Beside You

Infobox Song
Name = Beside You


Caption =
Type =
Artist = Van Morrison
alt Artist =
Album = Astral Weeks
Published =
Released = November 1968
track_no = 2
Recorded = September 25, 1968
Genre = Folk rock
Length = 5:10
Writer = Van Morrison
Composer = Van Morrison
Label = Warner Bros. Records
Producer = Lewis Merenstein
Chart position =
Tracks =
#"Astral Weeks"
#"Beside You"
#"Sweet Thing"
#"Cyprus Avenue"
#"The Way Young Lovers Do"
#"Madame George"
#"Ballerina"
#"Slim Slow Slider"
prev =
prev_no =
next =
next_no =
Misc = "Beside You" is the second track on the 1968 album "Astral Weeks" by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. Van Morrison remarked on this song: 'Beside You' is "the kind of song that you'd sing to a kid or somebody you love. It's basically a love song, just a song about being spiritually beside somebody." The child that would have inspired the song was his adopted son by Janet, his wife at that time. It is sung with a "hushed wonder" and in it the singer transfers the visions of his own childhood to his son. [Hinton, Celtic Crossroads, p. 96]

Jack Lynch wrote in 1983: [Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence?, p.14]

The opening image of Little Jimmy shows a child sneaking out of his home, escaping to adventure and a childlike ritual rendezvous. Broken Arrow, possibly his fantasy figure, beckons — innocence led by imagination on the road to experience.

Personnel on Astral Weeks

*Van Morrison – rhythm guitar, vocals
*Jay Berliner – guitar
*Richard Davis – double bass
*Anonymous – flute
*Warren Smith, Jr. – vibraphone

Notes

References

*Heylin, Clinton (2003). Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography, Chicago Review Press ISBN 1-55652-542-7
*Hinton, Brian (1997). Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison, Sanctuary, ISBN 1-86074169X

External links

* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:gxfwxxqsldje allmusic.com:Review-Beside You]
* [http://www.vanmorrison.co.uk/?m=Content&Content(record_id)=b2950180e54389f3cf9d93ad908ac00e# Lyrics and audio sample] 1960s Astral Weeks