"Vanlose Stairway" is a song written by the

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

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 1982 album '' Beautiful Vision''. It has remained a popular concert performance throughout Morrison's career and has become one of his most played songs.

Recording and composition

It was recorded in the summer of 1981 at the Record Plant in

Sausalito, California Sausalito ( Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's ...

. Morrison wrote the song about his Danish girlfriend, Ulla Munch, from

Vanløse Vanløse is one of the 10 official Districts of Copenhagen, districts of Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. It lies on the western border of the municipality. Vanløse covers an area of 6.69 km2, and has a population of 36,115, making Vanlø ...

district in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

who lived on the fourth floor of an apartment building with no lift. Clinton Heylin remarks..."he turned this mundane set of stairs in an uninspiring block of flats into a 'Stairway that reaches up to the moon/And it comes right back....to you'. Peter Mills, author of the Morrison biography ''Hymns to the Silence'', refers to "Vanlose Stairway" as this "dark horse of a song". The singer also includes the lines "Send me your Pillow" which referenced bluesman John Lee Hooker's influence on his music.

Live performances

The song has been performed by Morrison over seven hundred times, making it the seventh most played song at his concerts. He performed a baroque rendition of this song with the Dallas Jazz Orchestra at the 1989 Montreux Jazz Festival.Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence, p.465

Other releases

A live performance of "Vanlose Stairway" was included on the Morrison's 1984 album, '' Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast''. Morrison often performed the song as a medley with "Trans-Euro Train" and

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

' " A Fool for You". Live versions of the song in this format appeared on the 1994 album, '' A Night in San Francisco'', and the 2019 deluxe edition of '' The Healing Game'', from Morrison's 1997 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. It was remastered and released on the 2007 compilation album, '' Still on Top - The Greatest Hits''.

Personnel on original release

*Van Morrison - vocals *John Allair - organ *Tom Donlinger -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Pee Wee Ellis -

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

* Chris Hayes -

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* David Hayes -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Mark Isham -

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

*Pauline Lozano -

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

*Chris Michie - guitar *Annie Stocking - backing vocals * Bianca Thornton - backing vocals

Notes

References

* Heylin, Clinton (2003). ''Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography'', Chicago Review Press * Rogan, Johnny (2006). ''Van Morrison:No Surrender'', London:Vintage Books

External links

* class=song, id=t871306, pure_url=yes Allmusic song reviewbr>Vanlose Stairway
on the Web
Vanlose Stairway Page
A Vanloesee reports 1982 songs Van Morrison songs Songs written by Van Morrison Song recordings produced by Van Morrison