CYPRUS AVENUE

'"Cyprus Avenue"' is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 1968 album ''Astral Weeks''. In performance it was a concert highlight and closer for years to come and would end with Morrison's command, "It's too late to stop now!" as he stalked from the stage. A dynamic 10 minute version with the usual stop-start ending was included on his 1974 live album, ''It's Too Late To Stop Now''.
In Van Morrison's words, "Cyprus Avenue" is about: "a street in Belfast, a place where there's a lot of wealth. It wasn't far from where I was brought up and it was a very different scene. To me it was a very mystical place. It was a whole avenue lined with trees and I found it a place where I could think."^[1] Morrison said about the writing style: "'(Madame George)' is just a stream of consciousness thing, as is 'Cyprus Avenue'. Both those songs just came right out. I didn't even think about what I was writing."^[2]
Brian Hinton, one of Morrison's biographers, describes the song thus: "This is a song about being trapped, 'conquered in a car seat', and reduced to tortured silence, just like in (the song) T.B. Sheets. The need for innocence in the earlier song is now equated to going crazy though the vision which then unfolds is out of time, and sexless. His dream lady in her antique carriage is only fourteen years old. Van's singing is totally possessed, moving from choked desire to exultation to hushed wonder."^[3]

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Notes

References

External links

Notes

1. Hinton, Celtic Crossroads, p. 96
2. Yorke, Into the Music, p. 61
3. Hinton, Celtic Crossroads, p. 96.

References

★ Hinton, Brian (2000). ''Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison.'' Sanctuary, ISBN 1-86074169X.

★ Yorke, Ritchie (1975). Into The Music, London:Charisma Books , ISBN 0-85947-013-X

External links

★ Van Morrison Unofficial Website Cyprus Avenue

★ All Music Guide Review

★ Cyprus Avenue Lyrics