"And you know you gotta go"

From my entry on the wonderful One Week // One Band blog:

"And you know you gotta go," Morrison sings on "Madame George," articulating the allure and the pull of Belfast. "On that train from Dublin up to Sandy Row."

I also felt that pull. After countless trips to the Republic of Ireland, I finally visited Belfast in 2006. We didn't ride the train from Dublin, but instead, took a bus. As we approached the Great Victoria Street station from its backside, one of my traveling companions nudged me out of a hangover/jet lag-induced stupor. "Check that out," he said pointing. The bus was inching by the infamous mural at the corner of Sandy Row and Linfield Road.