driving on a fall day

Posted over 3 years ago

Artist:
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Van Morrison
Album:
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- QUEUE
Astral Weeks
Track:
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- QUEUE
The Way Young Lovers Do

i'd grown up listening to Van Morrison. i can't ever remember not enjoying his music. there's something different though, when you enjoy a thing simply because you've always been exposed to it as opposed to discovering it on your own. every once in awhile though, you discover some other aspect of it that you didn't notice before and suddenly, you have this different love for it, like you've truly made it your own. this is what happened to me and my love of Van Morrison. one day, i must have been around 22 or so, i was in my car listening to public radio and they played "The way young lovers do" and i was stunned by what i was hearing. this was not the mellow Van my mom played around the house, it was upbeat and exciting and to me it felt, well, exactly like young lovers. the weekend after i heard that song, the guy i was seeing at the time, took me to Lawrence, Ks a great college town not far from where i lived, for my birthday. the drive is beautiful anytime of the year (with the exception of the grayest days of winter) but it's absolutely breathtaking in the fall and October is about it's peak. so, while walking Mass St. i of course had to stop at the local record store and the first thing i looked for was Astral Weeks. birthday luck must have been on my side because they had it. i rushed to the counter and proceeded to purchase, what has come to be, one of my best birthday gifts to myself. luckily, the record store had been our last stop of the day and i was able to get immediate gratification by hopping back into the car to listen to my new cd. the ride back home was leisurely. the sun was warm on me through the windows, the sky was that perfect fall blue, so clear and crisp, and all around us we were surrounded by blazing fall leaves. we didn't talk, we listened to the album, each song such a perfect compliment to the ending fall day. that was when Van Morrison became my love, my own, not just inherited.

http://pinkfish13.multiply.com/music/item/16

Comments (11)

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RobP says Astral Weeks is one of the all-time great albums, Van's vocals amazing even on the Van scale. A bit odd that you got turned onto it via an upbeat song on the radio, though. Not disagreeing, I've put Young Lovers Do on mixes, but it's a real quiet record, and not a lot on it is calling out for radio play. It's also one of my wife's favorite albums (musical agreement between spouses is a great thing) and, as a sidenote, contains Phil Ochs's favorite Van song, Like A Ballerina (I think I'm getting that part right).

Permalink posted 09/03/2006
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pinkfish says it was played on a NPR music program, so not a typical top 40 radio station.

Permalink posted 09/03/2006
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RobP says Well, you said public and I knew nothing on Astral was top 40. But even on public radio, Like Young Lovers Do is really the only song on the album that sounds like a single. Great song too, but I think we'll have to rely on college dj's to play pretty much anything else from Astral Weeks on the radio. The great thing is, people in their teens and twenties are exactly the people who would stumble across this album, fall in love with it, and feel the need to share their discovery. Course, I'm 47, and I still get excited when I discover a new band - new to me that is, they could be ancient - but I don't have nearly as much time as I'd like to look for music. Does remind me of a few years back, I was driving and heard this beautiful r&b song, "Your Love Is Amazing" by Robert Ward, great guitarist who I found out later had played a ton of Motown sessions in the 60s and 70s. But the moment I found out he was a Motown session man I knew he'd played with the Temptations, which I wound up reading about later but I could tell by the sound. So, it's a little off from Astral Weeks, but since it last minute reminded me I'm last minute recommending.

Permalink posted 09/03/2006
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david hyman says i fell into moondance first, hard. then someone who's taste i didn't respect told me about astral works. i resisted for years because the plug came from him. but he was right.

Permalink posted 09/03/2006
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RobP says I hate when my reverse barometers don't work. And David, you look a lot better. The Wilder thing was bugging me, especially if I saw it during this Hubcap song where they sample him as Willie Wonka. A friend of mine, a terrific r & b guitar player, thought Moondance was possibly the best rock album ever, but it never did much for me. Too pop, too much hippy bad lyrics. In fact, it's often best to not know what words Van is singing, as they are frequently about either very young girls or doughnuts. Astral Weeks to me is far and away his best album, St. Dominic's Preview (whatever the hell that's about) my second favorite studio record, and the live album It's Too Late To Stop Now another absolute Must have (I'm really emphatic about that one right now because I don't have it). Cheers, Rob

Permalink posted 09/03/2006
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fairportfan says *Irish Heartbeat* (with the Chieftans) is an incredible exploration of the Celtic heritage. (Currently listed new/used for $45 and up on Amazon...) Carrickfergus just about breaks my heart every time i hear it (part of it was turned ino the lame-o the-world-is-so-wonderful song The Water is Wide) ...but i am sick and my days are numbered; so come all ye young men and lay me down...

Permalink posted 09/04/2006
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B42 says Saw Van play Jones Beach a few weeks ago, still great !!!! http://mog.com/B42/blog_post/8410

Permalink posted 09/04/2006
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lemontwist says Awesome story. :) I love Van Morrison, I was also exposed to his music when I was young. My dad bought a portable CD player in 1994 for a few hundred dollars, and one of the first CDs he bought was Moondance. (He also has it on vinyl, which I, of course, have since "borrowed.") Anyway, on my 5th grade field trip to New York City, I borrowed his portable CD player and listened to the Van Morrison record all the way there. I didn't really know what I was listening to (I just knew it as "the record with the guy's face") but I've since loved that album. :)

Permalink posted 09/04/2006
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jrock says I read your posting in slow motion just to take every detail in. I, too, discovered Van in my early 20s. But, geesh... to hear you describe your fall day with Astral Weeks served as a true testiment for why I, personally, hold his music so dear. I live in the midwest... we are just a few weeks away from brilliant fall colors, crisp fall days, and the earthy fall smell in the air. In my book, the perfect soundtrack for a perfect fall day is Van Morrison... possibly Astral Weeks. Great story... very enjoyable. "...And I will raise my hand up Into the night time sky And count the stars Thats shining in your eye Just to dig it all and not to wonder..."

Permalink posted 09/04/2006
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kb says sweet thing=my favorite song, literally.

Permalink posted 09/04/2006
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RobP says There's also a nice version of Carrickfergus by Brian Ferry - he croons it of course.

Permalink posted 09/04/2006