Yes Miriam, I am a musical genius Van Morrison, 73, admits his singing talent in rare interview

revealed he doesn’t know where the songs from Astral Weeks came from and said: “I was observing things people were doing, people were saying, something that was in a book that I was reading.

“And all this stuff was kind of regurgitated in the songs.” Morrison’s parents supported his love for music as the only child saying it’s what they wanted him to do.

But he added being a professional musician was different from singing as a hobby. He said: “The [music] business is quite difficult. Most people would not survive in it, that’s the difference.” Morrison added the environment is what people “get entrapped in” but he always came from the viewpoint that he was a professional musician and singer, and not that he “wanted to be in the music business”. He said people don’t want to reveal the dark side of the profession, adding: “They only report the stuff that sells in the magazines like everything’s bright and shiny and it’s all wonderful.” However, he said it’s much harder to be a musician than people think, adding some jump ship when they realise how difficult it is.

He added: “To make a living at [being a musician] and keep going and be successful throughout several decades and your whole life, it’s a whole different ball game.”

And Morrison admitted he had no intention of going to the US.

He said: “I didn’t have that kind of ‘America is a promise land’ thing.”

RTE RADIO ONE YESTERDAY

CHAT’S LIFE Miriam O’callaghan and Van Morrison

COLLABORATION With The Chieftains in 1988