Van Morrison

"And I shall drive my chariot Down your streets and cry Hey, its me, Im dynamite And I dont know why We shall walk and talk In gardens all misty wet with rain And I will never, never, never Grow so old again"

"When all the dark clouds roll away And the sun begins to shine I see my freedom from across the way And it comes right in on time Well it shines so bright and it gives so much light And it comes from the sky above Makes me feel so free makes me feel like me And lights my life with love."

"When I started studying tenor saxophone as a kid in Belfast, I did so with a guy named George Cassidy, who was also a big inspiration"

"Van Morrison is interested, obsessed with how much musical or verbal information he can compress into a small space, and, almost, conversely, how far he can spread one note, word, sound, or picture."

"Someone once described me as a maverick and thats what I would say. Im a maverick not by choice but by conviction."

"Like I say, the way I write songs is, you know, inspirational. I have to wait for it to happen. And when it happens I get lines, and I just write them down, you know. Im not sort of a Tin Pan Alley sort of songwriter. I just sort of write down what I get - without censoring or questioning what it is and what it means, you know. Like later on I look at what it means, but not at the time."

"Music to me is spontaneous, writing is spontaneous and its all based on not trying to do it. From beginning to end, whether its writing a song, or playing guitar, or a particular chord sequence, or blowing a horn, its based on improvisation and spontaneity."

"The odd time something happens and you go into some kind of enchantment (on stage). But you have to work very hard to get that. Most of the time youre just playing and singing the songs, and theres no guarantee that you are going to get anywhere...."

"Music is spiritual. The music business is not."

"When I was fifteen, I became a professional musician. I got involved with people and did certain things which led me to start making records and touring. And leaving Belfast and going to London and America, one thing led to another and I got caught up in the life that Im living now...I was very young and i followed something. (1993)"

"There is one thing I dont understand about Astral Weeks. Of all the records I have ever made that one is definitely not rock. You could throw that record at the wall, take it to music colleges, analyze it to death. Nobody is going to tell me that it is a rock album. Why they keep calling it one I have no idea."

"They asked me to come to New York to help celebrate Vans induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. I went because I see Van as one of the cats that has kept the faith. Like me, hes always himself — he stays true to the music that means the most to him. It meant a lot to sing "Crazy Love" on stage that evening."