# Have I Told You Lately
**Have I Told You Lately** is a love ballad written by the Northern Irish singer-songwriter [Van Morrison](https://www.edgepedia.org/van-morrison) and recorded for his 1989 album *Avalon Sunset* on Polydor. Morrison's original was a modest chart entry, but [Rod Stewart](https://www.edgepedia.org/rod-stewart)'s 1993 live unplugged cover turned the song into an international hit, and the two versions together made it one of the most widely recognized songs in Morrison's catalog.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Writer and original artist | Van Morrison, on *Avalon Sunset* (Polydor, 1989)[1](https://songchart.space/have-i-told-you-lately/) |
| UK chart, original | Peaked at number 74; first chart date 17 June 1989; five weeks on the chart[2](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/van-morrison-have-i-told-you-lately/) |
| First cover | Rod Stewart's studio version on *Vagabond Heart* (Warner Bros., 1991), produced by Stewart and Bernard Edwards[3](https://www.whosampled.com/cover/26939/Rod-Stewart-Have-I-Told-You-Lately-Van-Morrison-Have-I-Told-You-Lately/) |
| Hit version | Stewart's live unplugged recording, dated 5 February 1993, running 4:03[4](https://musicbrainz.org/work/9161061d-e6da-37d0-8093-4ee4ee984926) |
| Chart peak, cover | Number 5 in the UK, nine weeks on chart[5](https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/have-i-told-you-lately/); number 5 in the US, and number 1 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart for five consecutive weeks[6](https://www.stingproductions.co.uk/preview/SIR%20111lh.pdf) • [7](https://doyouremember.com/200559/rod-stewart-have-i-told-you-lately-performance) |
| Character of the song | Written as a love song that also reads as a prayer; Morrison has said so, and many listeners have understood it that way[1](https://songchart.space/have-i-told-you-lately/) |
## The original: Avalon Sunset
Morrison wrote and recorded "Have I Told You Lately" for *Avalon Sunset*, his 1989 album, which also produced the duet with [Cliff Richard](https://www.edgepedia.org/cliff-richard) "Whenever God Shines His Light" and the nostalgic "Coney Island". The album marked a return to broader accessibility after a run of austere, spiritually searching records in the 1980s, and the song became one of Morrison's signature numbers[8](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/van-morrison-best-albums). The album reached number 13 on the UK album chart[9](https://www.artistcamp.com/store/van-morrison/diamond-star-collection/4014548002408/promo_flyer.pdf).
The song's double meaning is central to how it is heard. Morrison has said, and many listeners have understood, that the song works as a prayer as well as a love song[1](https://songchart.space/have-i-told-you-lately/). One commentary on the album describes it as a track on which "earthly love transmutes into that for God"[9](https://www.artistcamp.com/store/van-morrison/diamond-star-collection/4014548002408/promo_flyer.pdf). As a single, however, the original was a minor hit: it entered the UK Official Singles Chart on 17 June 1989, peaked at number 74 on 1 July 1989, and spent five weeks on the chart[2](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/van-morrison-have-i-told-you-lately/). In the United States it peaked at number 12[7](https://doyouremember.com/200559/rod-stewart-have-i-told-you-lately-performance). A 1990 double A-side pairing it with "Coney Island" reached number 76 in the UK[5](https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/have-i-told-you-lately/).
## Rod Stewart's covers
Stewart encountered the song twice on record. His first version was a studio recording on *Vagabond Heart* (Warner Bros., 1991), co-produced by Stewart and [Bernard Edwards](https://www.edgepedia.org/bernard-edwards), with a polished adult-contemporary arrangement built around Edwards' bass, Bruce Miller's string arrangement, Jeff Golub's guitar, Chuck Kentis' keyboards, Paulinho da Costa's percussion, and Rave Calmer's drums[3](https://www.whosampled.com/cover/26939/Rod-Stewart-Have-I-Told-You-Lately-Van-Morrison-Have-I-Told-You-Lately/) • [10](https://songstube.net/32344-Rod-Stewart-Have-I-Told-You-Lately-video.html). The Los Angeles Times review of the album was unimpressed, writing that Stewart's take "turns the latent schmaltz of Morrison's version blatant"[11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-07-ca-132-story.html).
The hit came with the second version. Stewart recorded the song live for his [MTV Unplugged](https://www.edgepedia.org/mtv-unplugged) session; the live unplugged recording is dated 5 February 1993 in [MusicBrainz](https://www.edgepedia.org/musicbrainz) and runs 4:03[4](https://musicbrainz.org/work/9161061d-e6da-37d0-8093-4ee4ee984926). Released in 1993, it reached number 5 in the UK, where it charted for nine weeks from 26 June 1993[5](https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/have-i-told-you-lately/), and hit the number 5 spot in both the US and UK charts according to one account[6](https://www.stingproductions.co.uk/preview/SIR%20111lh.pdf). On the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart it sat at number 1 for five weeks in a row[7](https://doyouremember.com/200559/rod-stewart-have-i-told-you-lately-performance). The unplugged version appeared on Stewart's 1993 album *Unplugged... and Seated*[12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_1ZUh-ARHw).
The cover changed the song's audience. Stewart's version "helped make the song familiar to a whole new crowd in the 1990s"[1](https://songchart.space/have-i-told-you-lately/). Commentators differ on the result: one Van Morrison songbook survey calls Stewart's version the template for most later covers while objecting that it turns a prayer addressed to God into a charm offensive for a lover[13](https://halfhearteddude.com/2025/08/van-morrison-songbook/), while a German cover-versus-original poll has favored Morrison's version by roughly three to one (77 percent to 23 percent of votes cast)[14](https://www.cover-vs-original.de/song-75.html).
## Later versions and related recordings
The song has been covered repeatedly. Documented versions include Laura Fygi's easy-listening take (1995), the Belgian group Clouseau's Dutch-language recording "Heb Ik Ooit Gezegd" (1999), a gospel version by the Joybells Gospel Choir with Björn Skifs (2004), and Stewart's own re-recording with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (2019)[3](https://www.whosampled.com/cover/26939/Rod-Stewart-Have-I-Told-You-Lately-Van-Morrison-Have-I-Told-You-Lately/). Cantana's 2002 track "Naaalala Ka / Have I Told You Lately" samples Stewart's version[3](https://www.whosampled.com/cover/26939/Rod-Stewart-Have-I-Told-You-Lately-Van-Morrison-Have-I-Told-You-Lately/).
A separate lineage surrounds the longer title "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You". A Chieftains recording with Van Morrison entered the UK chart in March 1995, peaking at number 71[5](https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/have-i-told-you-lately/), and a [Jim Reeves](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-reeves) single under that title had reached UK number 12 in 1965, decades before Morrison's song[5](https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/have-i-told-you-lately/). The shared title phrase has caused lasting confusion between the older standard and Morrison's composition.
## Musical character
Stewart's unplugged version is analyzed in B♭ major at 143 BPM in 4/4 time, with a melody spanning B♭3 to F5 across 19 semitones and a I–IV–V harmonic core of B♭, E♭, and [F major](https://www.edgepedia.org/f-major) chords[15](https://api.hooktheory.com/theorytab/view/rod-stewart/have-i-told-you-lately). Commentators attribute part of the song's endurance to its structure, which favors a recurring, comforting chorus over complex bridges[16](https://banddatabase.com/the-evolution-and-enduring-legacy-of-rod-stewarts-interpretation-of-have-i-told-you-lately/).
Stewart has kept the song in his live repertoire for decades; a 2024 concert in [A Coruña](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-coruna), Spain, included it as a tribute to Morrison[17](https://cadenaser.com/galicia/2024/12/16/rod-stewart-agranda-su-leyenda-en-a-coruna-a-base-de-versiones-y-grandes-exitos-radio-coruna/), and Morrison himself continued to perform it, with a live version documented from a 2016 date in [Northern Ireland](https://www.edgepedia.org/northern-ireland)[4](https://musicbrainz.org/work/9161061d-e6da-37d0-8093-4ee4ee984926).
## References
1. [Have I Told You Lately – SongChart](https://songchart.space/have-i-told-you-lately/)
2. [HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY – Van Morrison, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/van-morrison-have-i-told-you-lately/)
3. [Rod Stewart cover of Van Morrison's 'Have I Told You Lately', WhoSampled](https://www.whosampled.com/cover/26939/Rod-Stewart-Have-I-Told-You-Lately-Van-Morrison-Have-I-Told-You-Lately/)
4. [Song "Have I Told You Lately", MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/work/9161061d-e6da-37d0-8093-4ee4ee984926)
5. [Search results for "have i told you lately", Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/have-i-told-you-lately/)
6. [SIR 111 Have I Told You Lately, Sting Productions](https://www.stingproductions.co.uk/preview/SIR%20111lh.pdf)
7. [Rod Stewart's "Have I Told You Lately" Is Still The Best There Will Ever Be, DoYouRemember?](https://doyouremember.com/200559/rod-stewart-have-i-told-you-lately-performance)
8. [Nine Van Morrison albums to listen to and one to avoid, Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/van-morrison-best-albums)
9. [Van Morrison Diamond Star Collection promo flyer, Artistcamp](https://www.artistcamp.com/store/van-morrison/diamond-star-collection/4014548002408/promo_flyer.pdf)
10. [Have I Told You Lately – Rod Stewart, Songstube](https://songstube.net/32344-Rod-Stewart-Have-I-Told-You-Lately-video.html)
11. [Stewart's 'Heart' Beats Without Conviction, Los Angeles Times, 7 April 1991](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-07-ca-132-story.html)
12. [Rod Stewart – Have I Told You Lately (Live Unplugged) [HD], YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_1ZUh-ARHw)
13. [Any Major Van Morrison Songbook, Any Major Dude With Half A Heart](https://halfhearteddude.com/2025/08/van-morrison-songbook/)
14. [Van Morrison vs. Rod Stewart: Have I Told You Lately, Cover vs. Original](https://www.cover-vs-original.de/song-75.html)
15. [Have I Told You Lately by Rod Stewart, Hooktheory TheoryTab](https://api.hooktheory.com/theorytab/view/rod-stewart/have-i-told-you-lately)
16. [The Evolution and Enduring Legacy of Rod Stewart's Interpretation of Have I Told You Lately, BandDatabase](https://banddatabase.com/the-evolution-and-enduring-legacy-of-rod-stewarts-interpretation-of-have-i-told-you-lately/)
17. [Rod Stewart agranda su leyenda en A Coruña, Cadena SER](https://cadenaser.com/galicia/2024/12/16/rod-stewart-agranda-su-leyenda-en-a-coruna-a-base-de-versiones-y-grandes-exitos-radio-coruna/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Pop, rock, and metal songs › Soft rock and adult contemporary songs › Classic soft rock ballads*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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