Van Morrison: Going

Van Morrison is Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. Explore interesting quotes on going.

Van Morrison: 200 quotes5 likes

“My back was up against the wall
And you slowly just walked away
You never really heard my call
When I cried out that way
With my face against the sun
You pointed out for me to go
Then you said I was the one
Had to reap what you did sow.”

These Dreams of You
Song lyrics, Moondance (1970)

“I can't sell myself. And I don't even want to. That's something that's not going to change.”

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.

“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.”

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

“With Moondance, I wrote the melody first. I played the melody on a soprano sax and I knew I had a song so I wrote lyrics to go with the melody. That's the way I wrote that one. I don't really have any words to particularly describe the song, sophisticated is probably the word I'm looking for. For me, Moondance is a sophisticated song. Frank Sinatra wouldn't be out of place singing that.”

As quoted in Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison (1997) by Brian Hinton, p. 106

“Linden Arden stole the highlights
With one hand tied behind his back.
Loved the morning sun and whiskey
Ran like water in his veins.
Loved to go to church on Sunday,
Even though he was a drinkin' man.
When the boys came to San Francisco,
They were looking for his life.
But he found out where they were drinking,
Met them face to face outside.
Cleaved their heads off with a hatchet,
Lord, he was a drinkin' man.
And when somebody tried to get above him,
He just took the law into his own hands.
Linden Arden stole the highlights,
And they put his fingers through the glass.
He had heard all those stories many, many times before,
And he did not care, nor know, to ask.
And he loved the little children like they were his very own.
You say 'Someday, he may get lonely,
Now he's livin', livin' with a gun.”

Linden Arden Stole the Highlights
Song lyrics, Veedon Fleece (1974)

“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.”

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

“Don't want to discuss it, I think it's time for a change.
You may get disgusted, some think that I'm strange
In that case I'll go underground, get some heavy rest
Never have to worry, about what is worst and what is best.”

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

“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?”

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

“I look at the side of your face as the sunlight comes
Streaming through the window in the autumn sunshine
And all the time going to Coney Island I'm thinking,
Wouldn't it be great if it was like this all the time.”

Coney Island
Song lyrics, Avalon Sunset (1989)

“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.”

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

“And there's only one man knows way to go,
And we say 'Geronimo.”

Fair Play
Song lyrics, Veedon Fleece (1974)

“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.”

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

“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.”

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

“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.”

An Oral History of Popular Music (1989)

“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.”

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

“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.”

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

“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”

Madame George
Song lyrics, Astral Weeks (1969)

“The odd time something happens and you go into some kind of enchantment (on stage). But you have to work very hard to get that. Most of the time you're just playing and singing the songs, and there's no guarantee that you are going to get anywhere….”

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

“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.”

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

“Let go into the mystery
Let yourself go
You've got to open up your heart
That's all I know
Trust what I say and do what you're told
Baby, and all your dirt will turn
Into gold.”

The Mystery
Song lyrics, Poetic Champions Compose (1987)