These Are the Days (Van Morrison song)
{{single source|date=February 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox song
| name = These Are the Days
| type = single
| artist = Van Morrison
| album = Avalon Sunset
| A-side = Orangefield
| released = {{Start date|1989}}
| recorded = February 1989
| studio = The Townhouse, England
| genre = Celtic folk, ballad
| length = {{duration|m=5|s=08}}
| label = Mercury
| writer = Van Morrison
| producer = Van Morrison
| tracks = {{hidden
| title = 10 tracks
| text =
- "Whenever God Shines His Light"
- "Contacting My Angel"
- "I'd Love to Write Another Song"
- "Have I Told You Lately"
- "Coney Island"
- "I'm Tired Joey Boy"
- "When Will I Ever Learn to Live in God"
- "Orangefield"
- "Daring Night"
- "These Are the Days"
}}
}}
"These Are the Days" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and released on his 1989 album Avalon Sunset. It was released as the B-side of the single with "Orangefield" as the A-side.
Composition
The opening verse of the song is a recurring factor in Morrison's music and lyrics, the belief that the predominant sense of enjoyment and appreciation of life is to be found in the present moment:
{{poemquote|These are the days of the endless summer
These are the days, the time is now
There is no past, there's only future
There's only here, there's only now}}
Biographer John Collis writes that this final song pulls together all the concerns of the album:
{{quote|In one moment ('there is no past{{nbsp}}... there's only now') Morrison combines earthly love with that inspired by a sun-warmed landscape, the yearning for simplicity with the love of 'the (one) Magician who turned water into wine.Collis, p.174}}
Other releases
"These Are the Days" replaces "Caravan" as an iTunes bonus track, on Morrison's 2007 compilation album Van Morrison at the Movies – Soundtrack Hits.
In the media
"These Are the Days" was featured in the 1995 movie, Nine Months, starring Hugh Grant and Julianne Moore.[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607341/ Van Morrison at IMDb]{{unreliable?|reason=see WP:UGC|date=February 2018}}
Personnel
- Van Morrison{{snd}}vocals, guitar
- Arty McGlynn{{snd}}guitar
- Neil Drinkwater{{snd}}accordion, piano
- Clive Culbertson{{snd}}bass guitar
- Roy Jones, Dave Early{{snd}}drums, percussion
- Katie Kissoon, Carol Kenyon{{snd}}backing vocals
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
Source
- Collis, John (1996). Inarticulate Speech of the Heart, Little, Brown and Company, {{ISBN|0-306-80811-0}}