One of my favorite Van Morrison Songs, “Cleaning Windows” captures memories of Van Morrison starting out in Belfast, working as a window washer and playing in bands on the weekend. He pays tribute to the music and books filling his mind: Jimmy Rodgers, Leadbelly, Blind Lemon, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Muddy Waters, Jack Kerouac and Christmas Humphreys’ book on Zen Buddhism.
If you recognize the guitar work that is because it comes from Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits fame.
This song helped me figure out part of my role as a parent. I needed to expose my kids to music and literature. They needed to know that we live in a river of ideas and art, the past flows through the day, nothing springs a new from the earth, though this moment is different than any past moment and will never be repeated.
They grew up in a home filled with music and books, reading to them, sharing poems, heck, we even read Macbeth at the dinner table. From an early age, we took them to concerts ranging from Bob Dylan, Patti Smith and Van Morrison to Black 47, the Violent Femmes and Alro Guthrie.
We don’t get to tell our kids what to like, that remains their choice. But they should know of Hank Williams and Muddy Waters.
#Songoftheday #Spreadinghappiness #vanmorrison #parenting
YouTube: https://youtu.be/Lc9J96f4cDk?si=34si6IrYQrPEXp2a
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/0HWDiIwCsoBiFCBHcaJpPd?si=eea2dccbea8f4a5a