Inarticulate Speech of the Heart

Inarticulate Speech of the Heart
Image of the album cover
Studio album by Van Morrison
Released March 1983
Recorded
Genre Celtic, jazz
Length 47:10
Label
Producer Van Morrison
Van Morrison chronology
Beautiful Vision
(1982)		 Inarticulate Speech of the Heart
(1983)		 Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast
(1984)
Singles from Inarticulate Speech of the Heart
  1. "Cry for Home" b/w "Summertime in England"
    Released: February 1983
  2. "Celtic Swing" b/w "Mr. Thomas"
    Released: May 1983
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Robert ChristgauB−[2]
Rolling Stone[3]

Inarticulate Speech of the Heart is the fourteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1983. Morrison said he arrived at the title from a Shavian saying: "that idea of communicating with as little articulation as possible, at the same time being emotionally articulate". As his last album for Warner Bros. Records, he decided to do an album of mostly instrumentals. As he explained in 1984, "Sometimes when I'm playing something, I'm just sort of humming along with it, and that's got a different vibration than an actual song. So the instrumentals just come from trying to get that form of expression, which is not the same as writing a song."[4] Although not expanded upon, of note is that a special thanks is given to L. Ron Hubbard in the liner notes. The reissued and remastered version of the album contains alternative takes of "Cry for Home" and "Inarticulate Speech of the Heart No. 2".[5] The track "Celtic Swing" made an appearance over the final scenes of Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones.

Recording

The recording sessions took place in California, Dublin, and a series of marathon sessions at the Town House in London. Morrison played piano, guitar and saxophone on these sessions.[6] Two Irish musicians played on the album (Arty McGlynn and Davy Spillane) and overall the music had a strong Celtic colouring. Four of the songs were instrumentals.[7]

Track listing

All tracks written by Van Morrison. 

No. Title Length
1. "Higher than the World"   3:42
2. "Connswater"   4:09
3. "River of Time"   3:02
4. "Celtic Swing"   5:03
5. "Rave On, John Donne"   5:12
6. "Inarticulate Speech of the Heart No. 1"   4:53
7. "Irish Heartbeat"   4:40
8. "The Street Only Knew Your Name"   3:36
9. "Cry for Home"   3:44
10. "Inarticulate Speech of the Heart No. 2"   3:53
11. "September Night"   5:16
12. "Cry for Home" (CD bonus song, alternate take) 3:49
13. "Inarticulate Speech of the Heart No. 2" (CD bonus song, alternate take) 4:48

Personnel

Charts

Album - Billboard

Year Chart Position
1983 Pop Albums 116

Album - UK Album Chart

Year Chart Position
1983 UK Album Chart 24[8]

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ Robert Christgau review
  3. ↑ Rolling Stone review
  4. ↑ Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence?, p. 376-377
  5. ↑ Van Morrison Official Website
  6. ↑ Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence. p.377
  7. ↑ Hinton, Celtic Crossroads, p. 239
  8. ↑ Chart Stats: Van Morrison

Sources

  • Heylin, Clinton (2003). Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-55652-542-1. 
  • Hinton, Brian (1997). Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison. Sanctuary Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86074-505-8. 

External links

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