"Cul de Sac" is a song written by 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 ...

. It first appeared as the seventh track on Morrison's 1974 album ''

Veedon Fleece ''Veedon Fleece'' is the eighth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in October 1974. Morrison recorded the album shortly after his divorce from wife Janet (Planet) Rigsbee. With his broken marriage in the past ...

'', and was released as the B-side to the single "

Bulbs In botany, a bulb is a short underground stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs during ...

Lyrics and instrumentation

The song roughly describes traveling on the road, emigration and homecoming. The lyrics are sparse and added lightly, accenting the melody of the song. "Cul de Sac" is performed in 3/4 time.Collis, John (1997). p 140 An alternate version was released in 2008, with slightly different lyrics:J&R catalog listing
for ''Veedon Fleece'', featuring personnel and track info

Background and recording

"Cul de Sac" was recorded with a separate lineup of musicians than the rest of ''Veedon Fleece''. "Cul de Sac" along with "Bulbs" was recut at Mercury Studios in New York a few months after the main recording for the album took place. It was made with musicians with whom Morrison had never worked before: guitarist

John Tropea John Tropea (pronounced 'tro-pay'; born January 7, 1946) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. Career Tropea began guitar studies at the age of 12. His musical education continued at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied jaz ...

, bassist Joe Macho and drummer Allen Schwarzberg. It contrasted slightly with the rest of the album as it was given more of a rock music treatment.Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence?, pp. 282–285

Release and reception

"Cul de Sac" was chosen as the B-side to the single "Bulbs", which was released in 1974 as the lead single for ''Veedon Fleece''. In the UK, it was replaced by "Who Was That Masked Man". In his book ''Van Morrison: Inarticulate Speech of the Heart'', John Collis writes:

Personnel

– vocals *

– guitar *

Jef Labes Jef Labes is an American keyboardist and musician. He is best known from his work with Van Morrison and Bonnie Raitt. Jef Labes has also arranged for string and woodwind instruments on numerous albums. Career Labes started his recording career ...

– piano *Joe Macho – bass *Allen Schwarzberg – drums

Notes

References

* * Heylin, Clinton (2003). ''Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography'', Chicago Review Press

External links

* "Cul de Sac" allmusic review {{authority control Van Morrison songs Songs written by Van Morrison 1974 songs Song recordings produced by Van Morrison