Van Morrison question
Nicholas Wiley
I was wondering if there are any Van Morrison enthusiasts out there. I'm
especially interested in communicating with someone from Ireland who
could help me understand some of the lyrics in his songs. I have been
listening to his music for a couple of years and it has grown on me.
What are people's opinions concerning his work?
All opinions are welcome.
Thanks, Kathleen (nwi...@u.washington.edu)
Mark Fisher
>I second this! What does the word crack mean? As in 'the crack was good'?
>
>
--------------------------------------
Crack means live music, as in the sort of music you get in pubs in Ireland.
Informal folk music, singalongs, drinking songs, etc.
At least thats my understanding of it, maybe its more than just that?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Fisher
email: m.fi...@ic.ac.uk
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Liam Grant
(Charlie Berry) wrote:
> In article
<Pine.A32.3.91c.95010...@homer14.u.washington.edu>
Nicholas Wiley <nwi...@u.washington.edu> writes:
> >From: Nicholas Wiley <nwi...@u.washington.edu>
> >Subject: Van Morrison question
> >Date: Wed, 4 Jan 1995 13:30:59 -0800
> I second this! What does the word crack mean? As in 'the crack was good'?
This one I know. Crack in gaelic (possibly spelled differently) means
fun. As in, 'last night's party was great crack.'
--
William (Liam) Grant Naval Research Lab
gr...@itd.nrl.navy.mil Code 5541
202/767-0552 W 4555 Overlook Avenue, SW
301/937-2567 H Washington, DC 20375
Justin Dillon
> In article <berry012.2...@mc.duke.edu>, berr...@mc.duke.edu
> (Charlie Berry) wrote:
> > I second this! What does the word crack mean? As in 'the crack was good'?
> This one I know. Crack in gaelic (possibly spelled differently) means
> fun. As in, 'last night's party was great crack.'
Hi,
Yip, the Irish for 'fun' is 'craic' (pronounced 'crack'). As Van the man
says in the song 'the crack was good'. This is a very common expression here
as are things like 'what's the crack', and 'any crack?'
(which mean 'how are you').
I have heard stories of newly emigrated Irish people in America saying
these things and, for obvious reasons, being misunderstood and in some
cases even arrested.
All the best,
Justin.
Rabbit
>
> In article <Pine.A32.3.91c.95010...@homer14.u.washington.edu> Nicholas Wiley <nwi...@u.washington.edu> writes:
> >From: Nicholas Wiley <nwi...@u.washington.edu>
> >Subject: Van Morrison question
> >Date: Wed, 4 Jan 1995 13:30:59 -0800
>
>
> >I was wondering if there are any Van Morrison enthusiasts out there. I'm
refers to conversation or generally speaking a "good time".
So when one says the crac was good, they mean they a had a good time.
I think (I'm not really a Gaelige expert) then connotation is one
of intimacy and friendship, things naturally fostered in a
good pub :-).
David "Rabbit" Kitchel
John McGing
>In article <Pine.A32.3.91c.95010...@homer14.u.washington.edu> Nicholas Wiley <nwi...@u.washington.edu> writes:
>>From: Nicholas Wiley <nwi...@u.washington.edu>
>>Subject: Van Morrison question
>>Date: Wed, 4 Jan 1995 13:30:59 -0800
>>Hello out there,
>>All opinions are welcome.
>>Thanks, Kathleen (nwi...@u.washington.edu)
>I second this! What does the word crack mean? As in 'the crack was good'?
This one even I can answer!
Crack is, as best as I can describe it, the experience of having a good
time via conversation. Good talk, witty repartie, good fellowship and
boistrious. A lively party. Picture a pub where the people are talking,
not watching the tube, and they are laughing and having a good time. If
you were partcipating in that, you could say that "the crack was good".
John
--
------------------------------------------------------------------
jmc...@access.digex.net Nobody knows the troubles I've seen
jmc...@ssa.gov .... and nobody cares!
J.MCGING on GEnie 70142,1357 on Compuserve Team OS/2
Doug Vogt
b> I second this! What does the word crack mean? As in 'the crack
b> was good'?
My dictionary, such as it is, defines "Craic" (n. fem) as fun, 'gas', a
laugh and a chat.
When I lived in NYC, the Irish immigrants used the word to mean joking
around. BTW, the January 2, 1995 Forbes magazine (in an article on Irish
Foxhunting) has a reference to the word on page 75 and defines it as "great
fun."
Christopher Evan Barr
I figured I'd toss in my two cents. Like everyone says "crack" is Gaelic
for a good time but it is spelled "craic"
Chris Barr
ps Please be careful about using this in America, especially around cops!!
Charlie Berry
>From: Nicholas Wiley <nwi...@u.washington.edu>
>Subject: Van Morrison question
>Date: Wed, 4 Jan 1995 13:30:59 -0800
>Hello out there,
>All opinions are welcome.
>Thanks, Kathleen (nwi...@u.washington.edu)
I second this! What does the word crack mean? As in 'the crack was good'?
Thomas Moriarty
as in "backstreet jelly roll" or (I think in Healing has Begun)
it stoned me just like "jelly roll" (And it Stoned Me from Moondance)
I'll have to listen in order to get the quotes exactly right.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Moriarty
mori...@umd5.umd.edu
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
bsa...@ivory.trentu.ca
Jelly Roll was a Jazz or Blues performer a few decades back. I guess that
Van really liked his music. Sorry I don't have any more information but
that's all I know.
Brent
A. Pomeroy
Fisher) wrote:
> In article <turo1953-120...@130.195.39.98>,
turo...@kauri.vuw.ac.nz (A. Pomeroy) says:
> >
> >In article <3esd1r$t...@macbeth.umd.edu>, mori...@macbeth.umd.edu (Thomas
> >Moriarty) wrote:
> >
> >> Another Van Morrison question. What does he mean by "jelly roll"
> >
> >It's slang for a male appendage.
> >
>
> Maybe where you come from, but I dont think it fits the context of the
Van >quote!
It is (or perhaps, "was") Black American slang (cf Jelly Roll Morton).
It's not current where I come from, nor, I guess, in Belfast. But it is
typical of Van Morrison's mixing of cultural influences.
Check out "gave you my jelly roll, but he don't give you none" for a
straightforward raunchy use of the term by the young Van.
In the context of "stoned me just like jelly roll", I'd see the more
typical Morrison mixing of mysticism and sex.
--
A. Pomeroy, Classics Dept, Victoria University, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand
(turo...@kauri.vuw.ac.nz)
A. Pomeroy
> Another Van Morrison question. What does he mean by "jelly roll"
>
> as in "backstreet jelly roll" or (I think in Healing has Begun)
>
> it stoned me just like "jelly roll" (And it Stoned Me from Moondance)
>
> I'll have to listen in order to get the quotes exactly right.
It's slang for a male appendage.
--