Tonight’s singer is Van Morrison again, from Belfast. You remember Cyprus Avenue? This song is on the same album, but it is full of joy: a man imagining all the happy things he will do.
Learn from Songs · Unit 12: Review · B2–C1
Sweet Thing
A song of joy from Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks: will and shall for the future, promises and visions (I will walk in gardens…), never… again, and the language of poetry in song, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
PHILO
A song of the future, then.
SOPHIA
A song of will and shall. And it sounds like a poem, so we will read it like one.
DEMETRIA
I shall listen very carefully.
Before you listen: the song
New York, 1968
Van Morrison grew up in East Belfast and became famous with the band Them. In 1968, aged twenty-three, he went into a New York studio with jazz musicians he had never played with before, and in a few sessions they recorded Astral Weeks.
The musicians, including the bass player Richard Davis, followed Morrison’s voice and guitar, improvising as he sang. At first the album sold very little, but it is now often called one of the greatest albums ever made. “Sweet Thing” is one of its happiest songs, and it has been sung by many others, including the Waterboys.
In the song, he imagines the future with someone he loves: he will walk in gardens wet with rain, he shall drive his chariot down her streets. And he will never grow so old again.
Joy is a kind of youth.
Listen: the visions
PHILO
Listen once. What will he do? Where will he go? How does the music make you feel?
SOPHIA
Listen to the double bass. Then answer Section A.
🌿 Listen to the song: “Sweet Thing” (Van Morrison, 1968), by Van Morrison.Find the recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Sweet Thing”, Van Morrison.Read the lyrics →
Will and shall
MARCOS
I will walk in the garden. I shall drive my chariot. Shall we dance?
SOPHIA
will is the normal future. shall with I and we is more formal, poetic or British: I shall return. Today shall is common mainly in questions: Shall I open the window? Shall we go?
Promises and visions
DEMETRIA
I’ll always love this place. You’ll see. One day we’ll walk by the sea.
SOPHIA
will for promises and confident visions of the future. Poets use it to make the future feel certain and close: I will arise and go now.
Never… again
PHILO
I will never grow so old again. I’ll never do that again.
SOPHIA
never… again = not any more in the future. Put never before the main verb and again at the end. The singer plays with logic: he feels younger than before.
Sophia’s comparison: the Song of Songs and Theocritus
PHILO
The Song of Songs says: come, my beloved, let us go out into the fields; let us see if the vine has budded and the pomegranates are in flower. The future, full of gardens.
SOPHIA
And Theocritus wrote of shepherds singing in the shade of Sicilian trees, promising each other gifts, a cup, a goat, a garland. The oldest poems of joy are about walking in gardens.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| will + infinitive | the normal future | I will walk in the garden. |
| shall + infinitive | formal / poetic with I, we | I shall return. |
| Shall I / we…? | offers, suggestions | Shall we dance? |
| will for visions | confident future | One day we’ll walk by the sea. |
| never… again | not any more | I’ll never grow so old again. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. What is the mood of the song?
2. Where does he imagine walking?
3. Which album is it on?
4. Who played with him?
5. How did the album sell at first?
6. Where is Van Morrison from?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. I drive my chariot. (poetic future)
8. we dance? (suggestion)
9. One day we walk by the sea.
10. I’ll never grow so old .
11. I open the window? (offer)
12. I will do that again. (not any more)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “Shall I help you?”
14. “I will to walk in the garden.”
15. “I never again will do it.”
16. “We shall see.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Visions. Write five lines beginning I will… or I shall…, describing a perfect day in the future. Make them sound like a poem.
Discuss. 1. Why do you think Astral Weeks sold so little at first? 2. Can a song make you feel younger? 3. Do you prefer songs that are happy or sad?
Write (120–150 words). A song of joy. Write a short poem or prose poem about a happy future, using will, shall and never… again.
Now play the gamebook: an old poet who has forgotten joy.Play the gamebook →