leaving Belfast and going to London and America, one thing led to another and I got caught up in the life that I'm living now…I was very young and i followed something.”

Van Morrison

1993
As quoted in Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography (2003) by Clinton Heylin

Life , People

“Have I told you lately that I love you?
Have I told you there's no one above you?
Fill my heart with gladness,
Take away my sadness,
Ease my troubles, that's what you do.”

Van Morrison

Have I Told You Lately
Song lyrics, Avalon Sunset (1989)

love , Cute , Romantic , For Her

“Why did you leave America?
Why did you let me down?
And now that things seem better off,
Why do you come around?
You know I just can't see you now
In my new world crystal ball.
You know I just can't free you now,
That's not my job at all.”

Van Morrison

Street Choir
Song lyrics, His Band and the Street Choir (1970)

World

“And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like Jelly Roll
And it stoned me
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like goin' home.
And it stoned me.”

Van Morrison

And It Stoned Me
Song lyrics, Moondance (1970)

Home , Soul

“People think I'm eccentric, cranky. If I'm eccentric because I've never been into mainstream things, then I am eccentric.”

Van Morrison

An Oral History of Popular Music (1989)

People , Thinking

“You can't stop us on the road to freedom
You can't stop us 'cause our eyes can see
Men with insight, men in granite
Knights in armor intent on chivalry.”

Van Morrison

Tupelo Honey
Song lyrics, Tupelo Honey (1971)

Men , Freedom

“There is one thing I don't understand about Astral Weeks. Of all the records I have ever made that one is definitely not rock. You could throw that record at the wall, take it to music colleges, analyze it to death. Nobody is going to tell me that it is a rock album. Why they keep calling it one I have no idea.”

Van Morrison

An Oral History of Popular Music (1989)

Death , Music , Idea , Understanding

“To Santa Fe
Do you need it?
Can you feel it in the same old way?
I can feel it from the mountain top
Runnin' down to the foamy brine
In a rest'rant 'cross a table top
Looking into a glass of wine
Whispering in the evening breeze
Green leaves glist'ning eucalyptus trees
Can you hear them?
Or get near them?”

Van Morrison

Santa Fe/Beautiful Obsession
Song lyrics, Wavelength (1978)

Way , Feeling , Mountain , Tree

“In the land of a thousand dances,
I dance with you.
I was out I was taking my chances
When dreams came true
When you came into my dream
Like from a whisper to a scream.”

Van Morrison

Heavy Connection
Song lyrics, A Period of Transition (1977)

Dreams , Chance , Dance

“Oh redwood tree,
Please let us under,
When we were young we used to go,
Under the redwood tree,
And it smelled like rain,
Maybe even thunder,
Won't you keep us from all harm,
Wonderful redwood tree.”

Van Morrison

Redwood Tree
Song lyrics, Saint Dominic's Preview (1972)

Tree

“Your street, rich street or poor
Used to always be sure, on your street
There's a place in your heart you know from the start
Can't be complete outside of the street
Keep moving on through the joy and the pain
Sometimes you got to look back
To the street again
Would you prefer all those castles in Spain?
Or the view of your street from your window pane?”

Van Morrison

The Street Only Knew Your Name
Song lyrics, Inarticulate Speech of the Heart (1983)

Pain , Heart , Joy

“Whatever it takes to fulfill his mission
That is the way we must go
But you've got to do it your own way
Tear down the old, bring up the new.”

Van Morrison

When Will I Ever Learn to Live in God?
Song lyrics, Avalon Sunset (1989)

Way , Tear

“By the winding stream we shall lie and dream
We'll make dreams come true if we want them to
Yes all will come play the pipes and drum
Sing a happy song and we'll sing along.”

Van Morrison

Everyone
Song lyrics, Moondance (1970)

Lie , Dreams , Singing , Happiness

“I'm in heaven, I'm in heaven
I'm in heaven when you smile, when you smile.”

Van Morrison

Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)
Song lyrics, Saint Dominic's Preview (1972)

Smile

“And all the girls walk by
Dressed up for each other
And the boys do the boogie-woogie
On the corner of the street
And the people passin' by
Just stare in wild wonder
And the inside juke-box
Roars out just like thunder.”

Van Morrison

Wild Night
Song lyrics, Tupelo Honey (1971)

People , Girl , Boy , Box

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