A sunny afternoon in late October. I have just been listening to Autumn Song on Van Morrison's Hard Nose The Highway album of 1973. It is a song that is often over-looked by critics and fans, but if you are in the right mood and really listen, then it is ten minutes and forty-seven seconds of pure, unhurried cool jazz. It is very simple, with just the piano of Jeff Labes, subtle guitar of John Platania & Van and the percussion of Gary Mallabar being the backing for Van’s vocals, a lot of which seems improvised in the studio. Van’s singing seems very relaxed, and it sounds like he is enjoying himself. You almost think the song is ending after seven minutes, but then Van carries on improvising for a further three minutes or so, “Way out in the distance, you can hear the church bells chime, it’s so peaceful inside”. Van gets so into the song that as the song finally ends, he exclaims, “I believe I’ve transcended myself child”.
It is the perfect song for an autumn day, and makes you want to hear more. Autumn (or fall, as Americans call it) seems to be Van’s favourite time of the year. On his Back On Top album he complains that High Summer gets him down, and on The Healing Game he moans ‘Gotta get through January, gotta get through February’. He seems to quite like Paris in the month of May, but I think he sings about Autumn more than any other season. I wonder why that is? Autumn can be glorious, but we all know that it means winter is on the way, which gives an underlying feeling of melancholia. Maybe, that’s why it suits Van’s mood.
One of my favourite Van songs about Autumn is When The Leaves Come Falling Down from 1999. When we saw Van in Torquay almost exactly three years ago in October 2018, we spotted Van in the hotel and wrote down a request each on a piece of paper and passed it to him. This song was my request because it perfectly suited the time of year. That evening Van sang it, and it was the highlight of the concert for me. I don’t agree that it is September when the leaves come tumblin’ down though. Where I live it is more like October, but I won’t quibble over that.
I don’t like Golden Autumn Day much because it isn’t really about autumn, but Van having a rant about an attempted mugging that happened to him. I don’t think Van likes it all that much either because he only performed it six times live. Orangefield on the other hand is a fabulous song about a golden autumn day. The lyrics are quite insubstantial, On a golden autumn day, you came my way, In Orangefield. It is the melody and the vocals which make it such a great song. If we get a couple of weeks of sunshine at this time of year we call it an Indian Summer, so Meet Me In The Indian Summer is another Van song on an autumnal theme. The original version on the Down The Road album wasn’t one of my favourite songs, but there is an orchestral version which I think is a lot better. You can find it on The Best Of Van Morrison Volume 3.
One of Van’s most famous songs Moondance is autumnal of course. ‘A fantabulous night to make romance, 'neath the cover of October skies, and all the leaves on the trees are falling, to the sound of the breezes that blow’. Van seems to enjoy nothing more than putting on his greatcoat and going for a walk in the woods in the days of the leaves, as in A Sense Of Wonder, I said I could describe the leaves for Samuel and Felicity, Rich, red browney, half burnt orange and green. or When Heart Is Open. Oh, hand me down my great coat I believe I'll go walkin' in the woods. Van loves leaves, in a song I mentioned earlier he sings about the wisdom of the leaves and their grace, and in Little Village he says, It’s raining in the forest, Just enough to magnetize the leaves.
Anyway, I’m drying up now, like autumn leaves. I can’t think of any other Van songs at the moment with references to Autumn without trawling through all the lyrics. I bet there are lots more though. If you can think of any let me know and I’ll add them in.
PS, I took the photos a couple of weeks ago at Stourhead when Autumn was just beginning.
pps, Thanks to Hans Driezen for reminding me that Van also mentioned golden autumn days in the song Tir Na Nog.
'We made a big connection, On a golden autumn day, we were standing in the garden wet with rain, and our souls were young again, in Tir Na Nog'.
Also in Memory Lane, 'It's autumn time, coming on November, I view the leaves in all their splendour'.
ppps, I just remembered that Van also mentions autumn and leaves a tumblin' down in his song The Waiting Game. 'There is a presence deep within you, sometimes they call it higher flame, and when the leaves come tumbling down remember, i'll be waiting on the waiting game'.
pppps, In Cyprus Avenue Van sings, 'And the leaves fall one by one,and call the autumn time a fool'
