Slan Le Van

A cold but sunny morning, sun streaming through the windows warming the kitchen. The ragged Tibetan flags fluttering in the breeze outside. A CD chosen randomly plays. It is by John Hoban gifted by my late brother Paul over twenty years ago. John Hoban is a native of Castlebar County Mayo in Ireland which is where my family came from. so, I can relate to the songs which transport me back to memories of Mayo. My favourite track however was inspired when John saw Van Morrison in a concert that became one of Van’s live albums, A Night In San Francisco in 1993, and that’s the track I want to tell you about. It is called Slan Le Van which translated from Irish means Farewell To Van. Sharon Shannon also recorded a great version of this song in 2000 with John on vocals for her Diamond Mountain Sessions album (See video below). 

Looking for the lyrics on the internet I couldn’t find any, but the song mentions people like Junior Wells, Sonny Boy Williamson, Jimmy Witherspoon and Georgie Fame. Van songs name checked include Full Force Gale, Did Ye Get Healed, Moondance, Madame George, Brand New Day, Tupelo Honey, Domino, Cyprus Avenue, Baby Please Don’t Go, and ends with John exclaiming ‘It’s too late to stop now’. I think it must be my favourite song which mentions Van. After listening to the whole album, I was shaken out of my Mayo reverie by the post lady knocking on the door who handed me a parcel containing a book.  I’ll tell you all about that when I have read it.