‘Mystic of the east’ on Van Morrison’s latest album ‘Born to sing – No plan B’ while remarkably autobiographical could easily be an anthem reflecting the collective emotions and frustrations of many people in east Belfast right now.
I find it remarkable that no media outlet – reporting the trouble on the streets of east Belfast in recent weeks – has spotted the confluence of personal frustration in Morrison’s head and in the heads of the protesters and families being discommoded.
Morrison has said in the past that not everything he writes or sings is necessarily personal and can be open to interpretation.
There is something nihilistic about the emotions inside Morrison’s head in ‘Mystic of the east.’
The album released last October, entitled ‘Born to sing – No plan B’ again paints the picture of artist Morrison creatively entrenched – “it ain’t easy. Keep paying dues,” he pens on the title track – ‘Born to sing.’
‘The Mystic of the east’ by Morrison is one of those remarkable raw songs, not dissimilar to ‘Fairytale of New York’ and could end up an anthem for residents of east Belfast.
‘Mystic of the east, east, east, east…’
As in The Pogues ‘Fairytale of New York’ where the lyrics are the very antithesis of a happy Christmas message – personal loss is also the key to ‘Mystic of the east’.
Van Morrison, in a reported comment to the Guardian about ‘Mystic of the east’ (east Belfast being his place of birth) said:
“When you’ve had a conspiracy against you, then you can’t speak, because nothing that you say will be even taken on board. If the media wants to bring somebody down, which is what they were trying to do to me at the time, you can’t fight that ‘cos it’s too big. So that’s what that’s about.”
Don’t the protestant flag protesters feel too that the world is against them?
Don’t the residents of Short Strand feel they are stranded?
In other words, the outplaying of Van Morrison’s personal crisis – and we know he has gone through a domestic trauma in recent times and is still wrestling with the fallout – could easily be a metaphor for the political reality and inertia of much of life in the community in east Belfast, in the Short Strand and the lower Newtownards Road.
Watch Van Morrison perform ‘Mystic of the east’ live in east belfast below:
Below are the lyrics of ‘Mystic of the east’ for your own interpretation:
Mystic of the east, mystic from the streets
Mystic with no brief, back here on the street
Mystic out of reach, can’t find no reason to speak
I just got in too deep for the mystic of the east
I was deep in the heart of down
Deep in the heart of down
Deep in the heart of down
Deep in the heart
Mystic with no peace, back here in the east
Fed up to the teeth, mystic of the east
I was deep in the heart of down
Deep in the heart of down
Deep in the heart of down
Deep in the heart
Mystic out of reach, can’t seem to find my brief
Gone with the wild geese and I’ve had it up to the teeth
Mystic of the east, back here on the streets
Mystic with no brief, I can’t find any reason to speak
Mystic of the east, east, east, east
Back here on the street, back on the street
Back on the street, mystic of the east
Back here on the street, mystic of the east
