Venturing in the Slipstream

VENTURING IN THE SLIPSTREAM THE PLACES OF VAN MORRISON’S SONGWRITING Geoff Munns BA, MLitt, MEd (hons), PhD (University of New England) A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Western Sydney University, October 2019. Statement of Authentication The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original except as acknowledged in the text. I hereby declare that I have not submitted this material, either in full or in part, for a degree at this or any other institution. .............................................................. Geoff Munns ii Abstract This thesis explores the use of place in Van Morrison’s songwriting. The central argument is that he employs place in many of his songs at lyrical and musical levels, and that this use of place as a poetic and aural device both defines and distinguishes his work. This argument is widely supported by Van Morrison scholars and critics. The main research question is: What are the ways that Van Morrison employs the concept of place to explore the wider themes of his writing across his career from 1965 onwards? This question was reached from a critical analysis of Van Morrison’s songs and recordings. A position was taken up in the study that the songwriter’s lyrics might be closely read and appreciated as song texts, and this reading could offer important insights into the scope of his life and work as a songwriter. The analysis is best described as an analytical and interpretive approach, involving a simultaneous reading and listening to each song and examining them as speech acts. At the same time as the analysis was being undertaken, a divergent body of literature spanning popular music and literary traditions was opened up. As a result of this process, a group of songs was chosen to illustrate the use of place in Van Morrison’s work, and these are then organised into the specific expressions of place across the thesis. Organised into chapters, this expression explores the way Van Morrison utilises place in his songwriting, and the emblematic and temporal perspectives that different places bring to this process. Some show how home places hold childhood and adolescent reminiscences, where simple pursuits jostle for importance within more serious deliberations about human meaning. Others reflect on what influences drive his moving away from home, what this means for his future symbolic exile, and how iii returning home becomes an imaginative and textual exercise. Elsewhere, chapters highlight ways that the songwriter looks to escape the trappings of the city and the pressures of the music industry through excursions into a natural world, where responses arise from encounters with landscape and weather. iv Acknowledgements I cannot thank my family enough for the support and understanding that they have always given me. My wife, Maureen, gets that I have a need to keep thinking, reading and writing, and at all times allows me space to do that. Maureen and my children, Giselle and Joel, are my greatest cheer squad. I constantly draw on their encouragement when it is hardest to keep going. Sometimes I think I should apologise to all my family for locking myself away too much over the years, though I guess they know the road I am on. I also wonder whether one day I might apologise for enforcing the ‘no other artist except Van Morrison before midday Saturday’ rule on the stereo for the last 40 odd years. But … ‘don’t look back’, as they say. I am lucky to have two long-time friends who helped me with the thesis. Tim Crozier and I sat many times over a bottle of wine and talked about the way music supports the lyrics in the Van Morrison songs. Denis Mootz spent a lot of unpaid time proof reading the completed chapters, and offering some useful editing suggestions. I really value their friendship and contributions. My greatest thanks go to my supervisors, Matt McGuire and John Encarnacao. Matt’s deep background in Irish literature really helped me see the importance of parallels and resonances across the popular music and literature domains. John’s passion for music encouraged me to look beyond the lyrics to the interplay between words and performance. Together they have advised and encouraged me, inevitably pushed me further from my comfort zone, occasionally drove me mad. In short, they did what excellent supervisors do. At each step of the way, their thoughtful and informed feedback helped greatly to improve each idea and piece of writing. I owe them so much. v Table of Contents 1. Introduction: Van Morrison and the Poetics of Place ...................................... 1 ‘Saint Dominic’s Preview’ ............................................................................................................ 2 Place in Van Morrison’s Songwriting .................................................................................... 11 The Poetics of Place and Space ................................................................................................ 13 Space, Place and the Irish Cultural Imagination ............................................................... 18 Popular Music Contexts ............................................................................................................. 21 Theoretical and Contextual Approaches ............................................................................. 23 The Study of Place and Van Morrison’s Songwriting ....................................................... 24 Persona in Van Morrison’s Songwriting .............................................................................. 29 Thesis Overview ........................................................................................................................... 34 2. Place, Popular Music and Van Morrison ............................................................. 36 Expressions of Place In Popular Music ................................................................................. 37 Cultural identity. ........................................................................................................................................ 38 Authenticity. ................................................................................................................................................ 42 Images of the city. ..................................................................................................................................... 43 Mobility and exile. ..................................................................................................................................... 46 Place, Irish Popular Music and Van Morrison .................................................................... 49 Irish Showbands. ....................................................................................................................................... 51 Folk Music. ................................................................................................................................................... 53 Skiffle and British beat and rhythm and blues. ............................................................................ 57 3. Place and Literary Connections ............................................................................. 63 ‘What You’ve Been Searching For You Already Are’ ........................................................ 65 Writing From Away ..................................................................................................................... 66 The Details of Place ..................................................................................................................... 70 vi Remembered Places: ‘Do You Remember When … ?’ ...................................................... 75 4. Home ............................................................................................................................... 81 Home and the Poetics of Place ................................................................................................ 83 Home as Poetically Imagined .................................................................................................. 85 Outside Home Places: the Avenue, the Hollow, The Viaduct, the Ditch. .................... 87 Cyprus Avenue. .......................................................................................................................................... 88 The Hollow. .................................................................................................................................................. 89 The viaduct and the ditch in the back road. .................................................................................. 92 Inside Home Places: The Adolescent Bedroom ................................................................. 94 Temporal spaces between past memories and future dreams. ............................................ 95 Transformative spaces between home and away. ...................................................................... 98 Home as a place of return and contemplation ................................................................ 102 Awakening. ................................................................................................................................................ 105 Between the past and present. .......................................................................................................... 106 Inspiration and meditation. ...............................................................................................................

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