Veedon Fleece - Composition

Composition

"Veedon Fleece initiates a period of growing poetical confidence, with a muse that, while still often stream-of-consciousness, is more under the control of the lyricist."

The songs, as recorded on the album, were influenced by his vacation trip to Ireland in 1973; it was his first visit since he left Belfast in 1967. (At this time his parents had moved to California and resided near him.) According to Erik Hage: "Veedon Fleece from a lyrical standpoint, shows maturity, renewed poetical confidence, and a direct nod to actual literary influences." Hage further comments that musically it "can be seen as a companion album to Astral Weeks . The soft and complex musical textures (often augmented by flute) of this album are the closest he will ever again get to that vaunted 1968 album."

The opening track, "Fair Play" derived its name from Morrison's Irish friend, Donall Corvin's repeated use the Irish colloquialism "fair play to you" as a wry compliment. It's a 3/4 ballad that name checks Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allan Poe and Henry David Thoreau. According to Morrison, the song derived "from what was running through my head" and it marked a return to the stream of consciousness channeled song-writing that had not been evident since several of the songs contained in his 1972 album, Saint Dominic's Preview.

"Linden Arden Stole the Highlights" segues into "Who Was That Masked Man" (sung in falsetto) which has a similar melody. The story line pertains to a mythological Irish expatriate living in San Francisco who, when cornered, turns violent and then goes into hiding, "living with a gun", and references a childhood interest in The Lone Ranger. Morrison described the anti-hero Linden Arden as being "about an image of an Irish American living in San Francisco - it's really a hard man type of thing, whilst the latter was a song about what it's like when you absolutely cannot trust anybody. Not as in some paranoia, but in reality."

"Streets of Arklow" describes a perfect day in "God's green land" and is a tribute to the Wicklow town visited during this vacation trip. The opening lines of the song: "And as we walked through the streets of Arklow, oh the colours of the day warm, and our heads were filled with poetry, in the morning coming onto dawn" were said to "contain the thematic seeds of the whole album: nature, poetry, god, innocence re-found and love lost" by PopMatters critic John Kennedy.

"You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push the River" is frequently regarded as one of Morrison's most accomplished compositions. He revealed that the song owed a considerable debt to his readings in Gestalt therapy. Johnny Rogan felt that this track was representative of "an experimental peak, a step beyond even his most ambitious work."

On the second side of the album, the songs "Bulbs" and "Cul de Sac" focus on emigration to America and homecoming.

The album concludes with the love songs, "Comfort You", "Come Here My Love", and "Country Fair"—the latter two employing the traditional Irish ballad style. To Clinton Heylin, the songs also spoke to "the healing power of love... here at last are songs that speak of what he can do for her, rather than concerned solely with his needs and wants." Heylin comments on the song, "Come Here My Love": "This is no 'Autumn Song'. Rather, it sounds a lot like a man learning how to love again." Morrison spoke of "Country Fair" as having the same kind of feeling as "And It Stoned Me", although that song was used to open the Moondance album, instead of as a kind of closure.

Years before "Twilight Zone" was released as a bonus track on the 2008 re-mastered version of Veedon Fleece, Brian Hinton had said about the version of the song on The Philosopher's Stone: "'Twilight Zone' is a very slow, bluesy, late-night song that would fit right in on Veedon Fleece."