Because we’re sweet, of course! Well, actually, our fans are the sweetest!
Tupelo Honey being one of the most well-known and iconic album titles of the Van Morrison discography meant that it was the perfect choice to be our namesake. Tupelo Honey, the song from the 1971 album of the same name, was released as a single in 1972 and reached 47th on the US pop charts of the time. It was a song of our youth that brought about memories of the sweet summers we shared with our friends and families.
Van Morrison composed the song and many have wondered if it relates to personal experiences of the Northern Irish singer-songwriter. Tupelo Honey is a real thing in the Southeastern United States—a pricey and mild-tasting honey. It is produced from the nectar collected by honeybees from the blossoms of the white Ogeechee Tupelo (Nyssa Ogeche) tree. The trees grow along the borders of swamps, rivers, and ponds in remote wetlands of Florida and Georgia.
Friend and soulmate, Bob Dylan, had once said that the melody of Tupelo Honey had always existed and that Van Morrison was “merely the vessel and the earthly vehicle for it”. The song’s soulful tune was seemingly borrowed from Van’s “Crazy Love”. The same melody was again used by Van Morrison in 1991 on the song, “Why Must I Always Explain?” In fact, Van Morrison has played “Tupelo Honey” as a medley along with “Crazy Love” and “Why Must I Always Explain?” during live shows.
Some fans think that the song lyrics hearken to the Statue of Liberty, or America in general, or simply the overall concept of freedom. Others feel that it was an homage to his first wife, Janet, as she was the muse for some of his other early works. Still many may also relate the song to early America and the Boston Tea Party, or to the historical troubles in Belfast. When the song was written, the troubles in Ireland were still raging, so freedom was likely weighing on Van’s mind also. The conflict in Northern Ireland endured for about thirty years from the late 60’s to 1998. It’s also been noted before that a rhetorical phrase in Belfast was “I wouldn’t (insert doing a particular thing) for all the tea in China”—so maybe he was saying that a love interest was more important than all of the tea in China.
The song lyrics for “Tupelo Honey”
You can take all the tea in China
Put it in a big brown bag for me
Sail right around the seven oceans
Drop it straight into the deep blue sea
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
She’s an angel of the first degree
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
Just like honey from the bee
You can’t stop us on the road to freedom
You can’t keep us ’cause our eyes can see
Men with insight, men in granite
Knights in armor bent on chivalry
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
She’s an angel of the first degree
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
Just like honey from the bee
You can’t stop us on the road to freedom
You can’t stop us ’cause our eyes can see
Men with insight, men in granite
Knights in armor intent on chivalry
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
She’s an angel of the first degree
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
Just like honey from the bee
You know she’s alright
You know she’s alright with me
She’s alright, she’s alright (she’s an angel)
You can take all the tea in China
Put it in a big brown bag for me
Sail it right around the seven oceans
Drop it smack dab in the middle of the deep blue sea
Because she’s as sweet as tupelo honey
She’s an angel of the first degree
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
Just like honey from the bee
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
She’s an angel of the first degree
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
Just like the honey, baby, from the bee
She’s my baby, you know she’s alright…
Back in 1996 someone noted that a “lost verse” in the song was discovered during a Van Morrison performance in Ireland.
“There’s a rose pressed inside a bible
That she reads on the balcony
She’s sweet in slumber and I’ve got her number
For the beginning of the century.”
While it may not be a true ‘lost verse’, it may be that Van improvised and added it to his live performance—there was surmised to be a ‘lost verse’ which is in the original sheet music.
“I’ll tell a tale of old Manhattan
Adirondack bus to go
Standing waiting on my number
And my number’s gonna show.”
When the late Dusty Springfield (Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien OBE) performed a cover of the song on The Van Morrison Songbook CD, it has a variant of this:
“I heard a tale of old Manhattan
I’ve never been there but I want to go
Standing waiting on my number
And my number’s gonna show.”
Tupelo Honey is the fifth studio album by Van Morrison. The unforgettable song list remains to be popular amongst fans.
- Wild Night Is Calling
- (Straight to Your Heart) Like a Cannonball
- Old Old Woodstock
- Starting a New Life
- You’re My Woman
- Tupelo Honey
- I Wanna Roo You (Scottish Derivative)
- When That Evening Sun Goes Down
- Moonshine Whiskey
So, come check us out sometime. Let us know what you think of our own heartfelt homage to the music of Van Morrison. We’ll be looking for you on the “Bright Side of the Road”.
