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"Madame George" is a ten-minute song by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It appears on the album ''Astral Weeks'', released in 1968. The song features Morrison performing the vocals and acoustic guitar. It also features a double bass, flute and a string quartet. ==Recording and composition== "Madame George" was recorded during the first ''Astral Weeks'' session that took place on September 25, 1968 at Century Sound Studios in New York City with Lewis Merenstein as producer.〔Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence?, p. 518〕 The main theme of the song is about leaving the past behind. The character of Madame George is considered by many to be a drag queen, although Morrison himself denied this in a ''Rolling Stone'' interview.〔(1970 Rolling Stone Interview )〕 He later claimed that the character was based on six or seven different people: "It's like a movie, a sketch, or a short story. In fact, most of the songs on ''Astral Weeks'' are like short stories. In terms of what they mean, they're as baffling to me as to anyone else. I haven't got a clue what that song is about or who ''Madame George'' might have been."〔Uncut Magazine July 2005 issue〕 Van Morrison, speaking to biographer Ritchie Yorke about the writing and meaning of the song, said in part: "Madame George" was recorded live. The vocal was live and the rhythm section and the flute too and the strings were the only overdub. The title of the song confuses one, I must say that. The original title was "Madame Joy" but the way I wrote it down was "Madame George". Don't ask me why I do this because I just don't know. The song is just a stream of consciousness thing, as is "Cyprus Avenue"..."Madame George" just came right out. The song is basically about a spiritual feeling.〔Yorke, Into the Music, pp. 60-61〕 In April 2007 Tom Nolan wrote an article in ''The Wall Street Journal'' suggesting that Madame George was none other than Georgie Hyde-Lees, wife of Irish poet and mystic W. B. Yeats who acted as Yeats' muse through automatic writing and inducing trances. He cites the ever present interest in Yeats by Morrison, and the words in the song: "That's when you fall into a trance/Sitting on a sofa playing games of chance/With your folded arms in history books you glance/ Into the eyes of Madame George." An earlier recording with slightly altered lyrics and a much swifter tempo changes the tone considerably from the ''Astral Weeks'' recording, which is downbeat and nostalgic; the earlier recording is joyous, and seems to be from the point of view of a partygoer who sees the titular character. This version surfaced on the 1973 release ''T.B. Sheets'', which compiled unreleased recordings Morrison had made for Bang Records in 1967. This song contains a number of references to places and events in Van Morrison's native Belfast: Cyprus Avenue (also the title of another song on Astral Weeks) is a tree lined, up-market residential street in east Belfast; Sandy Row is a working class staunchly Unionist/Protestant neighbourhood in south Belfast; "throwing pennies at the bridges down below" was a practice of Northern Irish Unionists as they travelled on the train from Dublin to Belfast where the train crossed the River Boyne (site of the Battle of the Boyne, 1690). Fitzroy may be a reference to Fitzroy Avenue, a narrow residential street in Belfast between the Ormeau Road and Rugby Road. Some commentators have mentioned that Ford is a reference to a placename in Belfast as well. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Madame George」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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