"In the Garden" is a spiritually inspired song written by Northern 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 ...

and included on his 1986 album ''

No Guru, No Method, No Teacher ''No Guru, No Method, No Teacher'' is the sixteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1986 on Mercury. Upon release in 1986, it was well received by critics and charted at number twenty-seven in the UK a ...

''.

Recording and composition

The album version of the song was recorded in 1985 at Studio D at the Sausalito

Record Plant The Record Plant is a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and currently operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it has produced highly influential albums, including Blon ...

Sausalito, California Sausalito (Spanish language, Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, California, Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, California ...

. The lyrics of "In the Garden" contain a line which gives the album its name: "No Guru, no method, no teacher/ Just you and I and nature/And the Father in the garden." Some of the words also fall back to ''

Astral Weeks ''Astral Weeks'' is the second studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was recorded at Century Sound Studios in New York during September and October 1968, and released in November of the same year by Warner Bros. Reco ...

'' territory with mentions of "childlike visions", "into a trance" from the song, "

Madame George "Madame George" is a song by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It appears on the album ''Astral Weeks'', released in 1968. The song features Morrison performing the vocals and acoustic guitar. It also features a double bass, flute, dr ...

" and "in the garden wet with rain" from " Sweet Thing". According to Morrison, the song is based upon a form of

transcendental meditation Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes a ...

, which takes about ten minutes before a person arrives at a degree of

tranquility Tranquillity (also spelled tranquility) is the quality or state of being tranquil; that is, calm, serene, and worry-free. The word tranquillity appears in numerous texts ranging from the religious writings of Buddhism, where the term ''passaddhi'' ...

. Biographer

Johnny Rogan John Rogan (14 February 1953 – 21 January 2021) was a British author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He wrote influential biographies of the Byrds, Neil Young, the Smiths, Van Morrison and Ray Davies. ...

has highlighted the song as one of the defining tracks of Morrison's career, comparing it with works such as "

Into the Mystic "Into the Mystic" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and featured on his 1970 album ''Moondance''. It was also included on Morrison's 1974 live album, ''It's Too Late to Stop Now''. Recording and composition "Int ...

", "

Listen to the Lion "Listen to the Lion" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and featured on his sixth album, ''Saint Dominic's Preview'' (1972). Its poetic musings and "bass-led shuffle" lead back to ''Astral Weeks'' territory. Record ...

", and "

You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push the River "You Don't Pull No Punches, but You Don't Push the River" is a nine-minute song by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It appears on the album ''Veedon Fleece'', released in 1974. Writing and song origins "You Don't Pull No Punches, bu ...

". He also believes that "Morrison himself recognises 'In the Garden' as perhaps the key recording in the Eighties career."Rogan, No Surrender, p. 359

Other releases

"In the Garden" was one of the songs performed and featured on ''

Van Morrison The Concert ''Van Morrison: The Concert'' is the second video released by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, first released in 1990. Recorded in New York City the previous year, the concert featured two special guests and long-time friends Mose ...

'', Morrison's video film released in 1990. It was included on ''

The Best of Van Morrison Volume Two ''The Best of Van Morrison Volume Two'' is a compilation album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison released in 1993. Morrison chose the tracks for this album himself. It is mostly drawn from his work during 1984–1991. "Real Real ...

'' In 1993. A live version was one of the songs on the 1994 album, ''

A Night in San Francisco ''A Night in San Francisco'' is a live album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1994. Guest artists were Candy Dulfer, John Lee Hooker, Junior Wells and Jimmy Witherspoon as well as Morrison's daughter, Shana Morrison. ...

''. The compilation album issued in 2007 ''

Still on Top - The Greatest Hits A still is an apparatus used to distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic distillation apparatus, but on a much larger scale. Stills have been used ...

'' contains a remastered version of the song.

Personnel on original release

– vocal * David Hayes – bass *

Jeff 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 *

Chris Michie Chris Michie (January 12, 1948 – March 27, 2003) was an American guitarist and composer and best known for his work with Van Morrison. Chris Michie was born in Ithaca, New York in 1948 and moved to Madison, Wisconsin, when he was a teenager. He ...

– guitar * Baba Trunde – drums

Notes

References

* Heylin, Clinton (2003). ''Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography'', Chicago Review Press, * Hinton, Brian (1997). ''Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison'', Sanctuary, * Rogan, Johnny (2006). '' Van Morrison: No Surrender'', London: Vintage Books {{authority control 1985 songs Van Morrison songs Songs written by Van Morrison Song recordings produced by Van Morrison