It first appeared as the seventh track on Morrison's 1974 album Veedon Fleece, and was released as the B-side to the single "Bulbs".

[2] An alternate version was released in 2008, with slightly different lyrics:[3] "Cul de Sac" was recorded with a separate lineup of musicians than the rest of Veedon Fleece.

"Cul de Sac" along with "Bulbs" was recut at Mercury Studios in New York a few months after the main recording for the album took place.

It was made with musicians with whom Morrison had never worked before: guitarist John Tropea, bassist Joe Macho and drummer Allen Schwarzberg.

In his book Van Morrison: Inarticulate Speech of the Heart, John Collis writes: "Cul de sac, for example, begins with a close echo of the classic cheating song by Chips Moman and Dan Penn, 'The Dark End of the Street'.