Van Morrison – Cyprus Avenue

Know something about this song or lyrics? Add it to our wiki.
Send "Cyprus Avenue" Ringtone to Cell

And I'm caught one more time
Up on Cyprus Avenue
And I'm caught one more time
Up on Cyprus Avenue
And I'm conquered in a car seat
Not a thing that I can do
I may go crazy
Before that mansion on the hill
I may go crazy
Before that mansion on the hill
But my heart keeps beating faster
And my feet can't keep still
And all the little girls rhyme something
On the way back home from school
And all the little girls rhyme something
On the way back home from school
And the leaves fall one by one by one by one
Call the autumn time a fool
Yeah baby my tongue gets tied
Every every every time I try to speak
My tongue gets tied
Every time I try to speak
And my inside shakes just like a leaf on a tree
I think I'll go on by the river with my cherry cherry wine
I believe I'll go walking by the railroad with my cherry cherry wine
If I pass the rumbling station where the lonesome engine drivers pine
And wait a minute, yonder comes my lady
Rainbow ribbons in her hair
Yonder comes my lady
Rainbow ribbons in her hair
Six white horses and a carriage
She's returning from the fair
Baby, baby, baby
And if I'm caught one more time
Up on Cyprus Avenue
And if I'm caught one more time
Up on Cyprus Avenue
And I'm conquered in a car seat
And I'm looking straight at you
Way up on, way up on, way up on....
The avenue of trees
Keep walking down
In the wind and the rain, darling
You keep walking down when the sun shone through the trees
Nobody, no, no, no, nobody stops me from loving you baby
So young and bold, fourteen years old
Baby, baby, baby...
Ooooh-ee

Send "Cyprus Avenue" Ringtone to Cell


Lyrics submitted by archmastermind

Track duration: 07:00

"Cyprus Avenue" as written by Van Morrison

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Cyprus Avenue song meanings
Add your thoughts

11 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment:Interesting that the "six white horses" (innocence) on this song becomes the "horse white as snow" (heroin) on "Slim Slow Slider."
    Flag stormvilleon April 04, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Agree that the girl is 14 and the narrator isn't. But I don't think he realised this until today. Perhaps their relationship to date has been conducted in clubs and bars and he imagined that his "lady" was a young woman or older teenager at least. But now here he is sitting in a traffic jam, when his daydream is interrupted by the sight of his "lady" ... in a school uniform. Oops.
    Flag donutslikefannyson March 19, 2010   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • 0
    General Comment:The feeling I get in this song is that he's caught in a traffic jam and is getting impatient, but then he starts to notice little things that he wouldn't if he was driving at a normal speed, like the little girls coming home from school, and starts to enjoy himself.
    Flag Wrapidon May 29, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:How about the harpsicord on this - not many rosk songs use harpsicord and double bass for percussion

    harbour.sfu.ca/~hayward/van/reviews/…

    Rick: I noticed on Astral Weeks that some of the songs and some of the images seem to have been carried on from your earlier work. "Cypress Avenue," for instance, has a lot in common with "Little Girl" from your "Here Comes the Night" album.

    Van: Yeah,it's a similar thing.
    Flag vasnmoGoon March 23, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Youthful exhiliration, intoxication, optimism, euphoria.

    btw - Van and his family lived on Hyndford Street in East Belfast from 1945 until 1961. Cypress Avenue was a step into unaccustomed wealth for Van, as is intimated several times in his various lyrics
    Flag vasnmoGoon March 23, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:What a gorgeous love song... I love the:
    And wait a minute, yonder comes my lady
    Rainbow ribbons in her hair
    Yonder comes my lady
    Rainbow ribbons in her hair
    Six white horses and a carriage
    She's returning from the fair

    Truly a sound that belonged to Van, and only the Van, of 1969
    Flag Wonderboy2kon February 11, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Haha. I like that.
    Flag _ellieon February 03, 2005   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:Cypress Avenue the biggest richest street in town? you talk some shit. Being from Belfast, I can tell you that Cypress Avenue is where Van was born, and its in a disprivelaged area. So shut up
    Flag JohnDunn87on December 31, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:It's about the narrator being in love, yes, but he's not fourteen: the girl is, and he's much older. He's "conquered in a car seat," sweating, delerious, driven mad by his strong but forbidden love for her, while she's oblivious to him, making up rhymes with her friends. His insides are shaking because he loves her so powerfully and irrationally. His insides shake, his heart beats, his feet tap, and there's nothing he can do about it. He loves her for her youth and it's that very youth that prevents him from having her.
    Flag southerlywindon October 21, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:its about van being in love when he was 14!
    Flag willardon October 21, 2004   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain