Van Morrison – Almost Independence Day

Last year, one of my readers, MY, suggested this song, so this year I’m going to post it. This and the title track were the first songs to get my attention on this album. The drums and guitar really make this song so strong, along with Van’s voice, of course.

The intro to this song is worth the price of admission. Van Morrison and guitarist Ron Elliot trade guitar licks, and then Lee Charlton joins with some great jazz-influenced drumming. Van has said it was written in a stream of consciousness style. The recording was more of a jam than a thought-out, rehearsed process.

The song was on his 1972 album Saint Dominic’s Preview, and it closed the album in a way that only Van Morrison could do. It has that long, drifting feel that he was so good at during this period. You can feel the mood more than the story. This is the Van Morrison who could take a simple phrase and turn it into something epic. He can make any song feel spiritual.

When I got the album, I had a summer job in the middle of nowhere in a backwater town. I had to drive over an hour to get there, and Van kept me company singing about Safeway’s Supermarket, fireworks, and Redwood Trees. One listen to this album, and I’m young, carefree, and having a really good time living life. Music brings back memories, and this one makes me feel exactly like I felt then.

It’s easy to get lost in this song. I’ve always liked the Van Morrison songs that feel more like a place to visit than just a song. Almost Independence Day is one of those. It rolls and flows along at its own pace. Van has many songs that sound like memories, and this one sounds like a memory that is still happening.

The album peaked at #15 on the Billboard Album Charts and #14 in Canada in 1972.

Couldn’t find a live version but I did find this wonderful concert by Van.

Almost Independence Day

I can hear them calling way from Oregon
I can hear them calling way from Oregon
And it’s almost Independence Day

Me and my lady, we go steppin’ (we go steppin’)
We go steppin’ way out on China town
All to buy some Hong Kong silver
And the wadin’ rushing river (we go steppin’)
We go out on the, out on the town tonight

I can hear the fireworks
I can hear the fireworks
I can hear the fireworks
Up and down the, up and down the San Francisco bay
Up and down the, up and down the San Francisco bay
I can hear them echoing
I can hear, I can hear them echoing
Up and down the, up and down the San Francisco bay

I can see the boats in the harbor (way across the harbor)
Lights shining out (lights shining out)
And a cool, cool night
And a cool, cool night across the harbor
I can hear the fireworks
I can hear the people, people shouting out
I can hear the people shouting out (up and down the line)
And it’s almost Independence Day

I can see the lights way out in the harbor
And the cool, and the cool, and the cool night
And the cool, and the cool, and the cool night breeze
And I feel the cool night breeze
And I feel, feel, feel the cool night breeze
And the boats go by
And it’s almost Independence Day
And it’s almost, and it’s almost Independence Day

Way up and down the line
Way up and down the line…