Bulbs (song)
| "Bulbs" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Van Morrison | ||||||||||
| from the album Veedon Fleece | ||||||||||
| A-side | "Bulbs" | |||||||||
| B-side | "Cul de Sac" | |||||||||
| Released | November 1974 | |||||||||
| Recorded | March 1974, Mercury Studios, New York City | |||||||||
| Genre | Folk-Rock | |||||||||
| Length | 4:19 | |||||||||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Van Morrison | |||||||||
| Producer(s) | Van Morrison | |||||||||
| Van Morrison singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Bulbs" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 1974 album, Veedon Fleece. It was chosen as the 'A' side single from the album.
Recording and composition
"Bulbs" was first recorded with different lyrics at the recording session for the 1973 album, Hard Nose the Highway released in 1973.[1]'. After the first recording session for Veedon Fleece, "Bulbs" was recut in New York City at Mercury Studios in March 1974, along with "Cul de Sac" to give it a more rock feeling. According to Jef Labes this was "cause he (Morrison) didn't feel they had the right feeling...It was me, Van and a bunch of other guys that he'd never played with."[2]
"Bulbs" has been described as "a pleasant, catchy country ditty, a Dire Straits song before its time" by biographer, John Collis.[3] As with many of Morrison's songs, "Bulbs" does not have a clear story line but in part focuses on immigration to America as in the lines:
- She's leaving Pan American
- Suitcase in her hand
- I said her brothers and her sisters
- Are all on Atlantic sand
Critical reception
In an interview with Tom Donahue, Donahue told Morrison after he listened to "Bulbs": "You always make great noises. The other things you do in songs beside the words."[4]
In a Stylus Magazine review for the album, Veedon Fleece, Derek Miller says of this song:[5]
Of course, the best and most immediately memorable song on Veedon Fleece is "Bulbs". Coming about as close to laying down a groove as he does on the album, the song quickly makes dust of its acoustic start, leaping headstrong into a Waylon Jennings' style bass-roll, rump heavy and plush, pianos shimmering and fingerdense."
Title
The title might come from the lines:
- And her batteries are corroded
- And her hundred watt bulb just blew
or the repeated chorus:
- .. she's standing in the shadows
- Where the street lights all turn blue
Read more: Van Morrison - Bulbs Lyrics | MetroLyrics
Personnel
- Van Morrison - vocals
- John Tropea - guitar
- Jef Labes - piano
- Joe Macho - bass
- Allen Schwarzberg - drums
Other releases
A live performance of this song is featured on the 1974 disc of Morrison's 2006 issued DVD, Live At Montreux 1980/1974. Morrison used a stripped down band on this Montreaux Jazz Festival appearance that consisted of:
- Van Morrison - vocals, guitar
- Pete Wingfield - piano, background vocals
- Jerome Rimson - bass, background vocals
- Dallas Taylor - drums
Covers
Ellis Hooks performed a cover version of "Bulbs" on the 2003 released tribute album, Vanthology: a Tribute to Van Morrison.
Notes
References
- Collis, John (1996). Inarticulate Speech of the Heart, Little Brown and Company, ISBN 0-306-80811-0
- Heylin, Clinton (2003). Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography, Chicago Review Press ISBN 1-55652-542-7
- Hinton, Brian (1997). Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison, Sanctuary, ISBN 1-86074-169-X
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