When a great musician grows up in Northern Ireland what do you think you’ll get? Do the lyrics from his songs resonate with his home country?
Some songs, singers and songwriters have a way of getting out their innermost feelings and emotions when their work is finally heard out loud. For example, a very key song for the U.S. is Born in the U.S.A.
Bruce Springsteen sang that song and it might not have been very convincing if he had been from anywhere outside of the U.S.A., one would think.
Don’t want to discuss it
I think it’s time for a change
There’s no need for argument
There’s no argument at all
And if you never hear from him
That just means he didn’t call
It was a simple song that was gritty and to the point. What also added to that was a nice, upbeat melody that got to me when I was just a kid. When I first heard him, I was ten years old. I was riding in a car and I really liked the song Domino.I later learned that the musician was Van Morrison. Fast forward from that and I was a huge fan of his after hearing some of his other popular songs. And one year, I even got to see him live at the Jazz Fest.
For me, it started with a domino.All of this time I had forgotten that it had started with that one song when I was little. Even as such a small being, I still knew it was awesome.
There are several reasons why I remember this. For one, after I first heard that song, I went up to a jukebox one day to try and play it. But, the only word I knew from it was domino.
I will never know if Van Morrison was on that jukebox. Even if he had been, I don’t think I’d have recognized him. However, the name Fats Domino got my attention and it was his name that I clicked on instead. When Fats’ song came on, I knew it wasn’t the one I liked; nothing against him.
For the longest time afterwards, I thought this great musician who I had always loved must have been form the south. With songs like Tupelo Honey and the fact that his music was so heavily based in jazz, it seemed believable. But, I was mistaken, as he is from Northern Ireland.
Now that I am an adult, I’m not surprised by this at all. His style may not be distinctly Irish, but I think the words and topics that he covers have a connection. His songs are loving, relaxing and poetic, at least they are to me. When I hear them, I am usually at peace and content with how life is going.
Although Northern Ireland hasn’t always been a peaceful place, it makes sense that an aspiring artist who grew up there would have looked for the things that Van sings about to inspire them.
