Van Morrison - For Mr. Thomas Lyrics






From faded newsprint used to wrap a fish
Inscrutably the muse selects your face
As I sit drinking famously in an Irish bar
Five thousand miles and thirty years away

With the usual ceremonial you were crowned one night
King of the field where doctors nail the cows
To make of the cock's quill the rights of language
And the pricking heart a sword against the hours

Let smirking scholars writhe in their favourite bondage
And hold you plaintiff to the charge of art
Exhibit A: he falls on legendary lines
Singing mother I don't want a pain here in my heart

The judge in me sucks eggs and jerks the sacred meat
But the boy in me still dreams in Milk Wood town
Like two provincial bastards playing the galleries
I hold your photo to a mirror upside down

And as bacon wafts through hungry streets, your ghost pervades
Just like an old ex-boxer aged twenty two
Staged-up like Falstaff or the wild welsh Rimbaud
You'd laugh to see the monograms they make of you
Ah, Mr. Thomas let us ramble through the midnight fair
Let us throw old bottles at the ferris wheel
Let us paint library on the library let us raid the moonlight
Let us steal whatever we are supposed to steal

Let us watch while the days grow daily more mundane
That rough God go riding with his shears
Hack wide the belly of the swollen mountains
And rip molten heroes forth from their furious tears

Oh, Mr. Thomas, oh, Mr. Thomas,
Let us steal whatever we're supposed to steal
Mr. Thomas, oh, Mr. Thomas,
Why don't we feel whatever we're supposed to feel

Oh, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Thomas,
Why don't we feel whatever we're supposed to feel
Oh, Mr. Thomas let us ramble through the midnight
Let us throw bottles at the ferris wheel
Let us paint library on the library let us raid the moonlight
Let us steal whatever we're supposed to steal





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Van Morrison For Mr. Thomas Comments
  1. C.... B....

    Great great song 👍🏻

  2. b.... c....

    EXCELLENT

  3. b.... ....

    No one does this song better!

  4. a.... m....

    I've heard of many Thomases all of my life. Now I know what nationality they come from. Hey Mr. Thomas!

  5. D.... M....

    My mentor's name was Mr. Gorden Thomas.  He died yesterday.  For Mr. Thomas!

  6. R.... B....

    Brilliant!

  7. R.... S....

    Love Van's exuberance in covering this song. He gave full credit to Mr. Williamson as the writer. I think more than one Celt can love the line "Let us paint library on the library". No American writer could so credibly cite Falstaff and Rambaud.

    For me the tell tale line is "Why don't we feel whatever whatever it is we're supposed to feel".

  8. D.... E....

    Robin Williamson's version, who wrote the tune, is much better IMHO.

  9. M.... P....

    @hol0015 Van Morrison - Why Must I Always Explain? ;>)

  10. G.... O....

    Friends, this is a cover of the great Scottish bard Robin Williamson's song
    "For Mr. Thomas." Check elsewhere on youtube and you'll find Robin doing his version...so great. Dylan Thomas had a self-destructive streak that took him
    out. This tribute is a deep honoring. "Let us paint library on the library..."

  11. M.... H....

    @hol0015 It's about 4 minutes and 15 seconds...

  12. h.... ....

    Anyone wanna tell me what the hell this song is about? :p
    Good song though

  13. J.... T....

    one of his greatest tunes. i love the raw recording. harmonies are rough which gives it a nicer feel.

  14. D.... M....

    This song is awesome.