Listen to the Lion

Songsmith Van Morrison and the power of resonance

Singer and songwriter Van Morrison is a great explorer of resonance. He is also a multi instrumentalist with a recognizable personal touch whether he is playing the guitar, harmonica or saxophone. His signature on each instrument comes from the closeness between the sound he plays and the way he modulates his singing voice and his breathing at the same time. When everything works, his performances in the studio or in concert can stop a listener in their tracks. It can feel at times like listening to a lion : a mixture of wildness and diginity.

These qualities seem to be particularly tangible in Listen to the Lion, the song which is the subject of this fifth post in the Songsmiths series. Released in 1972, it was composed by Morrison and performed as the closing track of St Dominic’s Preview, his fourth solo studio album which confirmed the range of his writing and singing about everything from joy to despair.¹

For us to listen, something has to resonate

In order for a song to catch our attention, something has to resonate. The dictionary definition helps us to describe this in various ways : we may detect a particular quality in the song which makes it stand out from others; we may even get the impression that we are hearing something meant just for us; more commonly, we simply experience an inexplicable emotional connection with the song.

Sometimes we actively provoke resonance when we choose to listen to singers or songs to accompany an activity, a mood, a time of the day or night. Occasionally, we are unexpectedly drawn away from something we are doing by a song which we hear playing. Songs can also come back to us long after hearing them as fragments of the lyrics, the chorus, the hook, or simply a rhythm or a melody which can creep into our thoughts unsought by ourselves. All of these are forms of resonance.

But how about a song that seems to be built on resonance so that it gradually draws us in to the sounds it is making? And what if this song seems to emerge as it unfolds, not just for the listener, but also for the singer as he performs? A song that barely feels like it was written but rather approaches out of the distance, gradually coming into focus? I feel Listen to the Lion to be one such song.

Density of feeling with an economy of words

Curiously, this 11-minute piece, although unusually long, is characterised by a density of feeling with an economy of words. Each line of each verse is repeated, creating a series of propositions left to resonate with the listener.

My initial impression of this song was one of somebody coming up with the fragments of different songs or experiences remembered. Except that here they are all part of the same song and seem to tell some sort of story.

All of these things are left to resonate. In comes a vocal break. In this part, Van Morrison uses his voice like an instrument, scatting around the beautiful shuffling bass lines, riffing and growling like a lion. Gradually, background vocals come in with 2 voices – or is it 3? – repeating, mantra like, listen to the lion, listen to the lion, over and over.

Listen to the Lion definitely gives us language under pressure, but Morrison‘s vocalizing also allows us to experience the non-verbal power of language : the voice alone is sometimetimes all we have. Poetry is language under pressure, and poems are not just words on a page – they are also soundscapes waiting to be brought to life. I often find myself closing my eyes as I listen to it.

Different performances over time

Of course, this original studio performance will always be there, fixed for all time by the recording, but the performer has to move on, growing and changing. Listen to the Lion has followed Van Morrison all through his long stage career, even becoming one of the pieces that define him. Without ever losing the shape of the original from 1972, each live performance is a thing in itself, with changes of mood and focus found in the moment.

He was a young man in his late twenties when he wrote and recorded Listen to the Lion and here are two powerful versions by that young man from 1974 with the Caledonia Soul Orchestra. Look at the way he leans into the band as he works through the song, leading but also listening.

Fast forward 15 years later to 1989 for Version 3, when Van is in his mid-forties. He performs with a jazz big band of young musicians at the Montreux Festival. This was probably a one-off, unlike the shows from 1974, and his connection with the band is more musically focused. His lead electric guitar is something to behold, and shows that ability to use his instrument as a second voice. And don’t miss the unexpected resonance in the beautiful moment as the saxophone player seeks connection as she accompany Van‘s ending.

Version 4 comes from the 2008 concert where Morrison performed his legendary 1968 Astral Weeks song cycle for the first time ever. Here he is in his mid-sixties. The fact he adds Listen to the Lion to close the concert shows just how important the song is for him. If you click on the video posted in this article, it starts where the song finishes and moves into a section he calls The Lion Speaks where his voice and breath give the sound of his harmonica-playing that resonance mentioned earlier.

Speaking to Randy Lewis from the Los Angeles Times about that particular performance, Van Morrison comments : “If you listen to that, I am playing as if the lion is trying to speak with no voice. He only has his soul and I think — I hope — that came across. It’s about getting out of one’s way so the soul can be heard, I suppose. The lion speaks. . . . I decided to end the show on a spiritual note.”

Even today, Van can still credibly sing this song, growling like an ageing lion, still as wild and apart as he ever was.⁴ It is a challenge to continue to embody a young man’s creation with an older man’s knowledge.

Each version of Listen to the Lion resonates with different forms of the same ancient message about expressing deep and sometimes difficult personal feelings : we either accept what we cannot change, or try to change what we can no longer accept; but first, we need to listen to the lion inside of us all and let it speak.

Let’s try and listen to the lion inside us so it can speak in 2025.

1. Here’s a review of the album from 1972, which reflects how the album sounded on release. ↩︎
2. Caledonia was originally the Latin name for Scotland. Van Morrison referred to his group of 13 stage musicians in 1973-74 as the Caledonia Soul Orchestra. ↩︎
3. Exile is an important theme. Originally from Belfast, Morrison has lived away from Ireland since his late teens, and his 1991 album Hymns to the Silence explores reminiscences of his early years. ↩︎
4. Born to Listen, a music blog which has a whole section dedicated to Van Morrison songs including Listen to the Lion. For each song it gives lists of facts, quotes, lyrics and live versions. Definitely worth a visit. ↩︎