Inarticulate Speech of the Heart

Inarticulate Speech of the Heart is an album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1983. Morrison said he arrived at the title from a Shavian saying: "that idea of communicating with as little articulation as possible, at the same time being emotionally articulate". As his last album for Warner Bros. Records, he decided to do an album of mostly instrumentals. As he explained in 1984, "Sometimes when I'm playing something, I'm just sort of humming along with it, and that's got a different vibration than an actual song. So the instrumentals just come from trying to get that form of expression, which is not the same as writing a song.

The June, 2008 re-issued and re-mastered version of the album contains alternative takes of "Cry for Home" and "Inarticulate Speech of the Heart No. 2".

Recording

The recording sessions took place in California, Dublin, Ireland and a series of marathon sessions at the Townhouse in London. Morrison played piano, guitar and saxophone on these sessions. Two Irish musicians played on the album (Arty McGlynn and Davey Spillane) and overall the music had a strong Celtic colouring. Four of the songs were instrumentals.

Track listing

All songs by Van Morrison

Side one

1. "Higher Than the World" – 3:42
2. "Connswater" – 4:09
3. "River of Time" – 3:02
4. "Celtic Swing" – 5:03
5. "Rave On, John Donne" – 5:12

Side two

1. "Inarticulate Speech of the Heart No. 1" – 4:53
2. "Irish Heartbeat" – 4:40
3. "The Street Only Knew Your Name" – 3:36
4. "Cry for Home" – 3:44
5. "Inarticulate Speech of the Heart No. 2" – 3:53
6. "September Night" – 5:16

Bonus tracks (2008 CD reissue)

1. "Cry for Home" - 3:49 (alternative take)
2. "Inarticulate Speech of the Heart No. 2" - 4:48 (alternative take)

Personnel

• Van Morrison - guitar, electric piano, alto saxophone, vocal
• David Hayes - bass
• Mark Isham - synthesizer, trumpet
• John Allair - organ, electric piano
• Pee Wee Ellis - tenor and soprano saxophones, flute
• Tom Donlinger - percussion, drums
• Mihr Un Nisa Douglass - backing vocals
• Stephanie Douglass - backing vocals
• Pauline Lozana - backing vocals
• Arty McGlynn - acoustic guitar
• Davey Spilland - uilleann pipes, low flute
• Chris Michie - guitar
• Annie Stocking - backing vocals
• Bianca Thornton - backing vocals
• Peter Van Hooke - Drums, tambourine

Charts

Album - Billboard

Year	Chart	Position
1983	Pop Albums	116

Album - UK Album Chart

Year	Chart	Position
1983	UK Album Chart	14

Notes

References

• Heylin, Clinton (2003). Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography, Chicago Review Press ISBN 1-55652-542-7
• Hinton, Brian (1997). Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison, Sanctuary, ISBN 1-86074169X

External links

• Lyrics and Audio Samples 1980s, Inarticulate Speech of the Heart