Songfacts®:

• "Back to Writing Love Songs" is a wry, self-aware track from Van Morrison's 47th album, Remembering Now. Despite its breezy, upbeat feel, the song carries a sardonic edge. The lyric functions as a sly commentary on commercial pressures versus artistic honesty.
  
  "That song is actually tongue-in-cheek, if you listen to it," Morrison told Mojo magazine. "I've got to 'make it pay at the end of the day.' I mean, I could give people songs that are closer to the truth of what's going on, but people don't want the truth. It doesn't sell. So, I'd better get back to writing love songs."
• After two albums of covers, the track also doubles as a signpost: Morrison returning to his own pen even if he's joking about why.
• There's a wink to two of Morrison's heroes too. The lyrics reference Ray Charles via the line "gotta tell you baby what'd I say" and Muddy Waters with the line "gotta get my mojo working."
• Morrison played electric guitar on the song. The track also features a core band of long-time Morrison collaborators:
  
  Richard Dunn; Hammond organ
  Stuart McIlroy: piano
  Dave Keary: acoustic guitar, electric guitar
  Pete Hurley: bass
  Colin Griffin: drums
  Alan "Sticky" Wicket: percussion
  Crawford Bell: background vocals
  Dana Masters: background vocals
  Jolene O'Hara: background vocals
• The music video was filmed live at Belfast's Waterfront Hall during Morrison's sold-out 80th birthday celebration concerts.
• Released June 13, 2025, Remembering Now was Morrison's first collection of all-original material since What's It Gonna Take? in 2022. The inspiration was about recapturing joy and spontaneity.
  
  "Myself and the musicians just wanted to do something that was going to be fun," Morrison told On Yorkshire magazine. "Go back to the beginning - this is why we got into this in the first place."
  
  "Back to Writing Love Songs" sits squarely in that spirit - a track where the message (commercial compromise) and the execution (loose, soulful, fun) are deliberately at odds with each other, making the irony land all the more effectively.