Van Morrison, Billie Eilish, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Other Best Song Nominees Convene for Oscar Panel

variety.com:

Chris Willman Music WriterFamously mercurial rocker Van Morrison has not shown the same enthusiasm for Oscar campaigning that many of this year’s other Academy Awards nominees have.

He and the equally press-shy Beyonce have done little or no promotion for their respective nominations for best song, or for anything else that involves interviews.

So it’s something of an event that Morrison did take part in the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s annual panel of contenders for Oscars’ song prize, along with representatives from all the other films and songs.The video of the panel, which premieres today, does not include a lot of reaction shots, but there are some stifled laughs from the other nominees at one comment from the legendary Irish singer-songwriter.

Co-host Nile Rodgers asks about Morrison’s nominated song “Down to Joy,” from “Belfast,” and inquires: “Can you explain the meaning behind the lyrics?” Morrison, who rarely sits in the interviewee’s seat, answers, “Well, I’m not really very good at explaining meanings..” He recites a few of the song’s lyrics, like “She was standing there before me as I was coming down to joy,” and says “whatever way you want to interpret that,” before finally admitting, “It’s kind of meaningless babble, but it works, you know?” At that, Billie Eilish and Lin-Manuel Miranda are both seen stifling a laugh.