 The song suggests that the senior Morrison returned from Detroit, Michigan, in his son's early childhood, and led a life of "quiet desperation", having failed to find a permanent job and move his family to America.He brought back with him a record collection that would be of the greatest influence on his young son's development as a blues, R&B, and soul singer.But according to the lyrics of the song his father had become dispirited and spent years of his life just riding his bike to work at the Harland and Wolff shipyard, returning home to sit in front of the television set.