Music Deep Irish soul
By MATT STOULIL
Van Morrisons music has been
called many things over the years -- introspective, restless, reflective,
poetic, serene, even spiritual. Though the latter of these terms can be loaded,
it seems to fit Morrisons artistic vision. His music oozes from a
romantic Irish soul. He writes songs that stand the test of time and pay no
mind to trendy pop culture revelations.
With his latest release, Down the Road, this Irish
crooner offers up a collection of songs for the wanderer within everyone.
Writer and pianist Ben Sidran writes in the albums liner notes that
there is only one road, infinitely connected, like the grooves on an old
record, endlessly leading away from home and back toward home at the same time.
Its all one long journey, and traveling is just what we do to stay
alive.
Down the Road is heavily laden with the rhythm and
blues influences of Morrisons youth. His mother was a jazz singer and his
father a blues enthusiast.
Born George Ivan Morrison in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Aug.
31, 1945, he was playing guitar, saxophone and harmonica by age 11 in Irish
dance halls with skiffle or jug bands. By 1960, Morrison had left
school to pursue music as a career. In 1963, he formed a group called Them,
which culled a fervent following as the house band at Belfasts Maritime
Hotel. They had a hit with the Big Joe Williams blues number Baby Please
Dont Go, and then Here Comes the Night, Morrisons
own composition, became the groups first stateside hit in 1965, cracking
the Top 40.
Soon after, Morrison found himself without a band. He had a string
of hits and successful albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and though the
albums still came during this decade, it was not until the late 70s and
early 80s that Morrison seemed to find his second wind. During this time,
Morrisons writing style was contemplative and soul-searching. His 1978
Into the Music evoked a more spiritual perspective toward
music.
In 1982, Inarticulate Speech of the Heart was
released, followed by A Sense of Wonder in 1985 and No Guru,
No Method, No Teacher in 1986. Each of these albums was laden with themes
of faith and healing, of poetic spirituality. Avalon Sunset in 1989
contained the U.K. Top 20 hit Whenever God Shines His Light. The
albums Enlightenment and Hymns to the Silence followed
shortly thereafter. The Healing Game arrived in 1997, and seemed to
show signs of an introspective Morrison, an artist trying to interpret the life
and the music he made over the past 30 years, but most notably throughout the
80s.
Now, in a new millennium, Van Morrison has released a record that
is nostalgic while at the same time forward thinking. What still drives
Morrisons music in 2002 are his affinity for American roots music and his
own unique sense of soulful humanity. Down the Road marks a time
when the artist is looking back on his many years as a troubadour, while
barreling into new pastures and trying to find [his] way back home
down the road of peace, as he shares in the title track.
This introspection can also be found in The Beauty of the
Days Gone By:
The beauty of the days gone by It brings a longing to my
soul, To contemplate my own true self, And keep me young as I grow
old.
Meet Me in the Indian Summer is a tale of romance and
longing using planetary imagery to illustrate limitless love:
Its not bound by any definition It isnt written
in the stars Its not limited like Saturn Isnt ruled by
Mercury or Mars.
Talk is Cheap unfolds an amusing, upbeat blues
argument, an ode to big mouths. Its opening stanzas reveal the cons of being an
unnecessary blowhard:
Kicked your gift-horse in the teeth Crowd gathered round in
the street You killed your savior, new one cant be found Talk is
cheap, your saviors highway bound.
What Makes the Irish Heart Beat, an anthem for the
vagabond Irish, is as restless as the feel of this entire album:
All that trouble all that grief, Thats why I had to leave
Oh so far away from home, But I know Ive got to
roam. Thats what makes the Irish heart beat.
Morrison also sneaks in an old familiar standby, Georgia on
my Mind. This rendition, its weeping saxophone and organ melded with his
seasoned vocals, is the only track untouched by Morrisons pen on
Down the Road.
While Van Morrison has written volumes of moving, meaningful music
over the years, he is modest about his craft. In a 1997 interview with
Entertainment Weekly, Morrison underestimates the scope of his music and
the effect he has on his listeners. People talk about mystery.
Theres no mystery about what I do. Its straightforward.
Morrison weaves feeling and beauty into his songs, but he does not want to be
pigeonholed as a guru of sorts. Some of the songs might be mystic, but
some of them are very non-mystical. Some of them are very brutal.
Down the Road contains mystic Morrison tunes, yet it
also contains lighthearted love songs, blues and catchy compositions. As
always, Morrison is deep, but not all of his songs are as heavy as his romantic
Irish soul.
Matt Stoulil is NCR layout assistant, a bass player and
an avid observer of the music world. His e-mail address is
mstoulil@natcath.org
National Catholic Reporter, August 2,
2002
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