Song Lyric Sunday

Welcome to another Song Lyric Sunday. This week Jim Adams, our host, has asked us to choose a song that makes us think about life. I didn’t think too hard about this and went straight to my favorite musician, Van Morrison. His songs are always full of meaning and tell a story. I went straight for The Philosopher’s Stone. A beautiful, moody song with Van The Man at his finest.

The Song

Interestingly this song did not appear on the album of the same name, The Philosopher’s Stone in 1998. It was feautured on the album Back on Top which was released a year later.

There is not a lot of background information regarding the writing of this song so you are left to your own interpretation of the lyrics. To me it tells the story of a musician on the road going from concert to concert, the weariness of the lifestyle, and trying to make money. Turning lead into gold as he wrote in the lyrics. Van is a pretty deep guy and he was certainly thinking about life when he penned this song. Read on and you’ll see what mean.

What is The Philosopher’s Stone?

The philosopher’s stone was the central symbol of the mystical terminology of alchemy, symbolizing perfection at its finest, divine illumination, and heavenly bliss. Efforts to discover the philosopher’s stone were known as the Magnum Opus (“Great Work”)

The philosopher’s stone, in Western alchemy, an unknown substance, also called “the tincture” or “the powder,” sought by alchemists for its supposed ability to transform base metals into precious ones, especially gold and silver. Alchemists also believed that an elixir of life could be derived from it. Inasmuch as alchemy was concerned with the perfection of the human soul, the philosopher’s stone was thought to cure illnesses, prolong life, and bring about spiritual revitalization.

The philosopher’s stone, variously described, was sometimes said to be a common substance, found everywhere but unrecognized and unappreciated. The quest for the stone encouraged alchemists from the Middle Ages to the end of the 17th century to examine in their laboratories numerous substances and their interactions. The quest thereby provided a body of knowledge that ultimately led to the sciences of chemistry, metallurgy, and pharmacology.

The process by which it was hoped common metals such as iron, lead, tin, and copper could be turned into the more valuable metals involved heating the base material in a characteristic pear-shaped glass crucible (called the vase of Hermes or the philosopher’s egg). Colour changes were carefully watched—black indicating the death of the old material preparatory to its revitalization; white, the colour required for change into silver; and red, the highest stage, the colour required for change into gold.

Courtesy of Britannica

The Lyrics

Out on the highways and the byways all alone
I'm still searching for, searching for my home
Up in the morning, up in the morning out on the road
And my head is aching and my hands are cold
And I'm looking for the silver lining, silver lining in the clouds
And I'm searching for
And I'm searching for the philosopher's stone


And it's a hard road, it's a hard road daddy-o
When my job is turning lead into gold
He was born in the back street, born in the back street jelly roll
I'm on the road again and I'm searching for
The philosopher's stone
Can you hear that engine?
Oh can you hear that engine drone?
Well I'm on the road again and I'm searching for
Searching for the philosopher's stone


Up in the morning, up in the morning
When the streets are white with snow
It's a hard road, it's a hard road daddy-o
Up in the morning, up in the morning
Out on the job
Well you've got me searching for
Searching for the philosopher's stone
Even my best friends, even my best friends they don't know
That my job is turning lead into gold
When you hear that engine, when you hear that engine drone
I'm on the road again and I'm searching for the philosopher's stone

Written by Van Morrison