Three Chords And The Truth - Van Morrison Album Review (sort of)

I recently added "lie in bed listening to Astral Weeks", in response to the profile prompt ‘if I had an extra hour in the day I would...’ on my bumble account. Seeing as the clocks go back this weekend, I actually do sort of get an extra hour.  It seems fitting, then, that Van Morrison’s most recent album Three Chords And The Truth was released two days ago (25th October). What better way to spend my extra hour than writing this blog reviewing the three tunes from the album that are available for free: If We Wait For Mountains, Dark Night of the Soul, and Days Gone By. Bit of a cop out not reviewing the whole album, which consists of fourteen songs, I know! But that would take more than an hour, and it isn’t even available on Spotify or Apple Music; you actually have to buy it for a tenner... and who even reads this blog anyway?

Dark Night of the Soul is a soothing Sunday afternoon listen, reminiscent of the distinctive blue-eyed soulful sound that typifies much of his earlier work, which I imagine would be a fair analysis of the album as a whole. But then again what Van Morrison album doesn’t fit that description? The song shares its title with a poem written by a 16th century Spanish mystic – possibly an attempt by Van to augment his own persona as a mystic poet. In the last third of Dark Night we’re treated to Van’s characteristic voice-as-an-instrument singing style, as he repeats various parts of the lyric ‘in the dark night of the soul’. For me, the vocal here seems slightly overripe. Luckily Van’s vocals are saved from slipping into a weary state of tedium by the accomplished musicians on the record, who seem able to read him. 

If We Wait For Mountains is a shorter piano based ditty with gospel organ vibes as Van sings sentimentally about mountains, other things in nature, and the fact that ‘love is all around us’. There's nothing groundbreakingly new happening on this track and the simplistic slow melody doesn’t do a lot for me, but it does showcase Van’s 50+ years of experience and his refined talent for writing and singing from the soul. 

Days Gone By is the longest track out of the three, clocking in at 7 minutes and 44 seconds. It opens with a couple of bass notes which make you think you’re about to hear Brown Eyed Girl, before falling into a more relaxed downbeat cadence. A soulful piece of nostalgia with nods to previous Van songs (The Beauty of Days Gone By), the song borrows its melody and some of its lyrics from ‘Auld Lang Syne’, that traditional Scottish folk song many of us sing on New Year's Eve. ‘Drink a cup of kindness’ may seem like a very Van-esque lyric but, like the melody, it has also been plucked straight from the 1788 Robert Burns poem, which I suppose adds to the nostalgia. 

All in all, I’m not gunna be changing my bumble response to: ‘listen to Three Chords And The Truth, by Van Morrison’, and that’s partly because of its somewhat cringey title. Of course, none of this changes how brilliant Van Morrison will always be. Extra hour in the day well spent. I hope you enjoyed yours too! 

-Slider