You’ve either got it or you haven’t.
Presence.
Some things you just can’t buy.
Presence.
Coaches and Gurus and Snake Oil salesmen will portentously promise to reveal the secret to you.
Better save your money and your time and learn the things that can be taught – vocal exercises, relaxation, the whole assembly of skills that adds up to Technique.
But Presence?
No way.
You’ve either got it or you haven’t.
The gods or muses dispose as they will.
Hard to define but easy to recognise.
Greta Garbo.
Marlon Brando.
Rudolph Nureyev.
Maria Callas.
Miles Davis.
Muhammad Ali.
Van Morrison.
Intensity.
Impact.
Cultural, emotional and spiritual impact.
You’ll recognise it when you confront it.
Mark Knopfler is a gifted songwriter and as a guitar player has undoubted Presence.
He is also canny enough to know that some songs require an extra ingredient that he does not possess.
A voice with Presence.
So, for his Song, ‘The Last Laugh’ he called up Van Morrison.
There must have been a moment in the studio as they listened back when Mark exhaled and smiled deeply as the sound of Van’s voice at the beginning of the second verse lifted the work to a wholly new level.
Presence.
Emotional and Spiritual impact.
Van Morrison.
Sing it Van!
Games you thought you’d learned
You neither lost nor won
Dreams have crashed and burned
But you’re still going on
Out on the highway with the road gang working
Up on the mountain with the cold wind blowing
Out on the highway with the road gang working
But the last laugh, baby is yours
And don’t you love the sound
Of the last laugh going down
Very few singers merit the Bold and the Italics.
Van Morrison always has and always will.
Don’t you love the Sound!
Presence.
Cultural, Emotional and Spiritual Impact.
Demonstrated time after time in studios and on stages from Belfast to Buffalo.
Hey Girl! Baby Blue. Brown Eyed Girl. Sweet Thing. Moondance..
Linden Arden.
Listen to The Lion.
The Healing has begun.
No Guru. No Method. No Teacher.
Just Van and that Voice.
It ain’t why, why, why, it just IS.
A voice capable of transcendence as only the rarest voices are.
A voice that reaches up to the Moon.
Don’t you love the Sound!
Van is 74 this week.
So, Happy Birthday Van!
A heartfelt thanks for all the Songs and all the Singing.
May your Song always be Sung.
if this is your visit to The Immortal Jukebox you are very welcome!
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There are more Posts about Van than any other artist here on The Jukebox so, in case you missed one or would like to be reminded of an old favourite here’s the Van Compendium for your delectation and delight!
Brown Eyed Girl’.
An introduction telling the tale of my headlong plunge into obsession following my first hearing of Van’s best known song.
‘Don’t Look Back’.
A meditation on Time featuring 2 astounding versions of John Lee Hooker’s tender Blues Ballad. One a reaching for the stars take of a teenager the second the work of a fully realised master musician.
‘Carrickfergus‘.
A meditation on family, friendship and loss. How the shadows lengthen! Sung with infinite tenderness and bardic authority.
‘In The Days Before Rock ‘n’ Roll’.
A miraculous meditation on the persistence of memory, the power of the radio and the post war world as seen by a young Irish mystic.
‘Tupelo Honey’.
A rhapsodic meditation on the nurturing, redemptive power of Love. A Hallelujah!
‘All in the Game‘.
A meditation on the carousel we all ride. It’s been sung by many singers but never like this!
Domino’ .
A Founding Father joyously celebrated by a Master from the next generation.
‘Sometimes We Cry‘.
Bringing it all back home to singing on the street corner Days. The sweetness of Doo-Wop seasoned with wry maturity.
‘I Cover the Waterfront’.
Van and John Lee Hooker, Blues Brothers and Soul Friends, conjure up ancient tides.
‘Buona Sera Signorina‘.
Van puts his party hat on and romps through the Louis Prima classic.
Hey Girl’.
Van takes a stroll along the strand and suspends Time.
‘Gloria! Gloria!’
Once, Now and Ever.
Coney Island
A Pilgrim’s glimpses of Eternity in the everyday.
Brand New Day
Born again each Day with The Dawn.
And It Stoned Me
A mystic dweller on the threshold shows us the wonder ever present everywhere.
Happy Birthday Van!
The Immortal Jukebox 
I was just listening to Sailing to Philadelphia for CD swap group (4 Grumpy Old Men). Big Knoppfler and Van fan, but for some reason this album had passed me by. Coincidental to find this having just received a friendly nod from yourself. Trust you’re well, Thom. Burn on!
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