

Broken Arrow, possibly his fantasy figure, beckons – innocence led by imagination on the road to experience. The opening image of Little Jimmy shows a child sneaking out of his home, escaping to adventure and a childlike ritual rendezvous. It is sung with a "hushed wonder" and in it the singer transfers the visions of his own childhood to his son. It's basically a love song, just a song about being spiritually beside somebody." The child that would have inspired the song was his adopted son by Janet, his wife at that time. Van Morrison remarked on this song: "'Beside You' is the kind of song that you'd sing to a kid or somebody you love. The song was recorded during the first Astral Weeks recording session at Century Sound Studios in New York City on 25 September 1968 with Lewis Merenstein as producer. Whatever the character's sexual identity, he or she comes across as a goodhearted ne'er-do-well who also carries a lot of sadness." Beside You" is the second track on Astral Weeks, the 1968 album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and released by Warner Bros. It's also possible that it's simply a woman named George, as throughout the song the character is referred to as "she" and "her." Then again, it may simply be a show of respect to a transsexual's preferred gender. In addition to the obvious juxtaposition of the feminine identifier "madame" (basically the French equivalent of "Mrs.") with the man's name "George," Morrison sings:

Still, many (including legendary rock journalist Lester Bangs) have seriously questioned Morrison's claim. Morrison himself has denied this, explaining it's just a mishmosh of multiple people he'd known. There are a few characters in this song, but they all revolve around Madame George, who gambles, parties, and possesses something that requires tossing out a window during a police raid.įor most listeners, it seems obvious that Madame George is a drag queen. It's also the title and subject of another Astral Weeks song. Cyprus Avenue is a real place in Van Morrison's hometown of Belfast, Ireland. This song details nightlife on Cyprus Avenue, which is identified in the song's first line ("down on Cyprus Avenue").
