Lit Up Inside
Selected Lyrics
 Van Morrison

Introduction by Eamonn Hughes

Foreword by David Meltzer, Ian Rankin

Van Morrison selects his best and most iconic lyrics, spanning 50 years of writing and representing his entire creative journey.

Van Morrison is one of a handful of truly iconic twentieth century artists. Along with Bob Dylan, he was one of the first contemporary lyricists to infuse a serious poetic sensibility into popular music. A colossal influence on a wide range of fellow musicians, he has been a singular beacon of artistic integrity, soulful conviction and musical excellence.

One of the greatest singer/songwriters of all time, Morrison has been following his muse in an uncompromising way since the early Sixties. He has explored soul, jazz, blues, rhythm & blues, rock and roll, Celtic folk, pop balladry and more, forging a distinctive amalgam that has Morrison's unvarnished passion at its core. He has referred to his music as "Caledonia soul," reflecting his deep immersion in American roots music and Ulster-Scots.

This personal selection of what Morrison himself has judged to be his most important and enduring lyrical work will stand as a landmark public statement from an otherwise intensely private artist, an intimate and very intentional view onto what Morrison himself esteems as his creative contribution.

The introduction by Eamonn Hughes, of Queen's University Belfast, gives a career-long overview of the creative influences Morrison has absorbed and channeled through the years, and the forewords provided by poet David Meltzer and novelist Ian Rankin provide an appreciation of the writer's craft demonstrated in Morrison's evocative, timeless lyrics.

A must for any fan, and a solid introduction to this singular, iconic talent.

*A UK edition of Lit Up Inside will be released simultaneously by Faber and Faber.

"Tupelo Honey has always existed and Van Morrison was merely the vessel and the earthly vehicle for it."–Bob Dylan

"I know of no music that is more lucid, feelable, hearable, seeable, touchable, no music you can experience more intensely than this. Not just moments, but extended . . . periods of experience which convey the feel of what films could be: a form or perception which no longer burls itself blindly on meanings and definitions, but allows the sensuous to take over and grow . . . where indeed something does become indescribable."–Wim Wenders, filmmaker

"No other Irish poets–writing either in verse or in music–have come within a Honda's roar of Patrick Kavanagh and Van Morrison"–Paul Durcan

Available Mid-October. Sign up for alert about the book’s release at City Light's link below.

Publisher City Lights Publishers
Format Hardcover
Nb of pages 230 p.
ISBN-10 0872866777
ISBN-13 9780872866775

Hymns to the Silence: Inside The Words and Music of Van Morrison

"It's a critical study, not a biography."says Peter Mills who teaches at the School of Cultural Studies at Leeds Metropolitan University of his latest book, Hymns To The Silence: Inside The Words and Music of Van Morrison. While books on Van have never been discussed on this blog, I feel this book deserves recognition for focusing strictly on Van's incredible body of work.

The book takes several intriguing angles. It looks at Morrison as a writer: specifically as an Irish writer, who has recorded musical settings of Yeats poems, collaborated with Seamus Heaney, Paul Durcan and Gerald Dawe, and who regularly drops quotes from James Joyce and Samuel Beckett into his live performances. It looks at him as a singer, at how he uses his voice as an interpretive instrument. And there are in-depth chapters on his use of mythology, on his stage performances, and on his continuing fascination with America and its musical forms.

Hymns to the Silence is a detailed investigative study of Van Morrison’s remarkable career. Mills engages with his subject in a fresh and accessible style – often challenging the received wisdom. He looks at Morrison as a songwriter and specifically as an Irish writer, yet one who has worked primarily with American musical forms. Key themes and motifs are examined, as well as the ideas of place, home and exile and Morrison’s periodic use of through-composition in major case studies of four of his best-regarded albums. Each section is full of detailed scrutiny and illuminating examples drawn from right across his recording and stage career, including his 2009 return to Astral Weeks. The book is also studded with fresh and original quotes from people who know about the music, including Maria McKee, Kevin Rowland, Kate Rusby, Ben Sidran, and Fiachra Trench.

If you love Van's music, then you will treasure this great book.

Available at Amazon.com