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Listening to Van Morrison
Listening to Van Morrison | Greil Marcus
4 posts | 1 read | 1 to read
'Van Morrison,' says Greil Marcus, 'remains a singer who can be compared to no other in the history of modern popular music.' When Astral Weeks was released in 1968, it was largely ignored. When it was re-released as a live album in 2009 it reached the top of the Billboard charts, a first for any Van Morrison recording. The wild swings in the music, mirroring the swings in Morrison's success and in people's appreciation (or lack of it) of his music, make Van Morrison one of the most perplexing and mysterious figures in popular modern music, and a perfect subject for the wise and insightful scrutiny of Greil Marcus, one of America's most dedicated cultural critics. This book is Marcus's quest to understand Van Morrison's particular genius through the extraordinary and unclassifiable moments in his long career, beginning in 1965 and continuing in full force to this day. In these dislocations Marcus finds the singer on his own artistic quest precisely to reach some extreme musical threshold, the moments that are not enclosed by the will or the intention of the performer but which somehow emerge at the limits of the musician and his song.
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fandom_hellspawn99
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#IntoTheMystic is just one of those songs that kinda makes you feel like you're on drugs without drugs. I love the experience 😂😂😂 Pink Floyd is the best for that #MarchIntoThe70s @Cinfhen @Lizpixie

Cinfhen Ha🙌🏻😂so true 6y
gradcat Ha ha ha...I just listened to it yesterday, and I agree with you 100%! 6y
23 likes2 comments
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gradcat
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#marchintothe70s

(Day 16 - #IntoTheMystic)

For some reason, this song immediately brought to mind the several deaths associated with the deep-sea fishermen on the reality show “Deadliest Catch.” They didn‘t go down with the ship, but one could say the toll this life takes is very hazardous to these sailors. The show ran for 14 seasons, and though I didn‘t watch it, I did know about the numerous tragedies that sent these guys “into the mystic.”

tammysue Is one of the few tv shows hubby enjoys watching! 🙂 6y
gradcat @whatshesreadingnow I saw some of it passing—my brother likes it, so when he‘s here, I check it out a bit—looks like good reality TV because it‘s such laborious work! 🎣 6y
Cinfhen It‘s such a fascinating show and it‘s such a difficult life. Great choice 6y
gradcat @Cinfhen Thank you 🙏 ❤️ 6y
68 likes4 comments
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CoffeeNBooks
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CarolynM Me too🙂 6y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks ❤️❤️❤️ 6y
KathyWheeler One of my most disappointing concerts was seeing Van Morrison at JazzFest in New Orleans. I love him so much that I stayed at the same stage all day until he came on. I could hear every act on that stage without a problem; he came on and we could barely hear him. 😞 6y
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CoffeeNBooks @KathyWheeler Oh no! I can imagine how disappointing that was. 😭 6y
KathyWheeler @CoffeeNBooks It really was. I also saw Irma Thomas and Wilco on that stage, but the person I was really looking forward to was Morrison. 6y
vkois88 ❤❤❤ 6y
pdever I always loved Greil Marcus! Van Morrison, too, but Marcus' books about music are really great ... Invisible Republic was my favorite. 6y
Leniverse You love books, coffee, Van Morrison, and the Oxford comma? Can we be BFFs?😂 6y
79 likes9 comments
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Bookwomble
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Mehso-so

I stopped reading music newspapers years ago as I couldn't understand what the hell the journalists were talking about, even when they were writing about music I knew well. It all seemed like they were trying to prove how clever they were and, maybe cos I'm not clever, I didn't get it. That is the tone that carries across in this book - Marcus has clearly thought a lot about Morrison's music, and he *really* wants you to know that he has. 👇👇

Bookwomble I bought this book thinking it might give me some insight into what I find so appealing about Van Morrison's wonderful music. In the end, I guess I've decided that Marcus's opinions about Morrison just don't matter to me all that much, and I'm glad: I'm happy to leave my fascination with Van Morrison's music somewhat unexamined. #booksandmusic 6y
Bookwomble @Leftcoastzen I like the subjects he writes about; on the basis of this Van Morrison one, I'm just not sure if I like how he writes about them. 6y
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Leftcoastzen I really liked Lipstick Traces but it was more a sweeping history of cultural movements.I have this Van Morrison , found it at a thrift store, have not started it yet.I find Morrison‘s music magical, that can be hard for critics to interpret.Unexamined is good.😀 6y
Bookwomble @Leftcoastzen I'll be interested to know what you think when you get around to reading it. I've been listening to Veedon Fleece as the background to Yeats's Celtic Twilight - they're a good fit, I think 😊 6y
Leftcoastzen Seems like a wonderful pairing.😀 6y
11 likes6 comments