Van Morrison: Down

“And I shall drive my chariot
Down your streets and cry
'Hey, it's me, I'm dynamite
And I don't know why'
We shall walk and talk
In gardens all misty wet with rain
And I will never, never, never
Grow so old again”

Van Morrison

Sweet Thing
Song lyrics, Astral Weeks (1969)

Cry

“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

“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

“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

“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

“Come here my love
And I will lift my spirits high for you
I'd like to fly away and spend a day or two
Just contemplating the fields and leaves and talking about nothing
Just layin' down in shades of effervescent, effervescent odors
And shades of time and tide.”

Van Morrison

Come Here My Love
Song lyrics, Veedon Fleece (1974)

Love , Time , Flying

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“And you know you gotta go
On that train from Dublin up to Sandy Row
Throwing pennies at the bridges down below
And the rain, hail, sleet, and snow
Say goodbye to Madame George
Dry your eye for Madame George
Wonder why for Madame George”

Van Morrison

Madame George
Song lyrics, Astral Weeks (1969)

Training

“Turn up your radio and let me hear the song
Switch on your electric light
Then we can get down to what is really wrong
I long to hold you tight so I can feel you
Sweet lady of the night I shall reveal you.”

Van Morrison

Caravan
Song lyrics, Moondance (1970)

Feeling , Light , Night

“Rave on, down through the industrial revolution
Empiricism, atomic and nuclear age
Rave on down through time and space down through the corridors
Rave on words on printed page.”

Van Morrison

Rave On, John Donne
Song lyrics, Inarticulate Speech of the Heart (1983)

Age , Time

“Like I say, the way I write songs is, you know, inspirational. I have to wait for it to happen. And when it happens I get lines, and I just write them down, you know. I'm not sort of a Tin Pan Alley sort of songwriter. I just sort of write down what I get - without censoring or questioning what it is and what it means, you know. Like later on I look at what it means, but not at the time.”

Van Morrison

"Nights in Copenhagen with Van Morrison" (1985) interview by Al Jones

Way , Question , Time , Waiting

“You know what they're writing about
Baby you know what they're writing about
It's a thing called love down through the ages
Makes you wanna cry sometimes
Makes you feel like you wanna lay down and die sometimes
Makes you high sometimes
But when you really get in it lifts you right up.”

Van Morrison

You Know What They're Writing About
Song lyrics, Into the Music (1979)

Love , Age , Feeling , Baby

“Hey where did we go,
Days when the rains came
Down in the hollow,
Playin' a new game,
Laughing and a running hey, hey
Skipping and a jumping
In the misty morning fog with
Our hearts a thumpin' and you
My brown eyed girl,
You my brown eyed girl.”

Van Morrison

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

Girl , Game , Heart

“Did you ever hear about the great deception?
Well the plastic revolutionaries take the money and run.
Have you ever been down to love city?
Where they rip you off with a smile,
And it don't take a gun.”

Van Morrison

The Great Deception
Song lyrics, Hard Nose the Highway (1973)

Love , Money , Smile