Choppin' Wood
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| “Choppin' Wood” | ||
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Album cover
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| Song by Van Morrison | ||
| Album | Down the Road | |
| Released | May 14, 2002 | |
| Recorded | September 2001 | |
| Genre | Celtic rock | |
| Length | 3:26 | |
| Label | Universal | |
| Composer | Van Morrison | |
| Producer | Van Morrison | |
"Choppin' Wood" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 2002 album entitled Down the Road.
It was first recorded in October 2000 when it was planned to be the title song for an album of songs recorded at the Wool Hall Studios with Linda Gail Lewis and her band, the Red Hot Pokers. The tracks planned for that album were re-recorded and completed by the end of 2001 with a new band.[1]
The song is autobiographical and Morrison's musical tribute to his father, George Morrison who had died from sudden heart failure in 1988. The song suggests that the senior Morrison returned from Detroit, Michigan, in his son's early childhood, and led a life of "quiet desperation", having failed to find a permanent job and move his family to America. He brought back with him a record collection that would be of the greatest influence on his young son's development as a blues, R&B, and soul singer. But according to the lyrics of the song his father had become dispirited and spent years of his life just riding his bike to work at the Harland and Wolff shipyard, returning home to sit in front of the television set. In the lyrics of the song, the singer sympathetically assures his father that he did the best he could.[2]
Van Morrison has often performed this song in concert since its release and it was also recorded on a TV film shown on PBS television from a show performed the night before his festival performance at the Austin City Limits Festival in September 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Personnel on original release
- Van Morrison - Acoustic guitar, Harmonica, Vocals
- John Allair - Hammond organ
- Lee Goodall - Alto saxophone, Tenor saxophone
- Colin Griffin - Drums
- Pete Hurley - Bass
- Martin Winning - Clarinet
- Johnny Scott - Backing vocals, Vocal Arrangement
- Aine Whelan - Backing vocals, Vocal Arrangement
- Siobhan Pettit - Backing vocals
- Karen Hamill - Backing vocals
- Crawford Bell - Backing vocals
- Olwin Bell - Backing vocals
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Heylin, Clinton (2003). Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography, Chicago Review Press ISBN 1-55652-542-7
- Rogan, Johnny (2006). Van Morrison:No Surrender, London:Vintage Books ISBN 9780099431831
[edit] External links
- Lyrics and Audio sample 2000s, Down The Road
