The Healing Game (song)

Infobox Single
Name = The Healing Game


Caption =
Artist = Van Morrison
from Album = The Healing Game
A-side = "The Healing Game"
B-side = "Full Force Gale 96"/"Look What the Good People Done" or "Have I Told You Lately"/"Whenever God Shines His Light"/"Gloria"
Released = February 1997
Format = CD
Recorded = August 13, 1996
Genre = Folk rock, Rock
Length = 5:16
Label = Polydor for Exile Productions Ltd.
Writer = Van Morrison
Producer = Van Morrison
Certification =
Chart position =
Last single = "That's Life" (1996)
This single = "The Healing Game" (1997)
Next single = "Rough God Goes Riding" (1997)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = The Healing Game
Type = studio
prev_track = "If You Love Me"
prev_no = 9
this_track = "The Healing Game"
track_no = 10
next_track =
next_no = "The Healing Game" is the title song on Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison's 1997 album.It was released twice as a single in 1997 as an A-side with different B-sides - including "Have I Told You Lately" and "Gloria".

Morrison explains the song in Q Magazine as: "The song is about when people used to sing on the streets: It came from America, where they had all the doo-wop groups. That's the general idea of the song: you've never really moved from this position. You took a lot of detours but you're still back on the corner." [Hinton, Celtic Crossroads, p. 335]

Brian Hinton remarks on the song: "Van is like the protagonists in Yeats play, Purgatorial, condemned to eternal recurrence, 'here I am again', back with the 'backstreet jelly roll'....only music can assuage." [Hinton, Celtic Crossroads, p. 335]

Covers

John Lee Hooker

Appearance on other albums

*"The Healing Game" is one of the songs on disc one of the 2007 compilation album, "The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3".
*It is one of the hits on Morrison's third compilation album issued in 2007 — "Still on Top - The Greatest Hits". It is listed as an alternate take and appears on both the 2CD album issued in the U.K. and also the single disc - 21 hit album released in the U.S. on November 06, 2007.

Personnel on original release

*Van Morrison - vocals
*Georgie Fame - Hammond organ, backing vocals
*Ronnie Johnson - electric guitar
*Nicky Scott - electric bass
*Alec Dankworth - double bass
*Leo Green - tenor saxophone, backing vocals
*Ralph Salmins - percussion
*Geoff Dunn - drums
*Pee Wee Ellis - baritone saxophone, backing vocals
*Matt Holland - trumpet, backing vocals
*Haji Ahkba - flugelhorn
*Robin Aspland - piano
*Brian Kennedy - backing vocals
*Horns arranged by - Leo Green and Matt Holland

Notes

References

*Hinton, Brian (1997). Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison, Sanctuary, ISBN 1-86074169X

External links

* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_n6_v27/ai_19661466 Greil Marcus review] The Healing Game
* [http://www.vanmorrison.co.uk/?m=Content&Content(record_id)=b2950180e54389f3cf9d93ad908ac00e# Lyrics and Audio sample] 1990s, The Healing Game