Tupelo Honey - Composition and Themes

Composition and Themes

The rural setting in Marin County furnished the backdrop for the domestic bliss expressed on the album cover and the songs' lyrics contained harmonious references to the "good life at home". In an interview given to New Spotlight magazine at the time, Morrison's wife, Janet Planet referred to Morrison's dislike of socializing at this time: "Really he is a recluse. He is quiet. We never go anywhere. We don't go to parties. We never go out. We have an incredibly quiet life and going on the road is the only excitement we have." Although Morrison said that the songs on the album "had been hanging around for awhile" and according to biographer Steve Turner they were written in Woodstock, musician Ronnie Montrose recalled that Morrison wrote one of the tunes, "You're My Woman", while sitting at the piano during the recording sessions in California.

The album opens with "Wild Night", a hybrid of R&B, soul and country music influences, which utilizes a moderate 4/4 time signature and features the lead guitar playing of Ronnie Montrose. The song's intro was created, according to Montrose, when "One afternoon I was messing around with what is now the intro on the record, stopped me and ... said ' ... that thing you just played ... that's the intro, don't forget it'". This guitar driven intro in Clinton Heylin's opinion made it one of Morrison's most memorable singles. "Wild Night", which has been described by biographer Ken Brooks as "a great start to the album", was first recorded after the Astral Weeks sessions in Autumn 1968 and was re-recorded numerous times before its eventual release on Tupelo Honey. Morrison recalled during an interview that the song was originally "a much slower number, but when we got to fooling around with it in the studio, we ended up doing it in a faster tempo."

"(Straight to You Heart) Like a Cannonball" combines a moderately swung 3/4 time waltz with blue-eyed soul. The song boasts a cheery guitar riff accompanied by acoustic guitars and flutes. Lyrically the song praises nature as an easy solution to the stresses of life, referring possibly to both Woodstock and Marin.

"Old Old Woodstock" is a tribute to Morrison's previous life in upstate New York. The theme of domestic bliss is encapsulated in this song, as it shows a strong sensitivity towards children and family life. Howard Dewitt comments that "It is a moving and compelling look at a satisfying period in Van's life." Musically the song contains the music genres jazz and folk. Janet Planet served as the inspiration for the song and also performed backing vocals on the recording.

Jon Landau describes "Starting a New Life" as "both the simplest and lyrically the most significant cut on the album as Van spells out with perfect clarity the statement of Tupelo Honey: it expresses his need to take stock of himself, to see how far he has come, to record the support of those who have helped him get there, and together with them to 'start a new life.'

The last song that was recorded for the album was "You're My Woman". This slow, blues influenced ballad was influenced by Janet Planet. As perhaps a last-minute decision Morrison added this song to the album in place of "Listen to the Lion", just before it was released. The recording of "Listen to the Lion" was released a year later on Saint Dominic's Preview.

The title song, "Tupelo Honey", is a classic love ballad in a vein established with "Crazy Love" from the previous album, Moondance. The two songs both have the same melody, chord progression and are in 4/4 time. Uncut reviewer David Cavanagh wrote that: "On an album where the vocals are exultant to say the least, this song sees Morrison use larynx, diaphragm, teeth and tongue to find new ways of enunciating the lines 'she's as sweet as Tupelo honey' and 'she's all right with me', seemingly in ever-increasing adoration." Bob Dylan (who performed the song with Morrison during a concert tour in the 1990s) once remarked that "'Tupelo Honey' has always existed and that Morrison was merely the vessel and the earthly vehicle for it". Greil Marcus called the song "a kind of odyssey" evoking Elvis Presley (whose hometown was Tupelo, Mississippi), and "the most gorgeous number on the album" that "was too good not to be true."

"I Wanna Roo You (Scottish Derivative)" is a country-flavored waltz, that prominently features John McFee's steel guitar and Ronnie Montrose's mandolin. The "Scottish Derivative" subtitle refers to the word "roo" featured in the song, which is a Scottish slang word for "woo".

"When the Evening Sun Goes Down" is described by Erik Hage as a "hootenanny flavored" tune driven by "barrel-house honkey-tonk piano". Like "Wild Night", it was first recorded in Autumn 1968 and on various other recording sessions by Morrison before its release on Tupelo Honey. An alternative take of the song was featured as the B-side of the "Wild Night" single.

The final song, "Moonshine Whiskey", has been compared musically to the likes of The Band, (earlier in 1971 Morrison had worked with The Band in Woodstock). The song fluctuates between a slow 6/8 and fast a 4/4 time throughout. During the coda it accelerates to an abrupt ending. "Moonshine Whiskey" combines country rock and soul in a song that Morrison once spoke of as having been written for "Janis Joplin or something." (Joplin lived in Woodstock around the same time as Morrison.) There is also a comic element to the song with Morrison imitating fish blowing bubbles.