Fame Will Eat the Soul

Album: Three Chords & the Truth (2019)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Fame Will Eat the Soul" is a raw-sounding call-and-response duet with The Righteous Brothers' Bill Medley. The oldest track on Three Chords & the Truth, Morrison didn't like the arrangement of the original demo, so he held onto it before re-recording the tune to his satisfaction.
  • The notoriously grumpy Van Morrison has largely shunned the limelight throughout his career: His relationship with fame ranges from hatred to indifference.

    Drank some darkness, didn't you?
    Against the light within you


    Uncut magazine asked Morrison if this lyric is how fame feels to him. He replied: "At times. But not all the time. Sure, I have felt that at times. That's the oldest song on the record. It was written a while ago. I felt like that, but it comes and goes and you have to deal with it, and you have various degrees of it. But really, it's just about getting this stuff out. You could say that writing songs is therapy - which it is."

Comments: 1

  • Cjb from MichiganVan Morrison is a musical genius
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Colbie Caillat

Colbie CaillatSongwriter Interviews

Since emerging from MySpace with her hit "Bubbly," Colbie has become a top songwriter, even crafting a hit with Taylor Swift.

Emilio Castillo from Tower of Power

Emilio Castillo from Tower of PowerSongwriter Interviews

Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.

Rock Revenge Songs

Rock Revenge SongsMusic Quiz

John Lennon, Paul Simon and Lynyrd Skynyrd are some of the artists who have written revenge songs. Do you know who they wrote them about?

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," Kiss

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat WorldSongwriter Interviews

Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.

David Gray

David GraySongwriter Interviews

David Gray explains the significance of the word "Babylon," and talks about how songs are a form of active imagination, with lyrics that reveal what's inside us.