In the Palace of The Lord

Philopappos (Φιλοπάππου) Hill, viewed from the Acropolis (Ακρόπολη).

 

Bob Dylan's summer European tour wrapped up with a pair of shows in Greece. During an off-day, Dylan and Van Morrison climbed onto the picturesque Hill of the Muses in Athens for a stunning four-song acoustic set that thankfully was captured by cameras for the BBC documentary Arena: One Irish Rover – Van Morrison in Performances. They began with Morrison classics “Crazy Love” and “And It Stoned Me,” but the clear highlight was the 1986 Morrison obscurity “Foreign Window,” featuring Dylan on harmonica and Van on guitar and vocals. They wrapped up the set with a duet on “One Irish Rover.”

Van Morrison’s Sixties garage rock band Them released a cover of Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” in 1966, and a few years later Morrison began regularly performing “Just Like A Woman” at his solo shows. But he didn’t actually share a stage with Dylan until The Last Waltz in 1976. They teamed up for a handful of shows on Dylan’s 1984 European tour, and the very day after this stunning performance on the Hill of the Muses, Morrison came out during Dylan’s encore to perform “Crazy Love” and “And It Stoned Me.” In 1998 they finally went on an official tour together, and later in the year they were joined by Joni Mitchell. They duetted during many of those shows, but they never quite captured the intimate magic they shared that day in Greece.

One Irish Rover, with Van Morrison
Philopappos (The Hill Of The Muses)
Athens, Greece, June 27 1989

Foreign Window by Van Morrison

I saw you from a foreign window
Bearing down the sufferin' road
You were carryin' your burden
To the palace of the Lord
To the palace of the Lord

I spied you from a foreign window
When the lilacs were in bloom

And the sun shone through your window pane
To the place you kept your books
You were reading on your sofa
You were singin' every prayer
That the masters had instilled in you
Since Lord Byron loved despair
In the palace of the Lord
In the palace of the Lord

Bridge:
And if you get it right this time
You don't have to come back again
And if you get it right this time
There's no need to explain

I saw you from a foreign
Bearing down the sufferin' road
You were carryin' your burden
You were singing about Rimbaud
I was going down to Geneva
When the Kingdom had been found
I was giving you protection
From the loneliness of the crowd
In the palace of the Lord
In the palace of the Lord

They were giving you religion
Breaking bread and drinking wine
And you laid out on the green hills
Just like when you were a child
I saw you from a foreign window
You were trying to find your way back home
You were carrying your defects
Sleeping on a pallet on the floor
In the palace of the Lord
In the palace of the Lord