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Astral Weeks is often referred to as a song cycle or concept album with lyrics described as impressionistic, hypnotic, and stream-of-consciousness. The cover art, music and lyrics of the album
portray the symbolism equating earthly love and heaven. More
I see in the original image a merger of an image of the artist's face with images of a tree and sunlit sky behind and above him. The circled image at centre is the focal point of that
merger where the face is now but a shadow amongst nature looking down on the earth below. The choice of brown was intended to merge the colour of the earth with that
of the shadow and to exhude a shade of nostalgia, and the arrangement of the images at right, to state the image has value, not unlike an overcrowded collection in a
numismatic coin box, but unlike it, more in the idealist sense. The arrangement is also intended to portray rhythm in repetition.
Van Morrison utilized repetition to the point of catharsis. More
When Astral Weeks was first released in 1968, it sold poorly. In the United States, the album became a somewhat popular cult import, while it was largely overlooked
by critics in the United Kingdom. More
Nobody realised, in 1968, how long this music would endure, how often it would be heard and what a weight of cultural commentary it would attract. The
story of its making is interesting, and so are the post-rationalisations of its creators. But, compared with its emotional impact on millions of unknown
listeners, they’re ultimately beside the point. What makes popular music special isn’t only the numbers who buy it, but the countless times they
listen to it, and define its meaning for themselves. Over the decades, so many lives have been repeatedly enriched by this accidental
masterpiece. It’s just a shock to consider how close Astral Weeks came to never existing at all. Full article
This is the original album cover art design.
No. 16, The Virgin All-Time Album Top 1000; No. 19, Rolling Stone, The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time;
No. 39, Rate Your Music, The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Design by Ed Thrasher, photo by Joel Brodsky. Album produced by Lewis Merenstein. Warner Bros. 1968.
According to Steve Turner, one of Van Morrison's biographers, Irish painter Cecil McCartney influenced the titling of Astral Weeks. Morrison related how
"A friend of mine had drawings in his flat of astral projection. I was at his house when I was working on a song which began, 'If I venture down
the slipstream' and that's why I called it 'Astral Weeks'." "It was a painting," McCartney corrects. "There were several paintings in the studio
at the time. Van looked at the painting and it suggested astral travelling to him." The album cover photograph of Van Morrison was
taken by Joel Brodsky, best known for his "Young Lions" photoshoot with Jim Morrison. The squared circle in the cover photo is
described as portraying "the mystic symbol of the union of opposites; the sacred marriage of heaven and earth". Full article
"A friend of mine had drawings in his flat of astral projection. I was at his house when I was working on a song which began, 'If I venture down
the slipstream' and that's why I called it 'Astral Weeks'." "It was a painting," McCartney corrects. "There were several paintings in the studio
at the time. Van looked at the painting and it suggested astral travelling to him." The album cover photograph of Van Morrison was
taken by Joel Brodsky, best known for his "Young Lions" photoshoot with Jim Morrison. The squared circle in the cover photo is
described as portraying "the mystic symbol of the union of opposites; the sacred marriage of heaven and earth". Full article
(A) Astral Weeks - Beside You - Sweet Thing - Cyprus Avenue
(B) The Way Young Lovers Do - Madame George - Ballerina - Slim Slow Slider
"Astral Weeks" Live at the Hollywood Bowl, 2008, from vanmorrisonofficial on YouTube.
