75 Van Songs by Stuart Bailie

A new book arrived at my house yesterday called 75 Van Songs by Stuart Bailie. A nice hardback book of 178 pages with an attractive dust jacket and lavishly illustrated with great black and white photos. It celebrates the work of Van Morrison to mark this milestone year in his life. The writer Stuart Bailie has had a long career as a music journalist and is a former assistant editor at NME and author of several books. He is based in Belfast and his choice of songs is very Belfast and Northern Ireland oriented which is not surprising, but other places which have also inspired Van such as London, USA, Denmark and the west of England do get a look in as well. As it was a dark and rainy day yesterday I stayed at home and read the book in one sitting. I was pleased to learn something new straight away in Stuart’s introduction. On the original recording of Madame George that later appeared on the TB Sheets album you can hear an Irish voice (presumably Van) who says, ‘Get yer fur boots on, what about big Aggie’. I had forgotten about this for decades until recently when Bronagh Gallagher repeated it on her version of And The Healing Has Begun in a video for Hot Press magazine’s recent celebration of Van. Apparently, Aggie is a generic Belfast character made famous by a comedian called James Young. I am grateful that mystery has been solved for me.

Down the Cyprus Avenue.

This is not a countdown of Stuart’s favourite 75 Van songs. It is his choice of 75 songs which relate to him in a personal way and show how Van’s work is influenced by his surroundings. They are arranged alphabetically, from Across The Bridge Where Angels Dwell to You Know What They’re Writing About. I don’t always agree with Stuart’s interpretation of the songs and lyrics, but that is ok because the listener is entitled to find whatever meaning they want in the music and even Van himself has said that he sometimes doesn’t know where the songs came from either. However, it is interesting to read other people’s point of view, and you can learn something new. For instance, I always thought that the term fair play was an Irish expression, but apparently it can be found in Shakespeare’s plays. I  thought that Connswater was just an enjoyable instrumental track and Van merely gave it that title because he had to call it something, so named it after a local river. Stuart though sees deeper meanings and connects it to the Orange Order and the summer marching season. He might have a point, but that had never occurred to me because I like to think Van transcends all that sectarian stuff.

I especially enjoyed reading Stuart’s view of Cyprus Avenue with the references to William Blake and comparing Cyprus Avenue to Peckham Rye where Blake saw angels in trees. Angels frequently appear in Van songs as well. I also liked Stuart’s explanation of the immobile steel rims because I have often pondered the meaning of that. When I finished reading I was surprised when I realised that Stuart only chose one song from after 2005 which is Dark Night Of The Soul. I think Van has produced some great songs since then, but it is Stuart's book, not mine. The best benefit of reading this book yesterday for me was that it got me listening to Van again. While reading the book I listened to Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart, St Dominic’s Preview and Beautiful Vision. I had not played any Van for a few weeks because I have been a bit annoyed recently with Van’s views on the lockdown and his demands for capacity audiences at concerts again. As most of his fans are in a high-risk age group that would be a recipe for disaster in my opinion. The lockdown songs he has produced are a low point in his career and best forgotten. Stuart’s book is a reminder of the fabulous body of work that Van has produced during his long career, and that is what is important. Thank you, Stuart Bailie for a most enjoyable read.