Van Morrison - Album by Album discussion - PART THREE

Hi Tom, I have both of those CD singles. IMO At The End of The Day is a pleasant, slower paced song but I can see why it didn't make the album. The alternate version of The Healing Game is very nice, in fact I think I prefer it to the version on the album. Lot's of excellent acoustic guitar and no horns. It's a little more understated but very nicely done.

On CD2 is Full Force Gale '96 which is basically like the original version but a little jazzier and with the horn arrangement a bit different. It's nice but nothing essential. Look What the Good People Done is a slower number. I didn't like it much at first but it has grown on me a bit. Again, nothing spectacular but it's alright. Celtic Spring is an upbeat song with a lot of flute in it. A really nice song which I enjoy listening to, especially this time of year.

 

Thanks for sharing this info. Sound interesting, I'd like to find that Celtic Spring song...

 

The alternate version of The Healing Game with The Chieftens is excellent and would be a good bonus track. I tacked it onto my car CDR of this album when I got it.

At The End Of The Day is okay. One of this better "complaining" songs.

I seem to remember a special radio version of Burning Ground (without the talking) being released, but I haven't heard it.

 

Thanks, Craig--and also thanks to JohnB for the info on these releases.
I had assumed "At the End of the Day" was going to be one of Van's autumnal songs; surprising to hear it's a whinger.
Tell me, do the phrases "two-bit chiselers" or "phony hustlers" appear anywhere in the lyrics?

(Anyone else notice the lyrics in Van's complaining songs always feature the sorts of antiquated hipster phrases commonly used in film noir detective dramas?)

 

It's a kinder, gentler complaining song...

Tell me what do you get
At the end of the day
Is it all worth the while
Can you put on a smile
Does it fill you with pride
All the feelings inside
Or do you just wanna hide
Can you still walk away
At the end of the day

At the end of the day
Are you lonely or sad
Do you think you’ve been had
Is your heart ever glad
Or are you afraid
‘cause you don’t have it made
That you don’t make the grade
Or of what people say
At the end of the day

Instrumental solo

At the end of the day
Is your framework intact
When you clean up your act
Do they keep coming back
Do you say follow that
Pat yourself on the back
Do you get what you lack
Do they give you respect
Or is it after the fact
At the end of the day

Tell me what do you get
Is it heartachce and pain
Does it keep coming back
Everytime that it rains
When I see you again
Will it still be the same
Am I really to blame
’cause I don’t play the game
At the end of the day

At the end of the day
At the end of the day
At the end of the day
At the end of the day
Got to kneel down and pray
At the end of the day
Got to kneel down and pray
At the end of the day

 

Thanks for posting those, Craig. I figured it would have been too obscure a song to have its lyrics posted online.
'preciate it.

 

Those who can't discern the difference between themes that are explored, expanded and revisited throughout the life and work of an artist, and mere repetition born of a lack of ideas, should hold their breath and save the oxygen for those of us who think.

I don't have this one. Now that I've read this review, I'll be compelled to fix that very, very soon.

Tim

 

drewslo felt the title track was a self-conscious attempt at writing a classic--the use of the word "Healing" and the familiar structure (similar to "And the Healing...") probably contributed to this impression. Maybe it was calculated on Van's part; who knows, right? I just know that this song really moved me the other day when I played it.
Now, if Van was playing me---well, I'm just a willing two-bit sucker, I guess, to use Morrisonian parlance.

 

yeah, you're going to like this one I think Tim. being re-released in June probably with a tiny and disappointing cache of bonus material....that fire in his belly making him cheap with the bonus tracks....

 

Has there been an announcement of the next batch?

 

it's what I'd heard, this is one in the next batch coming in june...it was my assumption the bonus tracks will be paltry. maybe they will flesh this title out with those b-sides...a fleshy cover model, a fleshy batch of tunes??? we can hope.

 

In that case, I'm going to wait a bit before tracking down those CD singles on eBay.

 

well it would make sense for them to include a few...but sense hasnt seemed to really reign in the first batch, so I'm not hopeful for sensical bonus tracks making me happy with this guys catalog.

 

Steady, William, we don't want the Van Police going after you.

 

So I listened to the first "side" of The Healing Game on the main system last night for the first time in an age. This is a great sounding cd. The sax work is great, too.

I was really getting into "Rough God Goes Riding" more than I had before. Oddly, I think it helped that immediately before I had played Sam Cook's "A Change Is Gonna Come". Makes for an interesting pairing and seemed to lend "Rough God" some extra power. Try it yourself and see May be the Van police will read this and he'll incorporate a "Rough God/Change Is Gonna Come" medley into his set

Then "Fire In The Belly" comes on and I'm thinking, wow, I like this better than I remembered. Then Brian Kennedy starts singing about making it through February and I suddenly remember why I don't like this song And it kinda goes downhill from there. I'm not opposed to long songs (obviously, since I love Common One), but there is just no payoff in dragging out a song like "The Waiting Game" to almost six minutes. I also didn't think "Piper" was as good as I had previously thought. But I wrapped up on a high note with "Burning Ground". Definitely a great groove here. I'd love to hear a live version.

And let me reiterate: a very good sounding disc. Van nailed the production this time and the mastering is just fine. Watch them screw it up for the reissue

"Side Two" to be revisited later. . .

 

There was an insert inside the Keep It Simple CD.

No mention of what the bonus tracks are (if that's what you were asking).

The remaining later Warner Brothers CD's (Common One, Beautiful Vision, Inarticulate...) are probably included somewhere in the schedule outside the U.S.

June 2008 -
Veedon Fleece
Live At The Grand Opera House, Belfast
No Guru, No Method No Teacher
Enlightenment
A Night In San Franscisco
The Healing Game

September 2008 -
St. Dominnic's Preview
A Period Of Transition
Poetic Champions Compose
Hymns To The Silence
How Long Has This Been Going On
Tell Me Something

January 2009 -
Hard Nose The Highway
Irish Heartbeat
Too Long In Exile
Days Like This
The Story of Them
The Skiffle Sessions
Down The Road
What's Wrong With This Picture

 

Thanks again, Craig. (Man, you're the go-to guy aren't you? )

Looks like June is going to be pretty expensive for me.

 

I will HAVE to buy Veedon Fleece and No Guru just for the exp. & to compare, and the bogus tracks, no matter how paulty... I got the Van bug bad man...

 

Freudian slip, there, sir?

 

Anyone have any info on the Japanese 2-CD Limited Edition version of The Healing Game?

 

i will wager to guess it would contain some of the b-sides, but thats totally a guess...not starting rumors...as we've seen he doesnt throw around bonus tracks....and sounds like there were some interesting b-sides....and clearly you cant stop yourself from finding these can you?

 

Tracklisting / Additional Info:
1. Spoken 0:20
2. The Healing Game 4:58
3. Spoken 1:36
4. Rough God Goes Riding 6:06
5. Spoken 1:40
6. Fire In The Belly 6:10
7. Spoken 2:55
8. Moondance 7:08
9. Spoken 1:06
10. Sweet Thing 4:07
11. Spoken 0:37
12. Piper At The Gates Of Dawn 3:36
13. Spoken 2:31
14. Have I Told You Lately
15. Spoken 1:00
16. Burning Ground 5:12
17. Spoken
18. Sometimes We Cry
19. Spoken 0:20

Disc Two:
1. Bright Side Of The Road 3:46
2. Spoken 1:02
3. If You Love Me 4:41
4. Spoken 0:39
5. Waiting Game 5:36
6. Spoken 0:44
7. It Once Was My Life 4:51
8. Spoken 2:11
9. Brown Eyed Girl 3:05
10. Spoken o:29
11. Wavelength 5:37
12. Spoken 0:39
13. Gloria 2:36
14. Spoken 2:36
15. Cleaning Windows 4:38
16. Spoken o:34
17. This Weight 4:35
18. Spoken 0:35

 

Does Van talk about these songs in between tracks? and if so, what did he say?

 

Apparently it's interview segments. I don't have this; just found the track list online:
http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=126161

$150.00 US