"Cul de Sac" is a song written by Irish singer-songwriter

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

. It first appeared as the seventh track on Morrison's 1974 album '' Veedon Fleece'', and was released as the B-side to the single "

Bulbs In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs durin ...

Lyrics and instrumentation

The song roughly describes traveling on the road, emigration and homecoming.: "Oh, I traveled far
The nearest star
And Mount Palomar, Palomar, Palomar, Palomar
��And when they all,
All go home
Down the cobblestones
You will double back
To a cul de sac" The lyrics are sparse and added lightly, accenting the melody of the song. "Cul de Sac" is performed in 3/4 time.Collis, John (1997). p 140 An alternate version was released in 2008, with slightly different lyrics:J&R catalog listing
for ''Veedon Fleece'', featuring personnel and track info "In the cul de sac
Soft clean eiderdown
Lay you down a while
And take your rest.
It’s been much too long
Since you drifted into song
Relax yourself
And hide away.
I travelled far
The nearest star
Mount Palomar
And we don’t care who you know,
It’s what you are
and who you are.
And they all go home
Down the cobblestones
You can double back
To a cul de sac."

Background and recording

"Cul de Sac" was recorded with a separate lineup of musicians than the rest of ''Veedon Fleece''. "Cul de Sac" along with "Bulbs" was recut at Mercury Studios in New York a few months after the main recording for the album took place. It was made with musicians with whom Morrison had never worked before: guitarist

John Tropea John Tropea (pronounced 'tro-pay'; born January 7, 1946) is an American guitarist. Career Tropea began guitar studies at the age of 12. His musical education continued at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied jazz guitar, harmony, ...

, bassist Joe Macho and drummer Allen Schwarzberg. It contrasted slightly with the rest of the album as it was given more of a rock music treatment.Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence?, pp. 282–285

Release and reception

"Cul de Sac" was chosen as the B-side to the single "Bulbs", which was released in 1974 as the lead single for ''Veedon Fleece''. In the UK, it was replaced by "Who Was That Masked Man". In his book ''Van Morrison: Inarticulate Speech of the Heart'', John Collis writes:

Personnel

– vocals *

– guitar *

Jef Labes Jef Labes is an American keyboardist and musician. He is best known from his work with Van Morrison and Bonnie Raitt. Jef Labes has also arranged for string and woodwind instruments on numerous albums. Career Labes started his recording career ...

– piano *Joe Macho – bass *Allen Schwarzberg – drums

Notes

References

* * Heylin, Clinton (2003). ''Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography'', Chicago Review Press

External links

* "Cul de Sac" allmusic review {{authority control Van Morrison songs Songs written by Van Morrison 1974 songs Song recordings produced by Van Morrison