Van Morrison

Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison, OBE (born August 31, 1945), generally known as Van Morrison, is aNorthern Irish singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and record producer from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He plays a variety of instruments, including the guitar, harmonica, keyboards, drums, and saxophone. Featuring his characteristic growl — a unique mix of throaty folk, blues, Irish, scat, and Celtic influences — Morrison is widely considered one of the most unusual and influential vocalists in the history of rock and roll.

Quotes

 * Music to me is spontaneous, writing is spontaneous and it's all based on not trying to do it. From beginning to end, whether it's writing a song, or playing guitar, or a particular chord sequence, or blowing a horn, it's based on improvisation and spontaneity.
 * Interview by Dermot Stokes in Hot Press (March 1978)


 * Where I feel this has cost me is in the personality situation, where you're expected to be a personality. You not only have to write and record, but you have to go out and sell it. Well, I'm not a salesman, and I'm very bad at selling things. If I had to do that for a living, I'd probably be completely broke. I can't sell myself. And I don't even want to. That's something that's not going to change.
 * Interview in Musician magazine (1987)


 * Someone once described me as a maverick and that's what I would say. I'm a maverick not by choice but by conviction.
 * As quoted in Too Late to Stop Now (1993) by Steve Turner


 * Like I say, the way I write songs is, you know, inspirational. I have to wait for it to happen. And when it happens I get lines, and I just write them down, you know. I'm not sort of a Tin Pan Alley sort of songwriter. I just sort of write down what I get - without censoring or questioning what it is and what it means, you know. Like later on I look at what it means, but not at the time.
 * "Nights in Copenhagen with Van Morrison" (1985) interview by Al Jones


 * Music is spiritual. The music business is not.
 * The Times [London] (6 July 1990)


 * With Moondance, I wrote the melody first. I played the melody on a soprano sax and I knew I had a song so I wrote lyrics to go with the melody. That's the way I wrote that one. I don't really have any words to particularly describe the song, sophisticated is probably the word I'm looking for. For me, Moondance is a sophisticated song. Frank Sinatra wouldn't be out of place singing that.
 * As quoted in Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison (1997) by Brian Hinton, p. 106


 * The odd time something happens and you go into some kind of enchantment (on stage). But you have to work very hard to get that.  Most of the time you're just playing and singing the songs, and there's no guarantee that you are going to get anywhere....
 * As quoted in Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography (2003) by Clinton Heylin


 * When I was fifteen, I became a professional musician. I got involved with people and did certain things which led me to start making records and touring. And leaving Belfast and going to London and America, one thing led to another and I got caught up in the life that I'm living now...I was very young and i followed something. (1993)
 * As quoted in Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography (2003) by Clinton Heylin

An Oral History of Popular Music (1989)
Smith, Joe, Off The Record An Oral History of Popular Music, Warner Books, Inc., ISBN 0-446-51232-X


 * There is one thing I don't understand about Astral Weeks. Of all the records I have ever made that one is definitely not rock. You could throw that record at the wall, take it to music colleges, analyze it to death. Nobody is going to tell me that it is a rock album. Why they keep calling it one I have no idea.


 * People think I'm eccentric, cranky. If I'm eccentric because I've never been into mainstream things, then I am eccentric.


 * I've never been comfortable working live, and I'm still not.  I was always more music-oriented and less star-oriented, which is why I've never been comfortable on big stages in big halls.


 * The people I was listening to never sold a lot of records. John Lee Hooker was never on the charts, so I was never in it from a commercial point of view.  Other people expected things from my records, but I never did.


 * I don't think I will ever mellow out. I think if you mellow out, you get eaten up.  You become like a commodity.  So I don't think I will mellow out.  It is not in my blood.

Blowin' Your Mind! (1967)

 * Hey where did we go, Days when the rains came Down in the hollow, Playin' a new game, Laughing and a running hey, hey Skipping and a jumping In the misty morning fog with Our hearts a thumpin' and you My brown eyed girl, You my brown eyed girl.
 * Brown Eyed Girl


 * So hard to find my way, Now that I'm all on my own. I saw you just the other day, My how you have grown, Cast my memory back there, Lord Sometimes I'm overcome thinking 'bout Making love in the green grass Behind the stadium with you My brown eyed girl You my brown eyed girl.
 * Brown Eyed Girl

Astral Weeks (1969)

 * If I ventured in the slipstream, Between the viaducts of your dream, Where immobile steel rims crack, And the ditch in the back roads stop, Could you find me? Would you kiss my eyes? To lay me down, In silence easy, To be born again. To be born again.
 * Astral Weeks


 * Got a home on high Ain't nothing but a stranger in this world I'm nothing but a stranger in this world I got a home on high In another land So far away.
 * Astral Weeks


 * Way over on the railroad, Tomorrow all the tipping trucks will unload together, Every scrapbook stuck with glue, And I'll stand beside you, Beside you, child.
 * Beside You


 * The dynamo of your smile caressed a barefoot virgin child to wander.
 * Beside You


 * And I shall drive my chariot Down your streets and cry 'Hey, it's me, I'm dynamite And I don't know why' We shall walk and talk In gardens all misty wet with rain And I will never, never, never Grow so old again
 * Sweet Thing


 * Yonder comes my lady Rainbow ribbons in her hair Yonder comes my lady Rainbow ribbons in her hair Six white horses and a carriage She's returning from the fair
 * Cyprus Avenue


 * And you know you gotta go On that train from Dublin up to Sandy Row Throwing pennies at the bridges down below And the rain, hail, sleet, and snow Say goodbye to Madame George Dry your eye for Madame George Wonder why for Madame George
 * Madame George


 * And this time I forget to slip into your slumber The light is on the left side of your head And I'm standing in your doorway And I'm mumbling and I can't remember the last thing that ran through my head
 * Ballerina


 * Saw you early this morning With your brand new boy and your Cadillac Saw you early this morning With your brand new boy and your Cadillac You're gone for something And I know you won't be back
 * Slim Slow Slider

Moondance (1970)

 * Well it's a marvelous night for a moondance, With the stars up above in your eyes. 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. And I'm trying to please to the calling Of your heart-strings that play soft and low. And all the night's magic seems to whisper and hush, And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush. Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love? Can I just make some more romance with you, my love?
 * Moondance


 * I can hear her heart beat from a thousand miles And the heavens open every time she smiles And when I come to her that's where I belong Yet I'm running to her like a river's song.
 * Crazy Love


 * Turn up your radio and let me hear the song Switch on your electric light Then we can get down to what is really wrong I long to hold you tight so I can feel you Sweet lady of the night I shall reveal you.
 * Caravan


 * And it stoned me to my soul Stoned me just like Jelly Roll And it stoned me And it stoned me to my soul Stoned me just like goin' home. And it stoned me.
 * And It Stoned Me


 * Hark, now hear the sailors cry, Smell the sea and feel the sky. Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic.
 * Into the Mystic


 * And when that foghorn blows, I will be coming home, When that foghorn blows, I wanna hear it, I don't have to fear it, And I wanna rock your gypsy soul, Just like way back in the days of old, And magnificently we will fold Into the mystic.
 * Into the Mystic


 * My back was up against the wall And you slowly just walked away You never really heard my call When I cried out that way With my face against the sun You pointed out for me to go Then you said I was the one Had to reap what you did sow.
 * These Dreams of You


 * When all the dark clouds roll away And the sun begins to shine I see my freedom from across the way And it comes right in on time Well it shines so bright and it gives so much light And it comes from the sky above Makes me feel so free makes me feel like me And lights my life with love.
 * Brand New Day


 * I was lost and double crossed, With my hands behind my back. I was longtime hurt and thrown in the dirt, Shoved out on the railroad track. I've been used, abused and so confused, And I had nowhere to run. But I stood and looked, And my eyes got hooked On that beautiful morning sun.
 * Brand New Day


 * By the winding stream we shall lie and dream We'll make dreams come true if we want them to Yes all will come play the pipes and drum Sing a happy song and we'll sing along.
 * Everyone


 * And they'll talk to you while you're in trances And you'll visualize not taking any chances But meet them halfway with love, peace and persuasion And expect them to rise for the occasion.
 * Glad Tidings

His Band and the Street Choir (1970)

 * Don't want to discuss it, I think it's time for a change. You may get disgusted, some think that I'm strange In that case I'll go underground, get some heavy rest Never have to worry, about what is worst and what is best.
 * Domino


 * Someone to hold onto And keep me from all fear Someone to be my guiding light And keep me ever dear To keep me from my selfishness To keep me from my sorrow To lead me on to givingness So I can see a new tomorrow.
 * If I Ever Needed Someone


 * Why did you leave America? Why did you let me down? And now that things seem better off, Why do you come around? You know I just can't see you now In my new world crystal ball. You know I just can't free you now, That's not my job at all.
 * Street Choir

Tupelo Honey (1971)

 * And all the girls walk by Dressed up for each other And the boys do the boogie-woogie On the corner of the street And the people passin' by Just stare in wild wonder And the inside juke-box Roars out just like thunder.
 * Wild Night


 * Waiting for the sun to shine And you know sometimes it gets so painful Just like talking to yourself When everything don't seem to have no rhyme or reason we all go Do do loo do do, do do loo do do Waiting for the sun to shine.
 * (Straight to Your Heart) Like a Cannonball


 * Oh don't it get you Get you when you're through Feel the breezes blowing all around your coat Oh don't it get you When you gotta roam Hear the children singing My daddy's coming home
 * Old Old Woodstock, written by Morrison & George Ivan


 * You can't stop us on the road to freedom You can't stop us 'cause our eyes can see Men with insight, men in granite Knights in armor intent on chivalry She's as sweet as Tupelo honey She's an angel of the first degree She's as sweet as Tupelo honey Just like honey, baby, from the bee
 * Tupelo Honey

Saint Dominic's Preview (1972)

 * I'm in heaven, I'm in heaven I'm in heaven when you smile, when you smile.
 * Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)


 * Laying underneath the stars Can be so much fun Especially when you're feeling good When you're with the one you love.
 * Gypsy


 * And I shall search my soul, I shall search my very soul, For the lion, For the lion, For the lion, For the lion inside me.
 * Listen to the Lion


 * And we're sailing, we're sailing, Way up to Caledonia, We're from Denmark.
 * Listen to the Lion


 * Oh redwood tree, Please let us under, When we were young we used to go, Under the redwood tree, And it smelled like rain, Maybe even thunder, Won't you keep us from all harm, Wonderful redwood tree.
 * Redwood Tree

Hard Nose the Highway (1973)

 * Look at the ivy on the cold clinging wall Look at the flowers and the green grass so tall It's not a matter of when push comes to shove It's just an hour on the wings of a dove.
 * Warm Love


 * Put your money where your mouth is Then we can get something going In order to win you must be prepared to lose sometime And leave one or two cards showing.
 * Hard Nose the Highway


 * Did you ever hear about the great deception? Well the plastic revolutionaries take the money and run. Have you ever been down to love city? Where they rip you off with a smile, And it don't take a gun.
 * The Great Deception


 * Leaves of brown they fall to the ground. And it's here, over there leaves around. Shut the door, dim the lights and relax. What is more, your desire or the facts?
 * Autumn Song

Veedon Fleece (1974)

 * Fair play to you, Kilarney's lakes are so blue, And the architecture I'm taking in with my mind, So fine.
 * Fair Play


 * And there's only one man knows way to go, And we say 'Geronimo.'
 * Fair Play


 * Hi-ho, silver! Tit for tat! And I love you for that.
 * Fair Play


 * Linden Arden stole the highlights With one hand tied behind his back. Loved the morning sun and whiskey Ran like water in his veins. Loved to go to church on Sunday, Even though he was a drinkin' man. When the boys came to San Francisco, They were looking for his life. But he found out where they were drinking, Met them face to face outside. Cleaved their heads off with a hatchet, Lord, he was a drinkin' man. And when somebody tried to get above him, He just took the law into his own hands. Linden Arden stole the highlights, And they put his fingers through the glass. He had heard all those stories many, many times before, And he did not care, nor know, to ask. And he loved the little children like they were his very own. You say 'Someday, he may get lonely, Now he's livin', livin' with a gun.'
 * Linden Arden Stole the Highlights


 * When the ghost comes round at midnight Well you both can have some fun He can drive you mad, he can make you sad He can keep you from the sun When they take him down, he'll be both safe and sound And the hand does fit the glove And no matter what they tell you, There's good and evil in everyone.
 * Who Was That Masked Man


 * Come here my love And I will lift my spirits high for you I'd like to fly away and spend a day or two Just contemplating the fields and leaves and talking about nothing Just layin' down in shades of effervescent, effervescent odors And shades of time and tide.
 * Come Here My Love

A Period of Transition (1977)

 * Well let them take you for a clown And they're bound to bring you down. You got to make it through the world if you can. Think they're doing you wrong But you got here on your own. You got to make it through the world if you can.
 * You Gotta Make It Through the World


 * In the land of a thousand dances, I dance with you. I was out I was taking my chances When dreams came true When you came into my dream Like from a whisper to a scream.
 * Heavy Connection

Wavelength (1978)

 * And I shall get to know you In these lifetimes In awe and wonder On down through the years The nighttime angel spreads her wings around me I feel the silence And my doubts are cleared.
 * Lifetimes


 * To Santa Fe Do you need it? Can you feel it in the same old way? I can feel it from the mountain top Runnin' down to the foamy brine In a rest'rant 'cross a table top Looking into a glass of wine Whispering in the evening breeze Green leaves glist'ning eucalyptus trees Can you hear them? Or get near them?
 * Santa Fe/Beautiful Obsession


 * Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea They thought great thoughts about liberty Poets wrote down words that did fit Writers wrote books Thinkers thought about it.
 * Take It Where You Find It

Into the Music (1979)

 * From the dark end of the street To the bright side of the road We’ll be lovers once again on the Bright side of the road
 * Bright Side of the Road


 * Some people spend their time just runnin' round in circles Always chasing some exotic bird I prefer to spend some time just listening for that special something That I've never ever heard I like a new song to sing, another show or somewhere entirely different to be But baby you make me feel so free.
 * You Make Me Feel So Free


 * Walkin' on a city street who would think you could ever be touched By a total stranger, not me But when you came up to me that day and I listened to your story It reminded me so much of myself It wasn't what you said but the way it felt to me About a search and a journey just like mine.
 * Angeliou


 * When you hear the music ringin' in your soul And you feel it in your heart and it grows and grows And it comes from the backstreet rock & roll and the healing has begun I want you to put on your pretty summer dress You can wear your Easter bonnet and all the rest And I wanna make love to you yes, yes, yes and the healing has begun.
 * And the Healing Has Begun


 * You know what they're writing about Baby you know what they're writing about It's a thing called love down through the ages Makes you wanna cry sometimes Makes you feel like you wanna lay down and die sometimes Makes you high sometimes But when you really get in it lifts you right up.
 * You Know What They're Writing About

Common One (1980)

 * Beside the garden walls, We walk in haunts of ancient peace. At night we rest and go to sleep In haunts of ancient peace. The love and light we seek, The words we do not need to speak, Here in this wondrous way we keep These haunts of ancient peace.
 * Haunts Of Ancient Peace


 * Open your arms in the early mornin' When the light comes shinin' through Can't you hear my heart beat just for you? It's beating so wild, honey. And light comes shinin' Singin' my song And the band is playin' And the music is tried and true.
 * Wild Honey

Beautiful Vision (1982)

 * I have seen without perceiving I have been another man Let me pierce the realm of glamour So I know just what I am.
 * Dweller on the Threshold.


 * What's my line? I'm happy cleaning windows Take my time I'll see you when my love grows Baby don't let it slide I'm a working man in my prime Cleaning windows...
 * Cleaning Windows

Inarticulate Speech of the Heart (1983)

 * Rave on, down through the industrial revolution Empiricism, atomic and nuclear age Rave on down through time and space down through the corridors Rave on words on printed page.
 * Rave On, John Donne


 * Oh won't you stay Stay a while with your own ones Don't ever stray Stray so far from your own ones 'Cause the world is so cold Don't care nothing for your soul That you share with your own ones.
 * Irish Heartbeat 


 * Your street, rich street or poor Used to always be sure, on your street There's a place in your heart you know from the start Can't be complete outside of the street Keep moving on through the joy and the pain Sometimes you got to look back To the street again Would you prefer all those castles in Spain? Or the view of your street from your window pane?
 * The Street Only Knew Your Name

A Sense of Wonder (1985)

 * Showed me pictures in the gallery Showed me novels on the shelf Put my hands across the table Gave me knowledge of myself. Showed me visions, showed me nightmares Gave me dreams that never end Showed me light out of the tunnel When there was darkness all around instead.
 * Tore Down a la Rimbaud.


 * I walked in my greatcoat Down through the days of the leaves. No before after, yes after before We were shining our light into the days of blooming wonder In the eternal presence, in the presence of the flame.
 * A Sense of Wonder


 * There's an angel that's watching right over you All your trials have not been in vain Won't you lift your head up to the starry night Finding strength in the things that remain.
 * A New Kind of Man


 * When a man comes through He must do what he's supposed to do When a man comes through. He can't do what everyone expects him to.
 * A New Kind of Man

No Guru (1986)

 * Got my ticket at the airport Well I guess I've been marking time I've been living in another country That operates along entirely different lines Keep me away from porter or whiskey Don't play anything sentimental it'll make me cry I've got to go back my friend Is there really any need to ask why?
 * Got to Go Back


 * No Guru, no method, no teacher Just you and I and nature And the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost In the garden wet with rain.
 * In the Garden


 * Thanks for the information Never give a sucker an even break When he's breaking through To a new level of consciousness There always seems to be more Obstacles in the way Thanks for the information I know It's only a combat zone Thanks for the memory, I'll just have To carry on on my own.
 * Thanks For the Information


 * When you come down From your Ivory Tower You will see how it really must be To be like me, to see like me, To feel like me.
 * Ivory Tower

Poetic Champions Compose (1987)

 * Let go into the mystery Let yourself go You've got to open up your heart That's all I know Trust what I say and do what you're told Baby, and all your dirt will turn Into gold.
 * The Mystery


 * There's a dream where the contents are visible Where the poetic champions compose Will you breathe not a word of this secrecy, and Will you still be my special rose?
 * Queen of the Slipstream


 * I forgot that love existed, troubled in my mind. Heartache after heartache, worried all the time. I forgot that love existed Then I saw the light Everyone around me make everything alright.
 * I Forgot That Love Existed


 * I've been travellin' a hard road Baby lookin' for someone exactly like you I've been carryin' my heavy load Waiting for the light to come shining through Someone like you Make it all worth while Someone like you Make me satisfied Someone exactly like you.
 * Someone Like You


 * Well I've got to get out of the rat-race now I'm tired of the ways of mice and men And the empires all turning into rust again. Out of everything nothing remains the same That's why I'm cloud hidden Cloud hidden Whereabouts unknown.
 * Alan Watts Blues


 * Won't you guide me through the dark night of the soul That I may better understand your way Let me be just and worthy to receive All the blessings of the Lord into my life.
 * Give Me My Rapture.


 * Sometimes, when the spirit moves me I can do many wondrous things I wanna know when the spirit moves you Did ye get healed?
 * Did Ye Get Healed?

Avalon Sunset (1989)

 * Whenever God shines his light on me Opens up my eyes so I can see When I look up in the darkest night I know everything's going to be alright In deep confusion, in great despair When I reach out for him he is there When I am lonely as I can be I know that God shines his light on me.
 * Whenever God Shines His Light


 * I'd love to write another song Baby especially for you I'd love to write another song And feel things bright and new In poetry I'd carve it well I'd even make it rhyme I'd love to write another song Just to get some peace of mind.
 * I'd Love to Write Another Song


 * Have I told you lately that I love you? Have I told you there's no one above you? Fill my heart with gladness, Take away my sadness, Ease my troubles, that's what you do.
 * Have I Told You Lately


 * I look at the side of your face as the sunlight comes Streaming through the window in the autumn sunshine And all the time going to Coney Island I'm thinking, Wouldn't it be great if it was like this all the time.
 * Coney Island


 * Ambition will take you And ride you too far and Conservatism bring you to boredom once more Sit down by the river And watch the stream flow Recall all the dreams That you once used to know The things you've forgotten That took you away To pastures not greener but meaner.
 * I'm Tired Joey Boy


 * Whatever it takes to fulfill his mission That is the way we must go But you've got to do it your own way Tear down the old, bring up the new.
 * When Will I Ever Learn to Live in God?


 * 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. Oh your smiling face, your gracious presence The fires of spring are kindling bright And the radiant heart and the song of glory Crying freedom, freedom in the night
 * These Are the Days


 * These are the days now that we must savour And we must enjoy as we can These are the days that will last forever You've got to hold them, hold them in your heart
 * These Are the Days

Enlightenment (1990)

 * Some people say You can make it on your own Oh you can make it if you try I know better now You can't stand up alone Oh baby that is why. I'm real real gone I can't stand up by myself Don't you know I need your help You're a friend of mine And I'm real real gone.
 * Real Real Gone


 * Enlightenment says the world is nothing Nothing but a dream, everything's an illusion And nothing is real.
 * Enlightenment


 * The warm look of radiance on your face And your heart beating close to mine And the evening fading in the candle glow This must be what it's all about Oh this must be what it's all about This must be what paradise is like So quiet in here. So peaceful in here So quiet in here, yeah, so peaceful in here.
 * So Quiet In Here


 * The way you see me walking on That's why I'm telling you in song There's only one way to get ahead You've got to give it up instead Start all over again.
 * Start All Over Again

Back on Top (1999)

 * Say que sera, whatever will be But then I keep on searching for immortality She's so beautiful but she's going to die some day Everything in life just passes away But, precious time is slipping away You know she's only queen for a day It doesn't matter to which God you pray
 * Precious time is slipping away


 * And it's a hard road, it's a hard road daddy-o When my job is turning lead into gold He was born in the back street, born in the back street jelly roll I'm on the road again and I'm searching for The philosophers stone Can you hear that engine Can you hear that engine drone Well I'm on the road again and I'm searching for...
 * The Philosopher's Stone


 * I saw you standing with the wind and the rain in your face And you were thinking 'bout the wisdom of the leaves and their grace When the leaves come falling down In September when the leaves, come falling down Oh, the last time I saw Paris in the streets, in the rain And as I walk along the boulevards with you, once again And the leaves come falling down In September, when the leaves come falling down
 * When the Leaves come Falling Down

Quotes about Morrison

 * Alphabetized by author


 * Van Morrison is interested, obsessed with how much musical or verbal information he can compress into a small space, and, almost, conversely, how far he can spread one note, word, sound, or picture.
 * Lester Bangs in Stranded (1979)


 * They asked me to come to New York to help celebrate Van's induction into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. I went because I see Van as one of the cats that has kept the faith. Like me, he's always himself — he stays true to the music that means the most to him. It meant a lot to sing "Crazy Love" on stage that evening.
 * Ray Charles, as quoted in About Ray Charles (Genius Loves Company) by David Ritz


 * He extends himself only to express himself. Alone among rock's great figures — and even in that company he is one of the greatest — Morrison is adamantly inward. And unique.  Although he freely crosses musical boundaries —R. and B., Celtic melodies, jazz, rave-up rock, hymns, down-and-dirty blues — he can unfailingly be found in the same strange place: on his own wavelength.
 * Jay Cocks, in "Listen to the Lion" in TIME magazine (28 October 1991)


 * I love Van Morrison because he always seems to be searching, never found. I don't know about his personal life but in his music he gives the listener only a question. The answer lies elsewhere to be attained someday.
 * Glen Hansard in interview with Steve Stockman in The Phantom Tollbooth


 * Van Morrison remains a singer who can be compared to no other in the history of modern popular music.
 * Greil Marcus, When That Rough God Goes Riding: Listening to Van Morrison (2010)


 * Van Morrison should be friggin' canonized.
 * Sinead O'Conner at the 1994 Brit awards


 * My first impression of Van Morrison was that he was a terrific singer. No, I take that back. I thought he was a really dirty singer. Everything he did had a real big pair of balls to it.
 * Jimmy Page, who played as a session musician with Van Morrison's band Them


 * A great Irish poet
 * Tom Petty in concert at Capital Centre Washington D.C. concert (24 September 1991)


 * He has this great poetic and fantastic voice and what I love about Van, and what I forget to do sometimes is, well I can tell when Van is just like drifting into sort of a zone he just drifts into a place where the whole world is shut out and you can tell that he's in that spot. It's almost a dream-like, trance-like state, singing sometimes. That's really what music is all about. It's almost a jazz concept if you know what I mean — you just kinda go out and you're just wingin' it and I love that about Van, he will risk that, he will go on and on and on and he won't fade the ending before the magic happens, as it were.
 * Bob Seger, in interview on Later with Bob Costas


 * There was a definite charisma when Van performed. Van always had something about him. Whether you liked it or not, you could never take away from the fact that he was different from all other human beings, and here he is today, still being different.
 * John Wilson, as quoted in Celtic Crossroads : The Art of Van Morrison (1997) by Brian Hinton, p. 60.


 * Morrison remains a singer who can be compared to no other performer in the history of rock 'n' roll, a singer who can not be pinned down, dismissed or fitted into anyone's expectations. He is a conundrum.
 * The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll