Lyrics to
Song Of Being A Child

This version of Song Of Being A Child was released by Van Morrison in 1998.

Our Van Morrison Songs profile has Song Of Being A Child lyrics from 1998 and most if not all of the lyrics by Van Morrison that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

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When the child was a child
It walked with arms hanging
Wanted the stream to be a river and the river a torrent
And this puddle, the sea
When the child was a child, it didn’t know
It was a child
Everything for it was filled with life and all life was one
Saw the horizon without trying to reach it
Couldn’t rush itself And think on command
Was often terribly bored
And couldn’t wait
Passed up greeting the moments
And prayed only with it’s lips
When the child was a child
It didn’t have an opinion about a thing
Had no habits
Often sat crossed-legged, took off running
Had a cow lick in it’s hair
And didn’t put on a face when photographed

When the child was a child
It was the time of the following questions
Why am I me and why not you
Why am I here and why not there
Why did time begin and where does space end
Isn’t what I see and hear and smell
Just the appearance of the world in front of the world
Isn’t life under the sun just a dream
Does evil actually exist in people
Who really are evil
Why can’t it be that I who am
Wasn’t before I was
And that sometime I, the I, I am
No longer will be the I, I am

When the child was a child
It gagged on spinach, on peas, on rice pudding
And on steamed cauliflower
And now eats all of it and not just because it has to
When the child was a child
It woke up once in a strange bed
And now time and time again
Many people seem beautiful to it
And now not so many and now only if it’s lucky
It had a precise picture of paradise
And now can only vaguely conceive of it at best
It couldn’t imagine nothingness
And today shudders in the face of it
Go for the ball
Which today rolls between it’s legs
With it’s I’m here it came
Into the house which now is empty

When the child was a child
It played with enthusiasm
And now only with such former concentration
Where it’s work is concerned
When the game, task, activity, subject happens to be it’s work

When the child was a child
It was enough to live on apples and bread. And it’s still that way
When the child was a child berries fell
Only like berries into it’s hand. And still do
The fresh walnuts made it’s tongue raw. And still do
Atop each mountain it craved
Yet a higher mountain. And in each city it craved
Yet a bigger city. And still does
Reach for the cherries in the treetop
As elated as it still is today
Was shy in front of strangers. And still is
It waited for the first snow. And still waits that way
When the child was a child
It waited restlessly each day for the return of the loved one
And still waits that way
When the child was a child
It hurled a stick like a lance into a tree
And it’s still quivering there today

The child, the child was a child
Was a child, was a child, was a child, was a child
Child, child, child
When the child, when the child, when the child
When the child, when the child
The child, child, child, child, child

And on and on and on and on, etc. And onward
With a sense of wonder
Upon the highest hill. Upon the highest hill
When the child was a child
Are you there
Shassas, shassas
Up on a highest hill
When the child was a child, was a child, was a child
Was a child, was a child, was a child, etc.

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Van Morrison has released many songs over the years besides Song Of Being A Child. Van Morrison released songs from 1967 to 2005 spanning across albums like Blowin' Your Mind!, Astral Weeks, Moondance, His Band And The Street Choir, Tupelo Honey, Saint Dominic's Preview, Hard Nose The Highway, It's Too Late To Stop Now, Veedon Fleece, A Period Of Transition, Wavelength, Into The Music, Common One, Beautiful Vision, Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart, A Sense Of Wonder, No Guru, No Method, No Teacher, Poetic Champions Compose, Irish Heartbeat, Avalon Sunset, Enlightenment, Hymns To The Silence, Too Long In Exile, Days Like This, How Long Has This Been Going On, Tell Me Something: The Songs Of Mose Allison, The Healing Game, The Philosopher's Stone, Back On Top, The Skiffle Sessions - Live In Belfast, You Win Again, Down The Road, What's Wrong With This Picture?, and Magic Time. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Van Morrison.

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