In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
If I ventured in the slipstream
Between the viaducts of your dream
Where immobile steel rims crack
And the ditch in the back roads stop
Could you find me?
Would you kiss-a my eyes?
To lay me down
In silence easy
To be born again
To be born again
From the far side of the ocean
If I put the wheels in motion
And I stand with my arms behind me
And I'm pushin' on the door
Could you find me?
Would you kiss-a my eyes?
To lay me down
In silence easy
To be born again
To be born again
There you go
Standin' with the look of avarice
Talkin' to Huddie Ledbetter
Showin' pictures on the wall
Whisperin' in the hall
And pointin' a finger at me
There you go, there you go
Standin' in the sun darlin'
With your arms behind you
And your eyes before
There you go
Takin' good care of your boy
Seein' that he's got clean clothes
Puttin' on his little red shoes
I see you know he's got clean clothes
A-puttin' on his little red shoes
A-pointin' a finger at me
And here I am
Standing in your sad arrest
Trying to do my very best
Lookin' straight at you
Comin' through, darlin'
Yeah, yeah, yeah
If I ventured in the slipstream
Between the viaducts of your dreams
Where immobile steel rims crack
And the ditch in the back roads stop
Could you find me
Would you kiss-a my eyes
Lay me down
In silence easy
To be born again
To be born again
To be born again
In another world
In another world
In another time
Got a home on high
Ain't nothing but a stranger in this world
I'm nothing but a stranger in this world
I got a home on high
In another land
So far away
So far away
Way up in the heaven
Way up in the heaven
Way up in the heaven
Way up in the heaven
In another time
In another place
In another time
In another place
Way up in the heaven
Way up in the heaven
We are goin' up to heaven
We are goin' to heaven
In another time
In another place
In another time
In another place
In another face
Between the viaducts of your dream
Where immobile steel rims crack
And the ditch in the back roads stop
Could you find me?
Would you kiss-a my eyes?
To lay me down
In silence easy
To be born again
To be born again
From the far side of the ocean
If I put the wheels in motion
And I stand with my arms behind me
And I'm pushin' on the door
Could you find me?
Would you kiss-a my eyes?
To lay me down
In silence easy
To be born again
To be born again
There you go
Standin' with the look of avarice
Talkin' to Huddie Ledbetter
Showin' pictures on the wall
Whisperin' in the hall
And pointin' a finger at me
There you go, there you go
Standin' in the sun darlin'
With your arms behind you
And your eyes before
There you go
Takin' good care of your boy
Seein' that he's got clean clothes
Puttin' on his little red shoes
I see you know he's got clean clothes
A-puttin' on his little red shoes
A-pointin' a finger at me
And here I am
Standing in your sad arrest
Trying to do my very best
Lookin' straight at you
Comin' through, darlin'
Yeah, yeah, yeah
If I ventured in the slipstream
Between the viaducts of your dreams
Where immobile steel rims crack
And the ditch in the back roads stop
Could you find me
Would you kiss-a my eyes
Lay me down
In silence easy
To be born again
To be born again
To be born again
In another world
In another world
In another time
Got a home on high
Ain't nothing but a stranger in this world
I'm nothing but a stranger in this world
I got a home on high
In another land
So far away
So far away
Way up in the heaven
Way up in the heaven
Way up in the heaven
Way up in the heaven
In another time
In another place
In another time
In another place
Way up in the heaven
Way up in the heaven
We are goin' up to heaven
We are goin' to heaven
In another time
In another place
In another time
In another place
In another face
Lyrics submitted by yuri_sucupira, edited by stormville
Astral Weeks Lyrics as written by Van Morrison
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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harbour.sfu.ca/~hayward/van/reviews/astral.html
The most wonderful essay about this album can be found here. I think it'll help all of you get closer to the creative and mystical mind of the very young man who made Astral Weeks. I'm convinced that even Van couldn't explain what some of these songs mean, as he opened up let the mystic flow into him. He escaped all boundaries and made a timeless work about yearning and coming of age, about sex and death, acceptance and love. I'd put it up against some of the greatest poetry or prose we have.
Once in a while over his career Van has touched something like this again, but rarely. St. Dominic's Preview had some, Veedon Fleece had a lot, but never did he, nor anyone in this era, equal the beauty and enigma that is found in Astral Weeks.
Irish?.........Well anyway I thought I'd add another little piece of info. This song was actually recorded last, kind of as an afterthought to fill space. In fact the session flutist had already gone home, the flute you hear in the song is the flutist who had been playing in Van's Jazz trio.
@johnpauljones86 LIttle did he know how great this song would be among his fans!<br />
Weaves so many images together. Such a chill and amazing song, though it feels effortless and light. Like it could just vanish at any moment but it's memory would always remain.
This is one of my favorite songs on one of my favorite albums. I think that it's all about finding yourself, love, and that which is beautiful in the world.
By the way he is poor and she is rich. Also he is big into astrological stuff. The Astral plain is the level above this one, its weird because things arent what they seem in that level. Things can come and go in exist randomly. It is believed that one can possibly wish something hard enough in that realm and it will occur in this world. Also kissing the eyes has something to do with Tir Na Nog. Irish folklore. He thinks that if his eyes are kissed it will give him sight into the the Astral plain. Deep. i dont fully understand it myself.
The chord structure of the song is quite repetitive (and I believe that enforces his lyrics even more), but the complexivity of the words is what makes the song so beautifully poetic and eternal. My interpretation of the Astral Weeks is pretty simple to grasp though.. Van is writing about his love.. and how if he got into the very depths of her thoughts, where all the peculiarities of life that could alter her genuine train of thought were gone.. at the core of her true soul.. would she still do it all the same? Would she come find him? Would she even want to? Would she kiss his eyes and love him for the man he is? Or would life be different? Would she lay him down in silence, in a soothing calm, to be reborn to come back into her life over and over for internity.. as to question does she love him so much that she would put him on replay? Like an old record she loves too much to throw away. This song to me, is about him questioning life, love, and how differences can often alter life's path.. and in turn, ponder the unknown.
hey, thanks a lot. i play this song a lot on my guitar.
I just created an account here to +1 your interpretation.
@wauf beautifully said. I do think he was speaking of a specific person, Janet Planet. They were together at the time and she had a young son from a previous relationship, which make the lyrics "taking care of your boy" "seeing that he's got clean clothes" "putting on his little red shoes" is so sweet and poignant to me.
What can be said that hasn't already been said out the Man, the Myth, the Mystic, the Morrison. This as you know is the very first song on his first solo album.(Not counting what he did for Bert Bang's Bang records) It is the beginning of the story of the album Astral Weeks. It starts off in a style similar to maybe Dylan. With the semi-concrete images. Viaducts of your dreams?. In any case some of the most beautiful lyrics ever. Sets the story of a boy, a younger Van in Belfast, who is taken by this one girl that he yearns for and imagines himself with her. He's got it bad for her. But her persists in the next song. Beside You
one of my favorite songs ever. so summer-y and peaceful.
thought i would share....
Morrison sings of lost love, death and nostalgia for childhood in the Celtic soul that would become his "signature." Astral Weeks didn't reach the charts, but its mystic poetry, spacious grooves, and romantic incantations still resonate in ways no other music can."
Surely "leatherette" shoes? Too poor to afford leather (this is the late 50s/early 60s Belfast of Van's childhood) but his Mammie is making sure he gets turned out smart and clean anyway.
The intermingling of working class Belfast with American blues/country references is what gives these songs their unique imagery ... like the cherry wine that appears on Cyprus Avenue of all places