Blue Money

For the 1972 film, see Blue Money (film).
"Blue Money"
Single by Van Morrison
from the album His Band and the Street Choir
A-side "Blue Money"
B-side "Sweet Thing" (US)
"Call Me Up in Dreamland" (Europe)
Released 1971
Recorded 1970
Genre R&B[1]
Length 3:40
Label Warner Bros.
Writer(s) Van Morrison
Producer(s) Van Morrison
Van Morrison singles chronology
"Domino"
(1970)		 "Blue Money"
(1971)		 "Call Me Up in Dreamland"
(1971)
His Band and the Street Choir track listing
"I'll Be Your Lover, Too"
(6)		 "Blue Money"
(7)		 "Virgo Clowns"
(8)

"Blue Money" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was the second of two Top Forty hits from his 1970 album, His Band and the Street Choir (the other being "Domino"), reaching #23 on the US charts. The US single featured "Sweet Thing", from the album Astral Weeks, as the B-side. It was released as a single in the UK in June 1971 with a different B-side, "Call Me Up in Dreamland". The song became Morrison's third best selling single of the 1970s, remaining on the charts for three months.[2]

The lyrics have the singer promising his girl that they will paint the town together with her "blue money."[3] Critic Maury Dean states that the theme picks up from Lefty Frizzell's 1950 #1 song "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time."[3] In a 1972 Rolling Stone interview with John Grissim Jr., Morrison commented about the popularity of "Blue Money" in cities like Boston and New York: "Out here I get asked to play 'Blue Money' all the time. All the kids love it, the kids in the street. It's their favorite number."[4]

Critical response

Robert Christgau, writing in the Village Voice in 1971, described "Blue Money" and "Domino" as "superb examples of Morrison's loose, allusive white r&b."[1] Writer M. Mark described it as "a pun-filled song about time and cash."[5] Biographer Brian Hinton compared the song's sound to Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames—"boozy horns and a nonsensical chorus."[6]

Dean praises the song's "snarly, snappity sounds" and Morrison's "jazzy baritone."[3]

Covers

Cristina covered "Blue Money" on her 1984 album, Sleep It Off and The Flying Pickets included an a cappella version as the title track on their 1991 album, Blue Money.

Personnel

The Street Choir:

Charts

Chart (1971)[7] Peak
Position
U.S. Pop Singles 23

Notes

  1. 1 2 Chritgau, Robert (1971-03-11). "Consumer Guide". Retrieved 2009-10-04.
  2. ↑ Dewitt. The Mystic's Music. p.87
  3. 1 2 3 Dean, M. (2003). Rock 'n' Roll Gold Rush. Algora. p. 329. ISBN 0875862071.
  4. ↑ Grissim Jr., John (1972-06-22). "Van Morrison: The Rolling Stone Interview". Retrieved 2009-09-28.
  5. ↑ Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island, Greil Marcus, ed., p.10 (1979)
  6. ↑ Hinton, Celtic Crossroads, p.123
  7. ↑ Allmusic: Van Morrison bllboard singles

References

External links

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