Music Blog

Gotta Get Through January

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Glyn’s new Mixed Music Bag began today.
He’s asking us to write about a song in which
the title or a line mentions the current month. 
Here’s my featured January artist and his song.

Van Morrison continues to be one of the most prolific singer/song-writers of the last 50 years, having released a whopping 40+ studio albums throughout his career. In 1997 Morrison released his album, The Healing Game. My song for this week is “Fire in the Belly”, featuring Steve Winwood.

Van Morrison’s lyrics express a deep passion and desire for someone special, represented by the repeated line, “cause I’m crazy about you”. The song begins with the idea that the call of the wild has taken over and there is a fire in both the singer’s heart and belly, suggesting a strong, primal urge toward the woman with whom he is infatuated. The song is filled with personal feelings and sentiments, describing the effect she has on the him. The chorus repeats the line “you on your high flying cloud”, which could represent the woman’s self-assuredness or confidence …. characteristics that may be intimidating to the singer. The lyrics “spring in my heart, fire in my belly too, I come apart, I don’t know just what to do” express the emotional force this woman has on him, causing him to feel overwhelmed and helpless. The repetition of gotta get through January, gotta get through February” suggests that the singer is working through some tough and lonely times in his life, but the love he feels for this special person is giving him the strength to keep moving forward. “Fire in the Belly” is a declaration of love and desire, expressing the singer’s deep connection to the woman he is singing about and how profoundly she has impacted his life. And in the end it’s quite clear he wants this woman he desperately loves to know he’s talkin’ ’bout her.

This is “Fire in the Belly” by Van Morrison (featuring Steve Winwood)

LYRICS

Call of the wildest, it’s got the best of you
Fire in my heart, fire in my belly too
Got a heart and a mind and a fire inside
And I’m crazy about you
You, you on your high flying cloud
You, you when you’re laughing out loud
You, you with your hidden surprise
You

Stoke up my engine, bring me my driving wheel
Once I get started you’ll see just how I feel
And I’m crazy about you
And I’m crazy about you
And I’m crazy about you
You, you on your high flying cloud
You, you when you’re laughing out loud
You, you with your hidden surprise
You

Gotta get through January
Gotta get through February
Gotta get through January
Gotta get through February
Gotta get through January
Gotta get through February
Gotta get through January

Spring in my heart, fire in my belly too
I come apart, I don’t know just what to do
Got a heart and a mind and a fire inside
And I’m crazy about you
You, you on your high flying cloud
You, you with the laugh in your eyes
You, you with your hidden surprise
You

Gotta get through January
Gotta get through February
Gotta get through January
Gotta get through February
Gotta get through January
Gotta get through February
Gotta get through January

Spring in my heart, fire in my belly too
I come apart, I don’t know just what to do
Got a heart and a mind and a fire inside
And I’m crazy about you
You, you on your high flying cloud
You, you with the laugh in your eyes
You, you with your hidden surprise
You

Talkin’ ’bout you
Talkin’ ’bout you
Talkin’ ’bout you
Talkin’ ’bout you
Talkin’ ’bout you
Talkin’ ’bout you (talkin’ ’bout you)
Talkin’ ’bout you (fire in the belly too)

Talkin’ ’bout you (talkin’ ’bout you)
Talkin’ ’bout you (talkin’ ’bout you)
Talkin’ ’bout you (talkin’ ’bout you)
Talkin’ ’bout you (talkin’ ’bout you)
Talkin’ ’bout you (talkin’ ’bout you)
Talkin’ ’bout you

Songwriter: Van Morrison
Source: Musixmatch

https://glyn40wilton.wordpress.com/2025/01/04/my-new-themed-weekly-music-post-to-start-on-tuesday-7th-january-think-of-a-so

Big thanks to Glyn Wilton for hosting Mixed Music Bag every week. Please be sure to follow the link and check out Glyn’s site.

Thanks for joining me today and spinning some tunes.

See you on the flip side. 😎

NAR©2025

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for Nancy ~ The Sicilian Storyteller, Nancy (The Sicilian Storyteller), The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk, and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.

37 thoughts on “Gotta Get Through January”

  1. Excellent! I’m a great fan of the man and his music. He’s known to be a bit grumpy – I saw him in concert once, a great do with the Animal’s Alan Price on keyboard. It was Van the Man’s birthday and when the audience started singing ‘happy birthday to you’, he just turned around and walked off stage! Apparently, that’s typical, but who cares? He’s a legend in his own time.

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    1. I could see how that might be off-putting to some …. much like his stand on vaccines …. but I, like you, are mature enough to distinguish between the “man” and the “performer”. I try not to let idiosyncrasies color my opinion of the artists I love. Strange as it may sound, many performers do not enjoy being in the “personal” spotlight. They arrive, do their thing, and leave.

      Thanks, dear Keith. I’m glad you enjoyed this one.

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      Reply

  6. Good song, which I didn’t know. I’m mostly familiar with Van Morrison’s early output. Frankly, since he went looney and began spreading dangerous conspiracy theories during the COVID pandemic, he’s fallen off my radar screen. That said, I still like a good deal of his music.

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  11. Great song choice.
    January is always good for me, clean out, clear out, make new, catch up finally on projects.
    It’s February that always gets me down. So in a few weeks, I’ll be singing Gotta get through February…
    When I was in high school, every other kid was in a band, if not we were support people. My girlfriend and I made the Nehru shirts for her brother’s band ‘Sun.’ That was my band claim to fame, along with schlepping all their stuff.
    Kids barely have dances any longer!

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    1. I couldn’t agree more! I hate February, even though there’s Valentine’s Day and it’s my birth month. It’s the shortest month but it feels like the longest and is one long drag. It’s so very cold and bleak and, while I’ve never checked the statistics, I wouldn’t be surprised if it had the highest suicide and or alcoholics rate. Cheers! 🍻

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      Reply

    1. Thanks, Willow! In my former life when I was writing music blogs for The Rhythm Section (now defunct), I had a category called “I With The Banned” all about …. you guessed it …. banned songs. That’s a fascinating subject. “Brown Eyed Girl” was banned because it was originally called “Brown Skinned Girl” which didn’t sit well with the uptight censors at the BBC. Thank the gods, in some things we have come a long way …. but still not long enough.

      Glad to know you enjoyed my January song.Thanks! 🩶

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    1. If I told you this already, sorry but I’m telling you again. The school band I sang with planned to do “As Tears Go By” for a talent show but we managed to get banned from said show when the principal heard us practicing. I don’t know what’s so bad about that song; “Gloria” on the other hand…..

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      Reply

      1. Back then, in the times we call ” Back In The Day,” most school principals didn’t get rock music, bell bottom pants, Beatle boots, hair over the ears, and all that. As Tears Go By, that was a great song, and much more palatible than Gloria. The band I played in was popular in Texas and we played all over three states. My high school after two years snagged it for their homecoming dance. Of course we were loud, big amps and the proper attitudes. Our principal, arms waving and shouting told us to turn it down or we were fired. We cranked it up to 10 just to please him. He fired us on the spot, but the kids at the dance raised so much hell we rescinded his decree. Years later, I ran into him in Port Aransas. We had a beer together and that night came up. He laughed and said he actually enjoyed the music, but he had to be the bad guy to keep up the front.

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