Madame George
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Madame George is a song by Irish musician Van Morrison. It appears on the album Astral Weeks, released in 1968. Rumour suggests the song was originally entitled "Madame Joy", and is possibly pronounced this way in the song. [1]
The main theme of the song is about leaving the past behind. The character of Madame George is considered by many to be a drag queen, although Morrison himself denied this in a Rolling Stone interview. He later claimed that the character was based on six or seven different people.
The rock journalist Lester Bangs wrote in 1979 that the song "is the album's whirlpool. Possibly one of the most compassionate pieces of music ever made, it asks us, no, arranges that we see the plight of what I'll be brutal and call a lovelorn drag queen with such intense empathy that when the singer hurts him, we do too." Bangs also remarks that "Morrison has said in at least one interview that the song has nothing to do with any kind of transvestite – at least as far as he knows, he is quick to add – but that's bullshit."
The song features Morrison performing the vocals and acoustic guitar. The song also features an upright bass, flute and a string quartet.
An earlier recording with slightly altered lyrics and a much swifter tempo changes the tone considerably from the Astral Weeks recording, which is downbeat and nostalgic; the earlier recording is joyous, and seems to be from the point-of-view of a partygoer who sees the titular character.
[edit] External links
- Lester Bangs review of Astral Weeks, from a 1979 issue of Stranded magazine
- An Appreciation of "Madame George" by Gerald Dawe from his 1998 book The Rest is History
