Van Morrison - In The Days Before Rock 'N' Roll Lyrics

tears running down my cheeks oh the memories ,Stuart Henry radio Luxembourg

Thanks Cool Coyote for a new one that for me is a different listen to the man, Van. K

cool 😎

one of the best and still the best ...go van....

The entire Enlightenment album is a masterpiece from a genius...was this a nod to Pirate radio stations? I'm American and 60 so I missed those days...

XPRS, Tijuana Baja California. Midnight on my radio in the Pacific Northwest,USA

TURN IT UP!

😅 exactly

This put a smile on my face , luv Van❤

Wire...less knobs... 💕❤️💕

Masterful

This is absolutely fabulous.......wow love love love it!

Radio Luxembourg! El Rayo X! Radio Caroline ! When FREEDOM was a ….

I couldn't tell you what I had for breakfast but I can remember Radio Luxembourg, 208 mteres on the medium wave!

and of course what vans says is when rock n roll came which he was apart of , did a lot of things they didnt want to do. the company machine took over. but he made some great rock n roll music with 'them' and years after.

My signature is: VAN MORRISON IS

is this playable still ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq4VvE2s0V0
or have yt got rid of it again.

Thank you Cool Coyote,Great Song👍❤️🌹💃💋🔥🔥🔥🍷🍷🍷💥💋.love you music 💋🔥

Great Song Thank you🔥😊🍷🌺💋💃🌹🍷💝💋💃Hugs

🙏 🎸🌸☮️🔥❤️

Hi Cool Coyote. You wouldn't know a Youtuber by the username Soul Train Bro would you?

no, not at all . he must do some good stuff to then? oh i just googled him yeah haven't tried him yet, he does reaction videos i think. i like king and tre for that stuff, love their reactions to songs i consider normal, to them they have never heard them unbelievably 😂

Justin, gentler than a man
I am down on my knees
At the wireless knobs
I am down on my knee
At those wireless knobs
Telefunken, Telefunken
And I'm searching for
Luxembourg, Luxembourg,
Athlone, Budapest, AFN,
Hilversum, Helvetia
In the days before rock 'n' roll

In the days before rock 'n' roll
In the days before rock 'n' roll

When we let, then we bet
On Lester Piggott when we met
We let the goldfish go

In the days before rock 'n' roll
Fats did not come in
Without those wireless knobs
Fats did not come in
Without those wireless knobs
Elvis did not come in
Without those wireless knobs
Nor Fats, nor Elvis
Nor Sonny, nor Lightning
Nor Muddy, nor John Lee

In the days before rock 'n' roll
In the days before rock 'n' roll

When we let and we bet
On Lester Piggott 10/1
And we let the goldfish go
Down the stream
Before rock 'n' roll
We went over the wavebands
We'd get Luxembourg,
Luxembourg and Athlone

AFM stars of Jazz
Come in, come in, come in, Ray Charles
Come in, the high priest

In the days before rock 'n' roll
In the days before rock 'n' roll

When we let and we bet
On Lester Piggott 10 to 1
And we let the goldfish go
And then the killer came along
The killer, Jerry Lee Lewis
A whole lotta shakin' goin' on,
Great balls of fire
Little Richard

Justin, gentler than a man
Justin, Justin, where is Justin now?
What's Justin doing now?
Just, where is Justin now?
Come aboard

👌🏾 ✨ 🌸 💚

just love this irish superstar....................van morrison......1love...........greetings

🥁🎸🎹

WOW WOW WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From a mad keen 75yo Aussie fan.
GOD--Van is so BLOODY AMAZING......

Rock on old dude 🤘!

Cool song!

😎🥁🎸🎹🎶

One of his best albums, in my opinion, and I've been a fan since Astral Weeks first came out!

not wrong m8 😁👌

Totally agree....a masterpiece

My first job when I was 16 was working shifts in the steel works, I used to get home from work about 11 o'clock and listen to the radio through the night on an old gramophone my great uncle left me when he died (my sister still has it now). I had a reel to reel tape and would record songs from the radio stations sung about in this song. The stations would fade in and out so there was a lot of station jumping looking for the best reception. I can relate so much of my teenage life to this song.

radio was big time back then, was big time for a short while in the 80's too, only time after that for me was the great 'stories'on n.z radio, then Thursday nights Beale Street Caravan' basically all blues ,in the 00's, suited me fine

Wembley Arena, Van the man, Lonnie Donigan and Georgie Fame, what an absolutely brilliant gig in the noughties If my memory serves me right, it was the absolute bollox of a gig, glad to say I have seen the Belfast cowboy plenty of times prior to that including Berlin "The Wall" gig with Roger Waters and must have been lucky because he always delivered in the gigs I saw, in spite of his reputation as a hot and cold performer, just lucky I guess.

oh yeah so you heard this song?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqXlnlQ6awI

We all loved radio, the wireless in the UK, AM radio here clear channel from distant cities. Television was never my love, it was radio and rock n roll ...

yeah i even remember stories they used to tell on radio when i was small in the 80's , they still do now on radio n.z national news, but they arent always easy to catch

I cannot thank you enough for this. Magic lyrics, magic music.

very nice song!

Thx for uploading, just lovin this.

🥁🎹🎹🎷🎷🎸🎶

this song means a lot to me.....like most van morrison songs!

same 🎶🎶🎷🎷🎸🎺

It was good the first time and still again almost 30 years later, he has insight.

oh really? wtf has time gone

This is very beautiful <3 I will use it on my channel playlist!

🎷🎷🤗🌈

one of the very best of Van the man ,just Brillant.

Romp Under Wraps.....Home and Hosed.

Una verdadera joya y recordando verdaderos artitas . Gracias Van

I'm not a van fan but those ok

van soothes this beast

Stradinario

Wonderful im listening this at the first time, usually i listen (my age 17) songs that other young pwople listen to but this kind of music is wonderful

17..thats when I started listening to Van Morrison.He has SO much great music.. I'm 68 now..

Yes, I was listening to Sam and Dave; was all over my 45 phonograph at 12 years old and here came John, Paul, George and Ringo followed by the British Invasion while I waited for hay bailing season. At 50 cents an hour; wasn't long b/4 I had enough folding money for my honey, A new record player that did 33 & 1/3rds & 45's and friends who we shared diff. musicians and music. Dreaming about being the next John Lennon. Couldn't put a price on the value of those days that seem like yesterday. Your comment fell on ear's that perked up. Sport's injuries hurt my body but my ear's are ready for tommoro's new listening. ^5

There is no bad music, just music you don't personally like...you're on the right road...welcome :-)

Welcome yungblud... by following the canon of Van you will find yourself a marvelous music filled imaginative and soulful life.

Dig deep don't stop here, oh there's so much there.

This is from a time where music was awakening. All to come after was following up on what was started

A musical genius for over five decades......

That term gets bandied about a lot, but i have to agree with you in this case :D

I have followed Van before he was known......I would have 99% of his recordings....

Bueno van grande

Very Nice

Before and after JFK.

Tele - Funken

The background instrumental music is superb

Made a bundle backing Piggott ....10/1 (somehow)

slow, like a deep river, summer, long evenings, all things old fashioned but good ,in a way sadly mostly forgotten. ..and then. ...the chorus. ....in the days. ...we bet on lester piggott. .......van , thanks man, you touch the soul. ....

Beyond genious

This song brings back some good memories. My grandad used to love this song god bless his soul. We used to just sit at the kitchen table and listen to this song. Really miss them days.

yeah i can imagine that an older guy appreciating all the memorabilia in this one.

This song brings back the memories of my teenager years. End of the 60ies the only one Radiostation in the country, every monday one hour with the newest releasing of pop'n'rock music. That's all of popular music at this time on the Radio. Radio Luxemburg and Radio Carolina was to far to receive.
The transistor radio of my father was a... of course... a Telefunken... :-)

Fala sério... que maravilha!!!

Essa música é uma obra!

Gentler than a man….come aboard. I did…. & wonderful things happened; the journey is a roller coaster that taught me about progress & not perfection which helped me grow spiritually. Materialism & stuff is not important to ME; health, family & friends are. Van is THE MAN

The Goldfish was a nightclub?

yes , but it could be many things too many people

Love this stuff brother.

the spoken words are Paul Durcan, Irish poet and co-author of this song

yes of course , but what i want to know is, was he the guy in the 'last waltz' years ago who said the poem 'bit'?.I always wondered

I believe Robert Duncan (from San Francisco) read a poem in "The Last Waltz." Perhaps you're thinking of Michael McClure?

Van the man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IuNJuTxtYU
a must watch :D

Ah Fats.

So good brothers and sisters

Wow, I heard this music once at Ipanema FM in Porto Alegre, Brazil, some 25 years back... and since then never stopped listening this and many others from Van...

Helvetia

One of the most haunting and pretty tracks ever...it's amazing (or not so much) that this stood out for me amongst all the other great VM hits. Pretty mysterious, too, and I remember having to ask my Dad what it all meant, the radio references and such. Masterful, pretty, transporting. Ahhhhh. :)

Sonny would be Sonny Terry not Sonny Liston. This song is historically correct. Brilliant!

yeah right but it was the same era ,it worked for me as i got the feeling for it straight away, also you could of said about the goldfish was a club not goldfish but who's counting lol

as in Sonny Terry and Brownie Mcghee, spot on Chris

I'm having my ashes scattered over Clermont Mtn as this track plays in the background. I may not be on 103.25mhz but in my mind I'll be transmitting IUR FM

gonna play this for my students in my Irish Lit class tomorrow when we talk about Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa. The radio, the days before. Beautiful, beautiful.

ohh cool )

pinkeens, tell yer students about pinkeens, ye see, papfabrique had paiinted the stream pink, and van the man , let the gold fish go, when we bet, when we bet , lester piccetty, 10 to one. I bet one shilling in Graystone, only 14yrs old, but my bet was honoured. us city slickers with beatles hair,,,, i don't know why.local county cops must have thiink

Patricia O'Hara My maiden name is Friel.I have been a Van Morrison fan all my adult life.Iv seen him live for each year of my life,55.Brian Friel and Van Morrison, perfect.Your students won't forget your efforts.Lifelong.☘️

Not a Van Fan at all, I don't like his songs generally, but this is awesome

cool, yes i wasnt either i hated moondance so it put me off early but then i found all his best songs weren't commercial . The stupid radio stations would only play the 3 songs lol cheers

mericet39 That's ok.

What a great album. my favorite.

extraordinary ay sorta hit his peak in the 89' avalon sunset and after in the 90s for mind

Now listen to Blue Bayou, live

Wow, this song is sick!

Who but Van would write a song about the days before Rock and Roll and in the process capture the music of that era perfectly. thx. for posting.

its one of my favourite uploads, easy to reflect with all these legends named )

Thank you, Van.

Going over to my grandmas (buscia) house in Detroit in the 1950's

When you say Buscia are you referring to Aunt Stella or the original Buscia on Moran? The Moran street house, when I was a kid in the 50's, had a coal burning stove in the middle of the house just as you walked into the front door. There was a coal chute on the side of the house and coal was stored in the basement (along with jars and crocks of pickles). When Father Ed became a priest he "modernized" the house. Put in a central heating system with the heat coming out of the floor (hot to step on) and they even had a TV with those rabbit ears you talked about, a record player with 78's by Mario Lanza,Eddie Fisher, and Polish albums, and a one of those stand up radios made of wood (it had the radio stations pre-tuned on the buttons, but it was always tuned to the Polish radio station in Detroit. I can remember listening to that Polish broadcasts on that radio and all the adults were talking, not even listening to it, and I wanted so bad to change the station. And that was even before rock and roll. Hey, maybe that's why I like this song so

great songs transcend

Turn it up

"and we let the goldfish go...."
what a great metaphor for what the radio did for the growth of music!

This is amazing very great played.

Majestic........and one of the most barking mad songs of all time.

Testify! I had this on in my wood shop one time... some guys came in.. and said what the fuck is that?

William Martin.....right, that most definitely proves it

I remember the really old days in 2009 when I used to listen to Steve Wright on BBC radio 2. Man, that was good times.

Gattini che giocano con bambini piccol

Fucking nice...................

Yes i fucking tend to fucking agree :-) ... very fucking nice :-)

Justin, gentler than a man
I am down on my knees
At the wireless knobs
I am down on my knees
At those wireless knobs
Telefunken, Telefunken
And I'm searching for
Luxembourg, Luxembourg,
Athlone, Budapest, AFN,
Hilversum, Helvetia
In the days before rock 'n' roll

In the days before rock 'n' roll
In the days before rock 'n' roll

When we let, then we bet
On Lester Piggott when we met
We let the goldfish go

In the days before rock 'n' roll

Fats did not come in
Without those wireless knobs
Fats did not come in
Without those wireless knobs
Elvis did not come in
Without those wireless knobs
Nor Fats, nor Elvis
Nor Sonny, nor Lightning
Nor Muddy, nor John Lee

In the days before rock 'n' roll
In the days before rock 'n' roll

When we let and we bet
On Lester Piggott 10/1
And we let the goldfish go
Down the stream
Before rock 'n' roll
We went over the wavebands
We'd get Luxembourg,
Luxembourg and Athlone

AFM stars of Jazz
Come in, come in, come in, Ray Charles
Come in, the high priest

In the days before rock 'n' roll
In the days before rock 'n' roll

When we let and we bet
On Lester Piggott 10 to 1
And we let the goldfish go
And then the killer came along
The killer, Jerry Lee Lewis
A whole lotta shakin' goin' on,
Great balls of fire
Little Richard

Justin, gentler than a man
Justin, Justin, where is Justin now?
What's Justin doing now?
Just, where is Justin now?
Come aboard

R. R. Rubin Mn

Great song it brings back all the radio memories from when I was a young boy. Radio Caroline, Luxembourg etc

This song reminds me of growing up, in Waterford. Listening to the old wireless, my Father used to say, how can you listen to all that crackling noise.
But it was just to get a few seconds of a song , bliss.
Yes them old wireless knobs , have some memories , long long before , The days Before Rock n Roll. Thanks Van

+Seanie Walsh neat

+Seanie Walsh And the voice of Tony Weldon - soft as velvet.

keys keys Justin, strings strings, Justin

We let the goldfish go too!

Telefunken, Luxembourg, Athlone, Budapest, AFN, Hilversum...

Great song by Van Morrison!

Perfect combination of piano,bass,drums.. a great soothing song in a light-hearted way

Come aboard!

Yes Ruth

On the night of 31 December to 1 January 1992. This song ceased operations on the wave of 208 station Radio Luxembourg.

Pol.
Nocą z 31 grudnia na 1 stycznia 1992 r. tą piosenką zakończyła działalność na fali 208 stacja Radio Luxembourg.

Thank you for doing this!  Great to discover that so many others love this magical song too... reminds me of lying in bed on a summer night and hearing the music played on boats cruising the river near our house. and the comments have helped clear up a couple of little mysteries (the goldfish, Justin, radio Caroline)...

Justin ?----Radio Caroline was begun by Irish musician manager and businessman Ronan O'Rahilly, whose nickname was....Justin.......a messenger of rock and roll.

Good work Rubin!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, R. R. Rubin

does anybody out there know who Justin was?

Best I've found: http://kkilm5zk.umwblogs.org/2009/03/10/van-morrison-song-analysis/

I have heard it said that the name comes from D J's introducing new records with the phrase - 'Just In from America...it's......' Any takers ????? Martin

"Come in Ray Charles...come in the High Priest....."

The string section and arranger deserve a lot of credit for this piece, which leads to think that a strings only concert from VM would be a winner. What do others think?

I think the bass line in this song is amazing.

Thanks, Gerry!
Me, Van, Paul Durcan, drummer Dave Early, piano by Michael O'Suilleabhain, in a little 12-track demo studio in Rode, Somerset...Strings by Fiachra Trench

Georgie Fame on Hammond....

WE let the goldfish go down the stream

the goldfish was a club

@stephen buckland  course 

No the name of the race horse is "Goldfish".

Thought it was about winning a goldfish at the funfair for Knocking a coconut off ?

simply amazing. the structure is amazing.

sounds like Mark E. Smith!

Wonder if this inspired "Bill Is Dead" by The Fall?

It's kind of amazing this song, really....

yer  he  reminding  a  old  redio  on  am  in  london   disstict     wh  1  in  bbc  studio        surgen  for            luxeeeeeeeenbooooooorrg       my  favorit   inn  am   schating  an  driving  bouth  i  lessen  to this   her  from  cobenhagen   from  the  migth  night   to  tre  a clock   in the  morning to  the clos the  program         i like   this station    the  host wars  all  way  inn good  muth  an  give som  joke               its sad  its  clos       

just love this song, one of his best

they let the goldfish go