When That Rough God Goes Riding: Listening to Van Morrison

Description

A book about listening as an act of devotion. Van Morrison, says Greil Marcus, “remains a singer who can be compared to no other in the history of modern popular music.” In this short, passionate book, one of America’s great music writers listens deeply to the Belfast legend — and asks what it is in that voice that can feel like transcendence.

Taking its title from a Morrison song, Marcus traces the wild swings of a career veering between the sublime and the stubbornly obscure — through albums, live performances, and the famous “yarragh,” the moment when Morrison’s singing goes beyond craft into something spiritual.

From the author of Mystery Train, under 200 pages of celebration and quest: essential for Van Morrison devotees, and for anyone who believes popular music at its best can lift the listener somewhere higher — this short book shows you how to hear it.

Van Morrison, says Greil Marcus, “remains a singer who can be compared to no other in the history of modern popular music.” In When That Rough God Goes Riding, one of America’s most celebrated music writers listens deeply to the Belfast legend — and asks what it is in Morrison’s voice that can feel like transcendence.

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Taking its title from a Morrison song, Marcus’s short, passionate book — under 200 pages — is both a celebration and a quest: through albums, live performances, and the famous “yarragh,” the moment when Morrison’s singing goes beyond craft into something spiritual, he traces the wild swings of a career that has veered between the sublime and the stubbornly obscure.

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From the author of Mystery Train, this is essential reading for Van Morrison devotees and anyone who believes that popular music, at its best, can lift the listener somewhere higher. A book about listening as an act of devotion.