It’s Too Late to Stop Now – Van Morrison

Apologies for the late post.

Per usual, I’ll highlight my three favorite tracks from the album with potential bonus tunes.

Van the man.

I’ve written about him before, actually in my second post ever, featuring his song “Caravan” performed live from The Last Waltz, so I’ll keep the intro brief. I’m of the opinion that this is one of the greatest live albums of all time, and this has been the most challenging album of the month for me to pick favorites from so far. If this is your style of music, or you love live recordings like I do, I can’t recommend It’s Too Late to Stop Now enough. I included a link to the album in its entirety on YouTube in the bonus section.

While Caravan is far and away my favorite song by Van, and there is a killer rendition on this album, I decided just to link my previous post about this song in the bonus section.

I Believe to My Soul – I think I said, out loud, “Good God” no less than 5 times the first time I listened to “I Believe To My Soul”. I could already tell by the almost piano intro this was going to be incredibly bluesy. If you’re gonna have the blues, you might as well sing ’em, no? Van makes his way through this one with a curled lip and a chip on his shoulder. Not to mention the horns on this one, jeez. “It don’t get no better than this“. A Ray Charles song, this may be the only time that I can think of that I prefer a cover to “The Genius” version.

Link to Audio – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EkCKfVVPCI

Domino – There’s not a whole lot of Van’s catalog that can rival the levels of fun that “Brown Eyed Girl” can create, but Domino is certainly one of them. Seriously, I dare you to try not to sing along by the end of this one. Van wrote the song as a tribute to the legendary Fats Domino, but to me, it seems almost like a tribute to the early R&B era as a whole. Upbeat and almost gospel-like, this is such a fun one to move your body to.

Link to audio – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw-9mqMRhOs

St. Dominic’s Preview – Possibly a top 3 Van song for me, I actually prefer the live version from this album to the studio (which is still great). One of Van’s recurring themes in his lyrics is renewal, and this is one of those songs that just brings me peace. Lyrically, this is one of my favorites by Van, and I have changed my interpretation of his words plenty of times. When asked about the song in an interview, Van gives the sly, but perfect, answer in my eyes, “St. Dominic’s Preview.’ You know something? I haven’t a clue what it means.”

Link to audio – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiltvCtxvaI

Bonus

Honestly just listen to the whole damn album, that’s the bonus. But if you don’t have time, at the least check these out.

Caravan – https://mytasteinmusic.blog/2024/07/02/song-of-the-day-july-2nd-2024/

Link to Audio (It’s Too Late, not The Last Waltz) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXyRFDvRBn0

Listen to The Lion – This is one of Van’s most beautiful songs in my opinion, and this version from this performance is so easy to get lost in, but in the best way possible.

Link to audio – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcHNCRq76M4

Here Comes The Night – This is such a fun one, and you can hear how much fun Van is having with this track. It’s almost borderline playful at the end, but his voice is just so passionate throughout.

Link to Audio – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9WqXDDWxro

Bring It On Home to Me – Sam Cooke, no one does it better than Sam. It would be physically impossible to do so. Van knows this. He puts his own style on the song, but he doesn’t try to “do too much.” The sax solo in this one is also incredible.

Link to audio – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcHNCRq76M4&list=PLql5iS_v4445FM_AOMvBlXgczfaeqU3GP&index=15

Full Album – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLql5iS_v4445FM_AOMvBlXgczfaeqU3GP