Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison, OBEis a Northern Irish singer, songwriter and musician. He has received six Grammy Awards, the 1994 Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, and has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2016 he was knighted for his musical achievements and his services to tourism and charitable causes in Northern Ireland...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionRock Singer
Date of Birth31 August 1945
CityBelfast, Northern Ireland
When the spirit moves me, I can do many wondrous things.
When I started studying tenor saxophone as a kid in Belfast, I did so with a guy named George Cassidy, who was also a big inspiration.
When I think of that dear rugged cross where the dear Saviour gave his all... When I feel like I'm on my last go round, see me through.
Leave your thoughtlessness behind you then you may begin to understand. Clear the emptiness around you with the waving of your hand.
Do you remember the time darlin' when everything made more sense in the world? Oh I remember, I remember... when life made more sense... Take me back, take me back, take me way back... to when life made more sense.
You can't stop us on the road to freedom, you can't stop us cause our eyes can see.
Go up to the mountain, go up to the glen, where silence will touch you, and heartbreak will mend.
You gotta fight every day to keep mediocrity at bay...
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.
My records do not require a lot of thought of 'What is this?' and 'What is that?' That would be too contrived for me.
I write songs. Then, I record them. And, later, maybe I perform them on stage. That's what I do. That's my job. Simple.
A lot of people who were writing when I came through originally as a singer-songwriter have disappeared.
I think when you get past your second album, it all becomes something of a routine. So you have to struggle against that, find a way of making what you do sound fresh and new each time.
I put out records to this day that are not necessarily in a sequence of anything. Some could be written a while back, some not. There is no set pattern.