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**The Healing Game: Van the Man's Mystical Return to Grace**

By 1997, Van Morrison had already traversed more musical territories than most artists dare dream of exploring. From the garage-rock fury of Them through the transcendent soul-jazz of "Astral Weeks" and the Celtic mysticism of his '80s output, Van the Man had established himself as one of popular music's most restless and uncompromising spirits. Yet following a period of creative uncertainty in the mid-'90s, Morrison emerged with "The Healing Game," an album that found him returning to the spiritual well that had nourished his greatest work.

The genesis of "The Healing Game" came during a particularly introspective period for Morrison. Having weathered personal struggles and a sense of disconnection from the music industry's machinations, he retreated to his native Belfast and the surrounding countryside that had always served as his creative sanctuary. The album's title track, written during long walks through the Irish landscape, became a meditation on renewal and the redemptive power of music itself. Morrison has spoken of feeling "spiritually exhausted" during this period, making the album's themes of healing and transcendence feel less like artistic conceits than genuine necessity.

Musically, "The Healing Game" represents Morrison at his most cohesive in years, weaving together the various strands of his artistic DNA into a remarkably unified statement. The album draws heavily from Celtic folk traditions, American R&B, and jazz, but never feels like a pastiche. Instead, Morrison and his crack band – featuring longtime collaborators like guitarist John Platania and saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis – create a sound that's both timeless and unmistakably contemporary. The production, handled by Morrison himself alongside engineer Justin Niebank, strikes the perfect balance between intimacy and grandeur, allowing space for both whispered confessions and full-throated gospel testimonials.

The album's opening salvo, "Rough God Goes Riding," immediately establishes the record's spiritual urgency. Built around a hypnotic acoustic guitar figure and Morrison's incantatory vocals, the song finds him wrestling with faith and doubt in equal measure. It's classic Van – equal parts mystic and skeptic, reaching for the divine while keeping one foot firmly planted in earthly concerns. The title track that follows serves as the album's emotional centerpiece, with Morrison's voice floating over a gorgeous Celtic-inflected arrangement that builds to a genuinely cathartic climax.

"Fire in the Belly" showcases Morrison's ability to channel righteous anger into transcendent art, while "This Weight" finds him in more contemplative mode, supported by subtle strings and Ellis's sympathetic saxophone. The album's most surprising moment comes with "The New Biography," a stream-of-consciousness ramble that finds Morrison reflecting on fame, artistic integrity, and the music business with characteristic wit and venom. Meanwhile, "Burning Ground" represents some of his most overtly political writing, addressing the ongoing troubles in Northern Ireland with both passion and nuance.

Perhaps the album's greatest triumph is "Piper at the Gates of Dawn," a nine-minute epic that takes its title from Kenneth Grahame's "Wind in the Willows" and transforms it into a mystical journey through sound and silence. Morrison's vocals alternate between urgent pleading and meditative chanting, while the band creates a sonic landscape that feels both ancient and futuristic. It's the kind of shamanic performance that reminds you why Morrison has always been considered one of popular music's great spiritual seekers.

Nearly three decades after its release, "The Healing Game" stands as one of Morrison's most enduring achievements. While it may lack the revolutionary impact of "Astral Weeks" or the commercial appeal of "Moondance," it represents something equally valuable: the sound of a master artist rediscovering his purpose and power. The album's influence can be heard in everyone from Radiohead to Fleet Foxes, artists who've learned from Morrison's example that spirituality and rock music need not be mutually exclusive.

In an era when authenticity in popular music feels increasingly rare, "The Healing Game" serves as a reminder of what's possible when an artist commits fully to their vision, regardless of commercial considerations. It's Van Morrison at his most Van Morrison-ish – difficult, beautiful, maddening, and ultimately transcendent. The healing game, indeed.