"Coney Island" is a spoken-word song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

and included on his 1989 album, ''

Avalon Sunset ''Avalon Sunset'' is the nineteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in 1989 by Mercury Records to both commercial and critical success. In 2008, ''Avalon Sunset'' was reissued and remastered, featuri ...

''. The narrative is accompanied by lush instrumentation which contrasts with Morrison's thick

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

brogue Brogue may refer to: Language * Brogue (accent), regionally accented English, especially Irish-accented * Mission brogue, an accent of English spoken in the Mission District of San Francisco * Ocracoke brogue, a family of English dialects in the S ...

. The singer revisits his youthful trips with his mother to the seaside at

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

, in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. The trip from

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

in the song names the localities of

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Down Cathedral, Its cathedral is sai ...

, St. John's Point,

Strangford Lough Strangford Lough () is a large sea lough or inlet in County Down, in the east of Northern Ireland. It is the largest inlet in Ireland and the wider British Isles, covering . The lough is almost fully enclosed by the Ards Peninsula and is linke ...

, Shrigley,

Killyleagh Killyleagh (; ) is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the A22 road between Belfast and Downpatrick, on the western side of Strangford Lough. It had a population of 2,787 people in the 2021 Census. It is bes ...

Lecale Lecale (, ) is a peninsula in the east of County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies between Strangford Lough and Dundrum Bay. In the Middle Ages it was a district or ''túath'' in the Gaelic Irish kingdom of Ulaid, then became a county in the An ...

District and

Ardglass Ardglass () is a coastal fishing village, townland (of 321 acres) and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland, in the historic barony of Lecale Lower. It is still a relatively important fishing harbour. It is situated on the B1 Ardglas ...

. The narrative vividly pictures a bright autumn day of birdwatching, stopping for Sunday papers, and for "a couple of jars of mussels and some potted herrings in case we get famished before dinner." A reviewer noted: "You get a great rush of satisfaction here; in knowing that Van Morrison, despite his long, painful progress towards spiritual election, is still a ravenous foodie at heart." The village of Shrigley dating back to 1824 was replaced with modern homes and shops after 1968 but a restored village as seen by Morrison and his mother is being planned. The song ends with the spoken words: "Wouldn't it be great if it was like this all the time?" ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called it "poetic" and an "instant classic."

Appearance on other albums

*It was one of the songs featured on the 1993 compilation album, '' The Best of Van Morrison Volume Two''. *"Coney Island" has been re-mastered and included on the 2007 3CD limited edition album, '' Still on Top – The Greatest Hits''.

Personnel

*Van Morrisonvocal, guitar * Clive Culbertsonbass guitar *Neil Drinkwatersynthesizer *Roy Jones,

Dave Early Sade ( or ) are an English band, formed in London in 1982 and named after their lead singer, Sade Adu. The band consists of Adu alongside bassist Paul Denman, saxophonist and guitarist Stuart Matthewman, and keyboardist Andrew Hale. Foundi ...

drums, percussion *

Arty McGlynn Arty McGlynn (7 August 1944 – 18 December 2019) was an Irish guitarist born in Omagh, County Tyrone. In addition to his solo work, he collaborated with different notable groups such as Patrick Street, Planxty, Four Men and a Dog, De Dannan ...

guitar

Renditions

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson, several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, BAFT ...

performed the song on the 1994 Van Morrison tribute album, '' No Prima Donna: The Songs of Van Morrison''. A single was also released with Neeson's version.

Dustin the Turkey Dustin the Turkey, a character performed by John Morrison is a former star of RTÉ television's '' The Den'' between 1989 and 2010 and from 2020. He has been described as "the most subversive comedy force on Irish television". A turkey vultur ...

performed a parody of the song called "Bull Island", which told the story of a day out resulting in his arrest at the end. It was featured on his '' Not Just a Pretty Face'' album as well as '' Dustin's Greatest Hits''.

References

Sources

* Rogan, Johnny (2006). '' Van Morrison: No Surrender'', London:Vintage Books {{DEFAULTSORT:Coney Island (Song) Van Morrison songs 1989 songs 1990 singles Songs written by Van Morrison Song recordings produced by Van Morrison