Days Like This

Days Like This
Studio album by Van Morrison
Released	June 5, 1995
Recorded	1995
Genre	Celtic, Folk rock
Length	57:33
Label	Mercury
Producer	Van Morrison
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (*) link Rolling Stone (Not Rated) link
Van Morrison chronology
A Night in San Francisco (1994) Days Like This (1995) How Long Has This Been Going On (1996)

Days Like This is an album by Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1995 (see 1995 in music.) It is a diverse group of songs offering a variety of moods and styles.

Cover

The cover of the album showed Morrison and his girlfriend Michelle Rocca walking a pair of greyhounds. It was his first album in 24 years to feature a female companion on the cover. The last had been the cover of Tupelo Honey with his then-wife "Janet Planet".

Songs

His daughter, singer-songwriter Shana Morrison performed duets with her father on two tracks, "You Don't Know Me" and "I'll Never Be Free". "Ancient Highway" was nine minutes long and contained the words "praying to my higher self/Don't let me down". It is said to be the one song on the album where he comes closest to following his muse.^[1]The title track has continued to be a popular song in concert to the present day. Most of the songs are reflective and seem to come during a time of self-examination. "No Religion" came about Morrison explained when he was thinking: "Wouldn't it be great just to be born and nobody told you there was such a thing as religion? Say it didn't exist and you were just told that all you've got is this life and that's it...and there's no heaven, no hell." The song, "Songwriter" spoke of his songwriting techniques as a practical application instead of inspired as in the past.^[2] "Meloncholia" and "Underlying Depression" continue the theme of soul searching.

Critical acclaim

Days Like This was Morrison's best selling non-compilation album and was nominated for the Mercury Music Award. David Sinclair in Q describes the album as a "glorious return to form". The Rolling Stone review states: "There are moments of genius followed by lavish displays of questionable taste, sometimes within the same song."

Track listing

All songs by Morrison unless noted otherwise

1. "Perfect Fit" – 4:33
2. "Russian Roulette" – 3:56
3. "Raincheck" – 5:53
4. "You Don't Know Me" - (Arnold, Walker) – 4:32
5. "No Religion" – 5:14
6. "Underlying Depression" – 4:35
7. "Songwriter" – 2:50
8. "Days Like This" – 3:13
9. "I'll Never Be Free" - (Benjamin, Weiss) – 3:37
10. "Melancholia" – 3:56
11. "Ancient Highway" – 8:53
12. "In the Afternoon" – 6:21

Personnel

• Van Morrison - vocal, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, alto saxophone, Hammond organ
• Shana Morrison - vocal
• James Huntsman - electric guitar, background vocals
• Ronnie Johnson, Foggy Lyttle - electric guitar
• Teena Lyle - recorder, piano, vibraphone, congas, background vocals
• Leo Green - tenor saxophone
• Matthew Holland, James McMillan - trumpet, flugelhorn
• Jonn Savannah - Hammond B-3 organ
• Nicky Scott - bass guitar
• Geoff Dunn - drums, tambourine
• Liam Bradley, Noel Eccles - drums

Charts

Album - UK Album Chart

Album - Billboard (North America)

Notes

References

• Heylin, Clinton (2003). Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography, Chicago Review Press ISBN 1-55652-542-7
• Rogan, Johnny (2006). Van Morrison:No Surrender, London:Vintage Books ISBN 9780099431831

External links

• RS Review: Days Like This
• Discography and Review by Scott Thomas
• Lyrics

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