Brand New Day

"Brand New Day" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and featured on his 1970 album Moondance.

The song is described on the album as one of Morrison's "classic compositions", along with "Moondance", "And it Stoned Me", "Caravan" and "Into the Mystic". It features improvisation on Jack Schroer's alto saxophone and a backing vocal trio.

Writing and origin

Morrison described his inspiration for the song:^[1]

"Brand New Day" expressed a lot of hope. I was in Boston and having a hard job getting myself up spiritually...Then one day this song came on the FM station and it had this particular feeling and this particular groove and it was totally fresh. It seemed to me like things were making sense....I didn't know who the hell the artist was. It turned out to be The Band. I looked up at the sky and the sun started to shine and all of a sudden the song just came through my head. I started to write it down, right from "When all the dark clouds roll away"....The song (on FM radio) was either "The Weight" or "I Shall Be Released".

Personnel

• Van Morrison - vocals, guitar
• Jeff Labes - piano
• Gary Mallaber - drums
• John Klingberg - bass guitar
• John Platania - guitar
• Jack Schroer - alto saxophone
• Jackie Verdell - background vocals
• Judy Clay - background vocals
• Cissy Houston (Emily Houston) - background vocals

Covers

"Brand New Day" has been covered by Dorothy Morrison,^[2] Esther Phillips^[2] and Frankie Laine.^[3]

Notes

References

• Hinton, Brian (1997). Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison, Sanctuary, ISBN 1-86074169X