I Shall Sing (1970) Lyrics

I shall sing,
sing my song,
be it right,
be it wrong.
In the night,
in the day,
any how,
any way,
I shall sing.
La la la la la la la la la
na na na na na na na na na
na na na na na na na na na
na na na na na na na na na
Oh, oh,
na na na na na naaa na 
With my heart,
with my soul,
[from ?] the young
or the old,
when I'm high,
when I'm low,
when I'm fast,
when I'm slow,
I shall sing.
La la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la
na na na na na na na na na
na na na naaa 

I shall sing,
sing my song,
be it right,
be it wrong.
In the night,
in the day,
any how,
any way,
I shall sing.
La la la la la la la la la
na na na na na na na na na
La la la la la la la la la
na na na na na na na na na
Oh, oh,
un, oh, oh
I shall sing 

(Transcribed by ear, so corrections are welcome) 


This song, though never released by Van, has been covered by a few artists including Art Garfunkel (Angel Clare, The Van Morrison Songbook), Loyal Garner, Miriam Makeba (The Queen Of African Music, Miriam Makeba live), and Toots & the Maytals (Reggae Got Soul). It was aired on a December 31, 1985 KKCY-FM broadcast (The City, San Francisco CA). Hosted by Kate Hayes (the wife of frequent band member, bass player David Hayes) and Lorraine Meyer, she explains that the song was recorded during the sessions for Moondance. It has been booted on Bluesology, Eggs And Poetry, I Shall Sing, Live At The Orphanage, No Stone Unturned, The Philosopher's Alternate Stones, and Van Morrison Gets His Chance To Wail, Vol.1: Laughing In The Wind. Sheetmusic for this first appeared in a collection from Warner Bros. called Van Morrison, and it can currently be found in The (New) Best Of Van Morrison songbook.