Van Morrison Trivia

1. "Brown Eyed Girl" was released as a single in what year?

From Quiz Song by Song: "Brown Eyed Girl"

Answer: 1967

The song was a single from Van Morrison's 1967 debut album "Blowin' Your Mind." Rolling Stone magazine declared it "one of the 40 Essential Albums of 1967." According to Johnny Rogan's 2006 book "Van Morrison: No Surrender," Van Morrison never considered it a true album because he felt record producer Bert Berns released it without his consent. Van Morrison disliked the psychedelic cover design. Being young and naïve and relatively new to the music world, he didn't read his contract carefully, and he surrendered almost all control of the material he recorded for Bang Records.

From Quiz Song by Song: "Into the Mystic"

Answer: Moondance

"Moondance" was the third studio album of Van Morrison and his first major commercial and critical success. It peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200. The album remains one of Van Morrison's most popular albums today. "Into the Music" was his 11th studio album, released in 1979. "The Prophet Speaks" was his fortieth studio album and was not released until 2018, and "Blowin' Your Mind" was Van Morrison's debut studio album, in 1967.

From Quiz Women in Van Morrison's Songs

Answer: Angeliou

"In the month of May In the city of Paris And I heard the bells ringing [. . .] Angeliou, Angeliou Angeliou, oh my Angeliou Angeliou, oh my Angeliou, can you hear me?" The song "Angeliou" appears on Van Morrison's 11th studio album, "Into the Music," which was released in 1979. He performed the song at the 1980 Montreux Jazz Festival.

From Quiz Van Morrison Songs in Movies

Answer: Moondance

This song was written by Van Morrison and featured initially on the "Moondance" album. The song also features in the film "Moondance", which was released in 1995.

From Quiz Places in Van's Lyrics

Answer: Hollow

"Brown Eyed Girl," probably Van Morrison's most played song, is found on his album "T.B. Sheets." Van Morrison has denied that the song is written about any specific person.

From Quiz Poets in Van's Lyrics

Answer: Tore Down A La Rimbaud

Jean-Nicholas-Arthur Rimbaud lived a scandalous life. Bob Dylan also makes a reference to this "bad boy" poet in his lyrics.

From Quiz Van Morrison Lyrics

Answer: Moondance

From Quiz Song by Song: "Brown Eyed Girl"

Answer: Down in the hollow

"Hey, where did we go? Days when the rains came Down in the hollow Playing a new game..." In "The Words and Music of Van Morrison," Erik Hage speaks of the "pastoral landscapes" that dominate much of Van Morrison's music and attributes them to the influence of the Romantic poets on his writing. Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" remained for sixteen weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and peaked at number ten.

From Quiz Song by Song: "Into the Mystic"

Answer: homophones

Brian Hinton, in "Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison" quotes Van Morrison as saying that when it came time to write down the lyrics and send them into his label, he wasn't sure which words to use in a couple of cases. Should it be "I was born before the wind," implying ancient roots, or "I was borne before the wind," implying being carried into the mystic by the wind? Should it be "'ere the bonny boat was one," or "'ere the bonny boat was won"? When the song is sung, these words are subject to the interpretation of the listener, or can even carry a double meaning.

From Quiz Women in Van Morrison's Songs

Answer: Rosie McCann

"He smiled at me, and he says, says he, 'That's the gem of Ireland's crown. It's Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann, She's the star of the County Down.'" "Star of the County Down" is a late 19th century Irish ballad with words written by Cathal McGarvey and set to "My Love Neil," an old Irish folk song. Van Morrison recorded a version with The Chieftains on his 1988 album "Irish Heartbeat."

From Quiz Van Morrison Songs in Movies

Answer: Days Like This

"As Good As It Gets", was directed by James L Brooks. The track was included in the soundtrack of the film.

From Quiz Places in Van's Lyrics

Answer: Castle Picture House

The Castle Picture House is now a retail outlet belonging to S&L Furniture, according to "The Van Morrison Website" (http://www.harbour.sfu.ca/~hayward/van/van.html)

From Quiz Van Morrison Lyrics

Answer: Gloria

From Quiz Song by Song: "Brown Eyed Girl"

Answer: in the green grass behind the stadium

"Cast my memory back there, Lord Sometimes I'm overcome thinking 'bout Making love in the green grass Behind the stadium with you My brown-eyed girl You, my brown-eyed girl." This line "making love in the green grass" was thought too risqué to play on some radio stations. The soul group El Chicano, dubbed as "The Mexican Everly Brothers," recorded a cover of "Brown Eyed Girl" on their 1972 "Celebration" album. Their version peaked at 45 on the Billboard Hot 100.

From Quiz Song by Song: "Into the Mystic"

Answer: the sun

A live version of "Into the Mystic" is recorded on Van Morrison's 1974 double album, "It's Too Late To Stop Now." The album was recorded during his performances at the The Troubadour in Los Angeles, California, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California, and at the Rainbow in London, England.

From Quiz Women in Van Morrison's Songs

Answer: Brown Eyed Girl

"Whatever happened To Tuesday and so slow? Going down the old mine With a transistor radio Standing in the sunlight laughing Hiding behind a rainbow's wall Slipping and sliding All along the waterfall, with you My brown eyed girl You, my brown eyed girl." "Brown Eyed Girl" was a single from Van Morrison's 1967 debut solo album "Blowin' Your Mind!" It was also released as a single with "Goodbye, Baby" on the B-side. The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007 and is included in "The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll" at number 60.

From Quiz Places in Van's Lyrics

Answer: The County Fair

The song, which can be found on the album "Moondance," begins: "Half a mile from the county fair / And the rain keep pourin' down."

From Quiz Religion in Van Morrison's Songs

Answer: Ancient of Days

Daniel 7:9 (KJV) says, "I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire."

From Quiz Poets in Van's Lyrics

Answer: William Blake

This song, which is on the album "Sense of Wonder," uses parts of Blake's "The Price Of Experience."

From Quiz Van Morrison Lyrics

Answer: Brown Eyed Girl

From Quiz Song by Song: "Brown Eyed Girl"

Answer: misty morning fog

"In the misty morning fog with Our hearts a thumpin' and you My brown-eyed girl You, my brown-eyed girl." BMI awarded Van Morrison a Million-Air certificate in 2005 after "Brown Eyed Girl" reached seven million radio and television airplays in the United States. By 2011, it had reached ten million U.S. radio air plays. "Brown Eyed Girl" is included on "The Best of Van Morrison," which was compiled in 1990.

From Quiz Song by Song: "Into the Mystic"

Answer: sailors

"Hark, now hear the sailors cry Smell the sea and feel the sky Let your soul and spirit fly Into the mystic." This verse of the song makes repeated use of alliteration, which is the repetition of beginning consonant sounds. Here we have "sailors," "smell," "sea," "sky," "soul," and "spirit." It also makes use of imagery, drawing on the senses of sound ("hear the sailors cry") and smell ("smell the sea"). There's even a bit of synesthesia in the verse. Synesthesia is a figure of speech that means describing one sense using the terms typically used to describe another. In this case, we are to "feel the sky" rather than see it.

From Quiz Women in Van Morrison's Songs

Answer: Bayou Girl

"Knock on your window I'm gonna ring your doorbell too Won't you come out tonight Yea yea yea And jam on the bayou Na na na na Bayou girl..." This song appears on a bootleg 3-CD set, "The Genuine Philosopher's Stone," which contains outtakes and live recordings from 1964-1975. The album is an unofficial release put out in Japan in the year 2000.

From Quiz Places in Van's Lyrics

Answer: In The Upper Room

"In the upper room / There the cup does stand." The "upper room" is where Christ dined with his disciples during the last supper, and the cup is the Holy Grail, which legend says is the cup from which Christ drank during His final meal.

From Quiz Religion in Van Morrison's Songs

Answer: Both of these

"The holy grail we seek / On down by haunts of ancient peace" in "Haunts of Ancient Peace" and "Oh the Holy Grail /Baby behind the sun /Oh the Holy Grail / Down by Avalon" in "Avalon of the Heart." The Holy Grain is presumably the cup from which Christ drank at the last supper or, in other legends, the cup that collected drops of His blood at the crucifixion.

From Quiz Van Morrison Lyrics

Answer: Into The Mystic

From Quiz Song by Song: "Brown Eyed Girl"

Answer: A rainbow's wall

"Whatever happened To Tuesday and so slow? Going down the old mine With a transistor radio Standing in the sunlight laughing Hiding behind a rainbow's wall." Rolling Stone magazine ranked "Brown Eyed Girl" number 110 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time." The magazine reports that after his hit with this song, "Morrison turned his back on mainstream pop." Instead, his "next album, the masterful 'Astral Weeks,' was a personal acoustic song cycle that sold practically nothing."

From Quiz Women in Van Morrison's Songs

Answer: Ballerina

"Step right up, step right up And step right up Ballerina Crowd will catch you" Van Morrison wrote this song after meeting his future wife, actress and model Janet (Planet) Rigsbee. The couple was married for six years and had a daughter named Shana, who, like her father, became a singer and songwriter.

This is category 2796

= Top 5% Rated Quiz, Top 10% Rated Quiz, Top 20% Rated Quiz, A Well Rated Quiz
= added recently, = Editor's Pick = FunTrivia Editor = Gold Member
Teachers / educators: FunTrivia welcomes the use of our website and quizzes in the classroom as a teaching aid or for preparing and testing students. See our education section. Our quizzes are printable and may be used as question sheets by k-12 teachers, parents, and home schoolers.

 ·  All questions, answers, and quiz content on this website is copyright FunTrivia, Inc and may not be reproduced without permission. Any images from TV shows and movies are copyright their studios, and are being used under "fair use" for commentary and education.