Legends are making the wrong steps. At a time when his idol, Bob Dylan, is carving a twilight-years series of powerhouse recordings, all Van Morrison can do is retread the past. The death of an artist is not in their failure but in the acceptance of the best being behind them. Luck runs out. But it is up to the creative to continue forward, as Leonard Cohen did, as David Bowie did, to a bitter end where the best of their materials was ahead, not behind. For the likes of U2 and Morrison, who recognise the powerful words of old, a miserable realisation is made. Morrison is now of the Bryan Adams variety. You see him for the songs you know, the familiarity with the work. All he can do now is present the old as new, as he does on a miserable cover of Choppin’ Wood.
It is not even far off the contemporary spotlight. Choppin’ Wood is given a new turn of fortune under fresh instrumentals yet released just twenty-two years ago on Down the Road. What was wrong with it between then and now which pushed Morrison back into the studio? To give it another go? We cannot be certain, but it is for sure the lazy route for any artist to take when there is still fuel in the tank. He may be cruising instead of speeding along in a lane of interest but Morrison is still going. He goes no place interesting with this one. An all too familiar destination for those who struggled through his two cover albums from last year. Choppin’ Wood did not have much complexity to it the first time around, but artists are often drawn to the stranger avenues of their creative output.
For Morrison, it means adding little, if anything, to a Down on the Road track. It makes sense here – a musical tribute to Morrison’s father which was a soft and delicate piece when first released. We cannot deny an artist their connection to crediting their loved ones. But to reuse it feels cold-hearted, especially when the changes made to the arrangement of Choppin’ Wood are minimal. Those few changes made are nonsensical, anyway. What do we gain from this arrangement? A moodier selection of trumpets, a fiddling about with piano work and a broad orchestral appeal which feels as shallow as the new vocal range from Morrison. There is no denying his heart is in it, that is clear. But it settles on the point of necessity. He offers nothing new to the format of his deeply-held feelings toward his father.
All which comes through are a few backing vocalists and the already punchy vocals backed by instrumental timing as if Morrison lacks confidence in his words to carry their weight. Choppin’ Wood is a reduction of an original already clinging to the good faith listeners may afford Morrison for singing about something so intimate. Instead, this version removes any chance of feeling for him. A return to this song is all well and good but to do so little with it is an essential identifier of how frequently Morrison is phoning it in at this stage. Accentuate the Positive was just the beginning, and it appears New Arrangements and Duets is not the end.
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