In The Days Before Rock 'n' Roll

Album: Enlightenment (1990)
Play Video
  • Justin, gentler than a man
    I am down on my knees
    At the wireless knobs
    I am down on my knees
    At those wireless knobs
    Telefunken, Telefunken
    And I'm searching for
    Luxembourg, Luxembourg,
    Athlone, Budapest, AFN,
    Hilversum, Helvetia
    In the days before rock 'n' roll

    In the days before rock 'n' roll
    In the days before rock 'n' roll

    When we let, then we bet
    On Lester Piggott when we met
    We let the goldfish go

    In the days before rock 'n' roll
    Fats did not come in
    Without those wireless knobs
    Fats did not come in
    Without those wireless knobs
    Elvis did not come in
    Without those wireless knobs
    Nor Fats, nor Elvis
    Nor Sonny, nor Lightning
    Nor Muddy, nor John Lee

    In the days before rock 'n' roll
    In the days before rock 'n' roll

    When we let and we bet
    On Lester Piggott 10/1
    And we let the goldfish go
    Down the stream
    Before rock 'n' roll
    We went over the wavebands
    We'd get Luxembourg,
    Luxembourg and Athlone

    AFM stars of Jazz
    Come in, come in, come in, Ray Charles
    Come in, the high priest

    In the days before rock 'n' roll
    In the days before rock 'n' roll

    When we let and we bet
    On Lester Piggott 10 to 1
    And we let the goldfish go
    And then the killer came along
    The killer, Jerry Lee Lewis
    A whole lotta shakin' goin' on,
    Great balls of fire
    Little Richard

    Justin, gentler than a man
    Justin, Justin, where is Justin now?
    What's Justin doing now?
    Just, where is Justin now?
    Come aboard Writer/s: PAUL DURCAN, VAN MORRISON
    Publisher: BMG Rights Management
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 4

  • Simon From Aboyne from ScotlandThe organ that comes in after the first minute is sending SOS in morse.
  • Jeanie Fromva. from St. Paul Va.Who is Justin in the song The Days before Rock and Roll by Van Morrison?
  • Vientiane Rory from LaosI’d like to know more about/ “Justin, gentler than a man......”
  • Bill from Pensacola, FlIn a lot of Van's music his fans wait for that trancendent moment in a song where Van the singer and his song just leave the stage setting and go into a place with no time or space. I think this song was written in this plane, it just starts out and continues in that vain every time I listen to it. And why not? He is talking about the thing that influeneced him the most growing up, music.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Carol Kaye

Carol KayeSongwriter Interviews

A top session musician, Carol played on hundreds of hits by The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Frank Sinatra and many others.

Corey Hart

Corey HartSongwriter Interviews

The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."

Lita Ford

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.

Rosanne Cash

Rosanne CashSongwriter Interviews

Rosanne talks about the journey that inspired her songs on her album The River & the Thread, including a stop at the Tallahatchie Bridge.

Kevin Godley

Kevin GodleySongwriter Interviews

Kevin Godley talks about directing classic videos for The Police, U2 and Duran Duran, and discusses song and videos he made with 10cc and Godley & Creme.

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.