Van Morrison - Cyprus Avenue Reaction 

The instrument you are talking about is a harpsichord. It is a keyboard. But the strings are plucked when you press the keys. Van has plenty of great albums, but, to me, Astral Weeks will always be his masterpiece. Just astonishingly original and beautiful.

My favourite Van song from my favourite Van album.

Quite simply one of the greatest albums ever made. Every note, and every placement of every note is just perfect for its task. Van Morrison is the kid from Belfast, from one of the overwhelmingly Protestant areas of that troubled city where well heeled houses often sit side by side with desperately poor houses and housing projects. Van Morrison left those streets far behind and left behind much of how he grew up - but in his music it always seems to call him back. Cyprus Avenue was one of the Belfast streets of his childhood (It was the street where Rev. Ian Paisley lived). The song is wistful, reflective, longing - and utterly beautiful just like the rest of this album. Glad you played it and glad you enjoyed it - the rest of 'Astral Weeks' is just gorgeous as well. Thanks again.

Perfect album.

Beautiful song about a young boy who’s in love with

You may mean the harpsichord. It was played by Larry Fallon, who also conducted and did string arrangements on the album. And the bass was played by the briliant Richard Davis, who played some of the most gorgeous and largely improvised bass lines to ever grace an album; rock or otherwise.

Most people think Van peaked in the late 1960's, early 1970's, but imho his best years were from 1979 until 1991. Check out "Queen of the Slipstream" from Poetic Champions Compose for a sample. Hi from Southern Ontario:)

Astral weeks, my favorite albulm ever. Thanks for the reaction and input.

madam george,and ballerina for me .the style i prefer

Like with the title track, astral weeks, you guys don't listen enough to the incredible lyrics- pure poetry at its most innovative and expressive

While it sounds really like there might be a harpsichord (a plucked piano) on this track, it's actually plucked, not bowed string section.

I Love Van the mans vocals takes me back to my childhood he was singing away in the background constantly my Mum loves Van Morrison and so do i . Please don't let my friends know i would be MOCKED TO DEATH 😮

Van maybe a little teasingly places the fictional character Humbert Humbert the protagonist from Nabokov's Lolita, as the narrator of Cypress Avenue. Van Morrison explores all the emotional places Humbert ends up at with incredible lyrics, like conquered in a car seat, while looking up at the house upon the hill, Catholic Church no less. Humbert thrashes about from self-loathing to staying the course and waiting for his fix, Lolita walking past with the click clack of her shoes. Van ups her age to fourteen, still, its disconcerting once it sinks in what's what. It's a thing with the Irish, they read so much.

I do like this Lp, it was One of Three I had on vinyl but not sure if I still have it.

Best track on album, (in fact all of his albums) is Madame George

Lol .. continuity issue with that coffee mug Cynthia .. love it 😅 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Sounds like a cool avenue ! 🍷

This is a great song, which is one of my favourites of his along with 'Moondance' which if you haven't reacted to you should. You should also consider doing some tracks with his first band, 'Them', the songs that I recommend are: "Baby Please Don't Go" this is the best live version which I could find ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FzZ9KoIv80Q.html and "Gloria" again this is the best live version I found ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gzWwAzLaO8Q.html Anyway, I hope that you do a reaction to them (pun intended 😊). By the way the instrument on this track is a Harpsichord played by Larry Fallon.

This is one of the greatest albums ever made, but it's not wall-to-wall hits. I don't know all the lyrics either, because I get so immersed in the overall ambience I drift away from all earthly considerations.

cypress avenue and the album itself take some time to digest but you will be rewarded. best of the best.

I predict disaster here 😅 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Imo van Morrison is just to much of a luvvie , who is disrespectful to his own fans , keep um 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿✌️

Now don’t set the hounds on me for this but I genuinely have the opinion that auld Van there is one of the most OVERrated singer / songwriters ever … I just DONT get him . He has that unique talisman that leads me to swear and fulminate whenever I hear Jethro Tull too - that bloody flute ! Of course I understand he has fans and they are loyal etc . ( it’s a harpsichord or clavinette- def a keyboard to my ears Cynthia ) Anyway , hate this track and don’t like Van in general . 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Harpsichord, is the instrument. It's a keyboard which plucks the strings rather than strike them like a piano.