And It Stoned Me by Van Morrison Lyrics Meaning – A Soulful Dive into Nature’s Euphoria
Lyrics
And the rain came pourin’ down
Me and Billy standin’ there
With a silver half a crown
Hands are full of a fishin’ rod
And the tackle on our backs
We just stood there gettin’ wet
With our backs against the fence
Oh, the water
Oh, the water
Oh, the water
Hope it don’t rain all day
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like Jelly Roll
And it stoned me
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like goin’ home
And it stoned me
Then the rain let up and the sun came up
And we were gettin’ dry
Almost let a pick-up truck nearly pass us by
So we jumped right in and the driver grinned
And he dropped us up the road
Yeah, we looked at the swim and we jumped right in
Not to mention fishing poles
Oh, the water
Oh, the water
Oh, the water
Let it run all over me
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like Jelly Roll
And it stoned me
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like goin’ home
And it stoned me
On the way back home we sang a song
But our throats were getting dry
Then we saw the man from across the road
With the sunshine in his eyes
Well he lived all alone in his own little home
With a great big gallon jar
There were bottles too, one for me and you
And he said Hey! There you are
Oh, the water
Oh, the water
Oh, the water
Get it myself from the mountain stream
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like Jelly Roll
And it stoned me
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like goin’ home
And it stoned me
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like Jelly Roll
And it stoned me
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like goin’ home
And it stoned me
In the ever-diverse anthology of Van Morrison’s songbook, ‘And It Stoned Me’ stands out as a euphoric yet grounding journey. Released in 1970 as part of his seminal ‘Moondance’ album, this track encapsulates a transcendent experience with the simple joys of life, swathed in the spirituality that often defines Morrison’s music.
Through a series of evocative verses and a chorus that’s both a confession and an exclamation, ‘And It Stoned Me’ manages to transport listeners to a place where the rain is more than precipitation—it’s a baptism, an awakening, and a profound connection to the elixir of nature.
Whispers in the Rain: The Allure of Simplicity
Drenched in the downpour of a rural landscape, this song epitomizes the beauty found in simple moments. The opening lines paint a picture of two boys, Morrison himself and his childhood friend ‘Billy,’ waiting out a rainstorm. As they stand with just ‘a silver half a crown’ and fishing gear, it’s the essence of nature—the relentless rain—that captures their entire being, not the promise of the county fair.
Morrison’s descriptions move beyond mere weather narration; they evoke nostalgia for a time when life’s purity was enough to fill one’s soul. This is where Morrison shines, immersing the listener into a scene where basic elements become profound experiences.
Soulful Stoning: The Euphoria of Being
The core metaphor, reflected in the song’s title and chorus, ‘And it stoned me to my soul,’ suggests a state of being overwhelmed and uplifted by a natural phenomenon. It draws a parallel between the spiritual high one gets from nature’s touch and the impassioned trance one experiences from music, as Morrison alludes to ‘Jelly Roll,’ a nod to early blues and jazz influences.
Here, ‘stoned’ transcends its typical connotations of drug-induced states, instead representing an intrinsic, almost sacred, communion with the elements around us. Morrison is describing an exaltation that doesn’t require any artificial augmentation, only an embrace of the world’s organic wonder.
Resonating Echoes: The Timeless Nature Of Childhood
Amidst the lyrics, Morrison breathes life into a universal memory: the sheer delight of childhood spontaneity. The rain provides an avenue for play, an unexpected ride on a pick-up truck symbolizes serendipity, and the immersion into a local swimming hole signifies the unbridled joy of youth.
However, it isn’t solely about basking in the freedom of adolescence; it’s about the sensory imprints that these experiences leave on our adult selves. By invoking these moments, Morrison proposes that the pathway to joy is often paved with the simplest of stones—that of our earliest, untainted communion with nature.
Quenching Thirst: The Hidden Meaning Behind the Liquid Metaphors
Water plays a central role in the song; it’s a symbol that Morrison returns to with reverence and frequency. Beyond its literal function in the landscape of the narrative, water becomes a symbol of life’s flow, purification, and sustenance. From the mountain stream to the man’s ‘great big gallon jar,’ there is a celebration of water as the source of vitality and the sustenance of the spirit.
This sustained metaphor serves a dual purpose: it reflects the thirst for connection and, possibly, a thirst for the divine—the ‘mountain stream’ emblematic of a purity only found in nature, away from the trappings of civilization. Morrison, in his musings, delivers an ode to this life force, implying that it’s not just corporeal thirst that’s quenched by the water.
Melodic Stones: The Song’s Most Memorable Lines
‘And it stoned me to my soul’ serves as not only the song’s culminating mantra but also its most memorable lyric. Morrison repeats these words with such frequency and conviction that they come to represent far more than a chorus—they are the very heart-beat of the song.
Other potent lines such as ‘Stoned me just like Jelly Roll’ and ‘Stoned me just like goin’ home’ speak to the melodies and rhythms that parallel the homeward bound satisfaction and familiarity that ‘stoning’ or touching the soul represents. These phrases linger, colored by the shared knowledge that for Morrison, music, and nature are the twin stones that pave his path home.
