"Wonderful Remark" is a 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 first released on the soundtrack album for the 1983 film '' The King of Comedy''. This recording later appeared on the benefit compilation '' Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal'' and on several compilations of Morrison's works. At least two earlier recordings exist, one of which appeared on Morrison's 1998 album '' The Philosopher's Stone'', a collection of previously unreleased tracks. The melody is based on an earlier Morrison composition, " Joe Harper Saturday Morning" (recorded for the Bang label in 1967).

Recording and composition

Morrison stated in an interview that "Wonderful Remark" was about a difficult period financially that he had spent living in New York: "It was about people who were supposed to be helping you and they weren't there. It was about the business I'm in and the world in general. A lot of the times you can't count on anybody." The song was originally recorded in August 1969 at one of the ''

Moondance ''Moondance'' is the third studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on 27 January 1970 by Warner Bros. Records. After the commercial failure of his first Warner Bros. album '' Astral Weeks'' (1968), Morr ...

'' studio sessions at Century Sound Studios in New York City, but this version of the song remains unreleased. The original release (running 3:58) first appeared on the soundtrack to the film '' The King of Comedy'', and in 1990 was featured on ''

The Best of Van Morrison ''The Best of Van Morrison'' is a compilation album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It compiles songs spanning 25 years of his recording career. Released in 1990 by Polydor Records, the album was a critical and commercial succes ...

'' and the benefit album '' Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal''. In 2007 it appeared on two compilation albums: ''

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'' and ''

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''. The eight-minute version that was released on the 1998 compilation album, '' The Philosopher's Stone'', was derived from one of the ''

Saint Dominic's Preview ''Saint Dominic's Preview'' is the sixth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in July 1972 by Warner Bros. Records. ''Rolling Stone'' declared it "the best-produced, most ambitious Van Morrison record y ...

'' recording sessions around early 1972 that took place at

Wally Heider Studios Wally Heider Studios was a recording studio founded in San Francisco in 1969 by recording engineer and studio owner Wally Heider. Between 1969 and 1980, numerous notable artists recorded at the studios, including Creedence Clearwater Revival, J ...

and Pacific High Studios in San Francisco and at the Church in San Anselmo.

Legacy

On 14 February 1994 when Van Morrison was awarded the BRIT Award for his outstanding contribution to British music,

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hostage

John McCarthy John McCarthy may refer to: Government * John George MacCarthy (1829–1892), Member of Parliament for Mallow constituency, 1874–1880 * John McCarthy (Irish politician) (1862–1893), Member of Parliament for the Mid Tipperary constituency, ...

testified to the importance of "Wonderful Remark" which he called "a song written more than 20 years ago that was very important to us." McCarthy and Jill Morrell had written a book together in 1993, after McCarthy's release, using the lyric "some other rainbow" from "Wonderful Remark" for the book's title. :''Clinging to some other rainbow'' :''While we're standing, waiting in the cold'' :''Telling us the same old story'' :''Knowing time is growing old.''

Personnel on original release

*Van Morrison – vocals, acoustic guitar *

Robbie Robertson Jaime Royal Robertson (July 5, 1943 – August 9, 2023) was a Canadian musician of Indigenous and Jewish ancestry. He was the lead guitarist for Bob Dylan's backing band in the mid-late 1960s and early-mid 1970s. Robertson was also the ...

– electric guitar * David Hayes – bass *

Richard Tee Richard Edward Tee (born Richard Edward Ten Ryk; November 24, 1943 – July 21, 1993) was an American jazz fusion pianist, studio musician, singer and arranger, who had several hundred studio credits and played on such notable hits as " I'll B ...

– piano *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Do ...

– drums *

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. He performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, including on songs recorde ...

– organ, synthesizer

Personnel on The Philosopher's Stone

*Van Morrison – vocals, acoustic guitar *Lee Charlton – drums *Bill Church – bass *"Boots" Rolf Houston – flute *

Ronnie Montrose Ronald Douglas Montrose (November 29, 1947 – March 3, 2012) was an American musician and guitarist who founded and led the rock bands Montrose and Gamma. He also performed and did session work with a variety of musicians, including Van Morri ...

– acoustic guitar, 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 {{Van Morrison singles 1990 songs Van Morrison songs Songs written by Van Morrison Song recordings produced by Robbie Robertson