Madame George
| "Madame George" | |
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"Madame George" is a ten-minute song by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It appears on the album Astral Weeks, released in 1968. The song features Morrison performing the vocals and acoustic guitar. It also features an upright bass, flute and a string quartet.
Van Morrison on writing it:[1]
"Madame George" was recorded live. The vocal was live and the rhythm section and the flute too and the strings were the only overdub. The title of the song confuses one, I must say that. The original title was "Madame Joy" but the way I wrote it down was "Madame George". Don't ask me why I do this because I just don't know. The song is just a stream of consciousness thing, as is "Cyprus Avenue"..."Madame George" just came right out. The song is basically about a spiritual feeling.
The main theme of the song is about leaving the past behind. The character of Madame George is considered by many to be a drag queen, although Morrison himself denied this in a Rolling Stone interview.[2]He later claimed that the character was based on six or seven different people: "It's like a movie, a sketch, or a short story. In fact, most of the songs on Astral Weeks are like short stories. In terms of what they mean, they're as baffling to me as to anyone else. I haven't got a clue what that song is about or who Madame George might have been."[3]
The rock journalist Lester Bangs wrote in 1979 that the song "is the album's whirlpool. Possibly one of the most compassionate pieces of music ever made, it asks us, no, arranges that we see the plight of what I'll be brutal and call a lovelorn drag queen with such intense empathy that when the singer hurts him, we do too." Bangs also remarks that "Morrison has said in at least one interview that the song has nothing to do with any kind of transvestite – at least as far as he knows, he is quick to add – but that's bullshit."
In April 2007 Tom Nolan wrote an article in The Wall Street Journal suggesting that Madame George was none other than Georgie Hyde-Lees, wife of Irish poet and mystic W. B. Yeats who acted as Yeats' muse through automatic writing and inducing trances. He cites the ever present interest in Yeats by Morrison, and the words in the song: "That's when you fall into a trance/Sitting on a sofa playing games of chance/With your folded arms in history books you glance/ Into the eyes of Madame George."[4]
"Madame George" also appears in the "Black Boys on Mopeds" lyrics of Sinéad O'Connor; "England's not the mythical land of Madame George and roses" suggesting that she is a legendary figure. David Gray also pays tribute to the song in the final track of his album, White Ladder, "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye", which ends similarly and even borrows lyrics "And the rain hail sleet and snow/Say goodbye". And in David A. Stewart and the Spiritual Cowboy's song "Out of Reach" from the album Honest there is a line that goes: "Madame George got played today, she almost forgot she could feel that way.... "
Always a favorite of rock critics, "Madame George" is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
It was listed as No. 467 on the All Time 885 Greatest Songs compiled in 2004 by WXPN from listener's votes.[5]
An earlier recording with slightly altered lyrics and a much swifter tempo changes the tone considerably from the Astral Weeks recording, which is downbeat and nostalgic; the earlier recording is joyous, and seems to be from the point-of-view of a partygoer who sees the titular character. This version surfaced on T.B. Sheets a compilation of early recordings for Bang Records released in 1974.
Personnel on Astral Weeks
- Van Morrison – rhythm guitar, vocals
- Richard Davis – double bass
- Connie Kay – drums
- Anonymous – flute
- Larry Fallon - string and horn arrangements
Covers
Marianne Faithfull performs this song on Van Morrison's 1994 tribute album, No Prima Donna: The Songs of Van Morrison. Faithfull's version of the song plays over the closing credits of Dagmar Hirtz's film Moondance (1995).
There is also a very rare cover of this song done by Jeff Buckley.
Notes
- ^ Yorke, Into the Music, pp. 60-61
- ^ 1970 Rolling Stone Interview
- ^ Uncut Magazine July 2005 issue
- ^ "Who Was Madame George?". The Wall Street Jounal online. 2007-04-14. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
- ^ All-Time 885 Greatest Songs
References
- Yorke, Ritchie (1975). Into The Music, London:Charisma Books , ISBN 0-85947-013-X
External links
- Lester Bangs:Astral Weeks
- explodedgoat.com Madame George Review
- All Music Guide Review
- Lyrics and audio sample1960s Astral Weeks
- Video: Madame George, 2008