The Moondance essays – Track 4 Side 1 – Caravan

This idea sprung from here.

Track 1 Side 1 - And It Stoned Me is here.
Track 2 Side 1 - Moondance is here.
Track 3 Side 1 - Crazy Love is here.

Turn it up, turn it up, little bit higher, radio
Turn it up, that's enough, so you know it's got soul
Radio, radio turn it up, hmm

--Caravan

Here's what we need to decide.

Which Van Morrison hill do you want to die on?

The "Gloria" hill?

Or the "Caravan" hill?

To me these are his 2 greatest works. An overheated garage band romp, and a titanic song about gypsies and the radio.

"Gloria" remains a piece of molten lava. A 3 chord burn that every guitar band worth their salt has busted out. It's a manic piece of sexual energy with a riff so blazingly simple that you almost wonder why it took so long for somebody to come up with it. Morrison wrote it while he was 18 years old, which explains its horniness. Critic Dave Marsh called it "one of the few rock songs that's actually as raunchy as its reputation." Guitar players can learn this song on their first day, and if they're lucky they'll drop dead playing it years and years later in a sweaty bar filled with admiring females. If you're a rock and roller, and somebody talks to you about "3 chords and the truth"......well THESE are the 3 chords they are referring to.