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Van Morrison — Into The Mystic
Album: Moondance
Avg rating:
8.5

Your rating:
Total ratings: 4789









Released: 1970
Length: 3:28
Plays (last 30 days): 3
We were born before the wind
Also younger than the sun
Ere the bonnie boat was won
As we sailed into the mystic

Hark, now hear the sailors cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly
Into the mystic

And when that fog horn blows, I will be coming home
And when the fog horn blows, I want to hear it
I don't have to fear it

And I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
And magnificently we will fold
Into the mystic

When that fog horn blows, you know I will be coming home
And when that fog horn whistle blows, I gotta hear it
I don't have to fear it

And I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
And together we will fold
Into the mystic
Come on, girl

Too late to stop now
Comments (596)add comment
bleat it!
 apd wrote:

The sax version of this, by Richard Underhill, at Jack Layton funeral, was just lovely: 
https://youtu.be/FHgU1p3f_QI 



Not sure what this says about me, but I have a list of songs to play at my funeral.  This is one of them.  And maybe it says something about my family that my sister and brother both want it played at their funerals.  (We're all healthy enough, BTW, )
I don't think much of Van as a person.  He seems like an antisemitic a-hole hothead Covid denier.

Still, this song is an easy 10.
Soothing, comforting, restorative.  That bass line has healing powers.
This hurts every time I hear this now. Our late singer (and friend for 50 years) used to do a great version of this. Always got requests for this.
The Fins - Into The Mystic
That he felt like this in '70, at age 25, was incredibly cool. That he wrote and played and sang Music that illustrated this at the time was a frickin' Miracle! Wow
I was just sailing at sunset in the Caribbean a few weeks ago and this is one of the songs that came on! Takes me back every time. So good!
not again!! stop with the van!
Unmatched ✌️
I remember how fantastic this sounded over my Bose 901 Speakers at high volume or low volume. 
Classic
Solid, very fundamental bass line just carries this song.  Relentless and perfect just like the tide lifts all ships.
OMG Awesome, I'm not a Van Morrison fan and I LOVE THIS, first time hearing.
His good stuff!
too much can Morrison on the mellow mix, folks. I can no longer stand his whiney style.
 westslope wrote:

Terrific story.

Have to ask:  which fishery?


I love it: a guy named westslope is asking about BC fisheries. I can see the trout-filled waters of Kootenay lake out my window as I type and listen to Van the Man.
What a song. Nearly every comment is about its evoking of some powerful emotional memory of an important event. Same with brown eyed girl and others. And you don’t get sick of them. The superpower of Van the Man…
Nope. Don't need another glass of wine. Mellow achieved. 
 Cueburned wrote:

Every once in a while my son comes home to visit.  He's mid 20's graduated from uni and now works in the fishery off of British Columbia.  We usually spend a couple of nights when he's home sipping suds and pawing through my old record collection.  Loved the look on his face the first time he heard this track.


Terrific story.

Have to ask:  which fishery?
Some 15 years later, this song and the memory of slow dancing to it with her in the living room...the connection...well, it doesn't destroy me any longer...but it still makes my hands numb and hard to breath...

Memories...this song is all memories...and perfect...thanks for the gifts Van...
my favorite tune of his.
Our wedding song. I've probably heard this song 5,000 times. Goosebumps every time.
I tore down a weird looking wall in my basement and it turned out Van Morrison was living in there.

I left him be.
Every time. No matter what I happen to be doing. I hear the intro, I have to stop. Close my eyes and just go to that other place. This is perfection in every respect. That little horn section gets me every listen. The lyrics, the melody, the instrumentation. The only downside is that it ends.
Love this song! In '04 I was  fortunate to see 3 of the 5 shows The Dead played at Red Rocks. Warren Haynes was touring with them. It was a beautiful Saturday evening and they just played El Paso... the crowd settled down and I could see Warren getting his guitars sound right and in the first few notes he played... I was screaming like a giddy girl... hoping it wasn't a tease. One of my most beautiful memories at a show. For ever Grateful... what an awesome song Van the Man!
If you have ever wondered where the fog horn sound comes from here's the answer:

As Morrison sings “And when that fog horn blows”, the lyrics and music come together in a magical symbiosis. As the boat sales out into the water, we hear a cello playing a low vibrato note, sounding just like what a fog horn must sound like an a cloudy, misty morning from hundreds of yards away. It is an almost breathtaking moment.

Source: https://glickmanonline.com/201...
This man, Van Morrison with his early LPs, saved me spirit when all my spirits were at an all time low. Little did I know that 40 years later I'd find myself once again with lifted spirits living like a king in Morrison's Belfast!
I still maintain this is one of the greatest songs ever recorded. Simply magical.
I remember playing this LP through my brand new Bose 901 speakers and singing along at the top of my lungs. I hope no one heard me! LOL
I still remember exactly where I was and with whom when I first heard this album. Back in my formative years somewhere around 1976. Still love it!
Dude had a genius for finding the very best session musicians.
 newbolddrive wrote:
Van Morrison is my favourite artist to play on a Sunday morning. 
 
I love your comment.  I have playlist titled "Sunday morning" full of Van Morrison.

Van Morrison is my favourite artist to play on a Sunday morning. 
That goes to lvl 11
 Dragonfly_Launch wrote:
Whoever gave this a 1 deserves some intricate tortures with cigarettes and honeybees.
 
Those that gave this a 1 obviously need love and understanding and kindness - not torture.
One of the few VM songs I like to listen to.
One of the most beautiful songs ever written, surely. And so perfectly executed.
Whenever RP plays this I have to stop whatever I'm doing and bask in the brilliance of this tune.
A perfect 10 for me.
 2Hawks wrote:
I know this has been played for years, but the Zac Brown Band version is far more emotional. Take a listen.
 
Not for my money, it isn’t. Too country-pop flash. Misses the whole point of the song. 
The great failing of this song is that it’s too short! Why does it have to end?
few things better than this album!
Janitor: Do you like vanning?
Molly: I don't know what that is.
Janitor: It's kind of my thing. It's like taking a long drive in a car, only uh... it's in a van.
 BCarn wrote:
Nice song but I'm perplexed how so many think it's spectacular. Hmmmm.
 

Give this song couple more decades and you may change your mind
Over the years this song is growing  on me
I know this has been played for years, but the Zac Brown Band version is far more emotional. Take a listen.
Every once in a while my son comes home to visit.  He's mid 20's graduated from uni and now works in the fishery off of British Columbia.  We usually spend a couple of nights when he's home sipping suds and pawing through my old record collection.  Loved the look on his face the first time he heard this track.
 amitoro wrote:
I love his all songs! Wspanialy artysta i jego piosenki. Mam jego wszystkie albumy.
 
Polski, is it not?  :-)) 

Nice song but I'm perplexed how so many think it's spectacular. Hmmmm.
Doesn't get any better and NEVER gets old!  Thank you Van!
 DavidS_UK wrote:
Another tedious whingeing offering from VM, pah!

Of course my rating of 1 is nothing to do with my past, in the late 70s (!), me a rain-drenched despatch rider delivering a big cheque to the aforementioned singer in his mansion in deepest darkest Oxfordshire, asking to use the phone to report completion of the job (standard thing done in those pre-mobile days) only to be told to "go and find a ***ing callbox!". So I have never liked the peasant since.
 
Interesting anecdote.  Was VM in "his cups" during that period? 

Demon alcohol turns otherwise nice people into not so nice people.    Fame will also make many rather prickly.
I love his all songs! Wspanialy artysta i jego piosenki. Mam jego wszystkie albumy.
what memory's those 70's classic's bring back, and all that was happening.  thanks.  read about in your history books kids.  I visit Vietnam with the Good Samaritan medical missions team every year and can't help but wonder 'why the hell were we ever there doing harm.'  
Spectacular song...
really is a special master
 Dragonfly_Launch wrote:
May the spinning galaxy bless you every time you play this. 

 
Yes. Yes indeed. {#Kiss} {#Hug} {#Notworthy} {#Meditate}
 On_The_Beach wrote:

 

We'd prefer not to see your blue balls, man
Cool guy VanMo
I LIKE
As a teen I lived on Mystic Street.  
 DavidS_UK wrote:
Another tedious whingeing offering from VM, pah!

Of course my rating of 1 is nothing to do with my past, in the late 70s (!), me a rain-drenched despatch rider delivering a big cheque to the aforementioned singer in his mansion in deepest darkest Oxfordshire, asking to use the phone to report completion of the job (standard thing done in those pre-mobile days) only to be told to "go and find a ***ing callbox!". So I have never liked the peasant since.

He used to live close to me here...  and sadly, experiences that that are all too common.

Greta artist...  but he's a shit nonetheless.
 

Ahhhhh....I'm imagining myself floating down a shady slow moving river on a summer day. How lovely is this song!
This song is balm for my ear and my soul.
I don't rate a lot of songs 10

I recently joined the vinyl resurgence, which offered my 41 y/o self a chance to buy a brand new TT and records.  My 1st new vinyl purchase (ever actually; always had a collection from my parents and used record shops) was DSOTM, for which I had to show ID b/c of the bad words - HAHA!

I also purchased Moondance (used, in great shape) because there's something special about this ENTIRE album.  And hearing it closer to how it sounded in 1970 is way cool, even if my speakers would have cost as much then as they did in 2018. 

Glorious!
I really like this guy and his band as well. He has some good stuff and some great stuff. Mostly great.
Must say - beautiful transition, Bill.
One of his best songs from a very good album.

However, please consider playing songs from St. Dominic, Veedon Fleece, and Hard Nose the Highway. These are mighty fine albums from his best time frame for making music.   
         
I could have sworn I already made a sarcastic comment about "liking the part where he bleats like a goat" but I guess that must have been on literally any other Van Morrison song... {#Cheesygrin}

It's remarkable how enjoyable this song is despite (or is it because of?) his vocal style.

This was the second song to which I gave a rating of "ten".  (I've been here since 2005, or thereabouts). 

Today, on the "RP Classics" list, "Into the Mystic" was ranked ...

44. Van Morrison - Into The Mystic  (9.119)

 

Of the 2,693 songs I've rated, I've given the pinnacle rating to only thirty others. 

Moments ago, I reviewed those thirty to see if I might find amongst them one unworthy.  There was one which seemed so.  

So, I went over to You Tube and gave it another listen.  My instinct was confirmed.  Patsy Cline is right where she belongs - among Queen, Beethoven, and  Pink Floyd. et al. (but, amazingly, only a little higher than Puddles Pity Party's "Pinball Prison"). 

There's no accounting for taste, and there's no place like "Paradise".

Good health to Bill and Rebecca, and to you, my dear reader and comrade in music, in the New Year, and for many years to come. 


May the spinning galaxy bless you every time you play this. 
I'm so tempted to rate this song!
9 > 10
Heck, the entire album is a 10.


 djblitz wrote:

Congrats on posting one of the most pretentious ramblings in the history of RP. 

Had nothing to do with your past, eh?  Or EVERYTHING to do with it?  I can't understand your jibber-jabber. 

 
It should be pretty clear that DavidS_UK's disdain for Van Morrison having "nothing to do with his past" was meant as a tongue-in-cheek, sarcastic remark; I guess you really couldn't understand his jibber-jabber. 
 DavidS_UK wrote:
Another tedious whingeing offering from VM, pah!

Of course my rating of 1 is nothing to do with my past, in the late 70s (!), me a rain-drenched despatch rider delivering a big cheque to the aforementioned singer in his mansion in deepest darkest Oxfordshire, asking to use the phone to report completion of the job (standard thing done in those pre-mobile days) only to be told to "go and find a ***ing callbox!". So I have never liked the peasant since.

 
Congrats on posting one of the most pretentious ramblings in the history of RP. 

Had nothing to do with your past, eh?  Or EVERYTHING to do with it?  I can't understand your jibber-jabber. 


Forever linked to my wedding and the last song we danced too because I heard it on Radio Paradise years ago for the first time and fell in love with the song.  Thank you Bill, you are truly loved. 

 


I know a woman who was on his security detail for years as he toured. He is a grade-A dingus from what she says. OK, but godamn can this man write and perform a song. So, I don't ever need to meet him, I'm just glad he makes all those records!
Truly one of the best recordings ever made, I think. The peaks hit and sustained on this track continue to radiate their artistic splendor!
 ronjohn wrote:

Funny, I am the opposite. It used to  annoy me, but now I love it. Go figure.

 
And we seem to like a lot of the same music, so yeah.
Another tedious whingeing offering from VM, pah!

Of course my rating of 1 is nothing to do with my past, in the late 70s (!), me a rain-drenched despatch rider delivering a big cheque to the aforementioned singer in his mansion in deepest darkest Oxfordshire, asking to use the phone to report completion of the job (standard thing done in those pre-mobile days) only to be told to "go and find a ***ing callbox!". So I have never liked the peasant since.
I SOOOOOOOO needed this for my soul today. Thank you, Bill & Rebecca!!! 

{#Good-vibes}
my 17 yr old son is now having creative bursts in his basement room, painting scenic oceanic murals while listening to his music, a break from the intense school work he has been doing...and it is such a reward to see his creations and know he is responding to feelings, his need to respond and DO SOMETHING MAN!!! it's great  : )    soon he'll be falling for that special young thing and respond in his way, I tell him about Van's music, this song in particular without trying to force feed him my own brand of fabulous romantic sound, maybe he'll hear it, who knows, right?  : )   LOVE   go figure 
Divine sounds..... heard this live in Belfast a couple of years back - travelled half way round the world for the experience - was sooo worth it!!
9 > 10
My favorite Van tune!
Posted: Jun 09, 2012 - 15:39
 

once again my gypsy soul's been rocked

and again   : )
incredible song
 MayBaby wrote:

Yep. Loved the song for a long, long time but now? AAAAaaaaaaaaa hate it these days.

 
Funny, I am the opposite. It used to  annoy me, but now I love it. Go figure.
 Derecho wrote:
BLAAAAH-to the mystic
That's what I hear anyway.

 
Yep. Loved the song for a long, long time but now? AAAAaaaaaaaaa hate it these days.
One of my top 10 songs ever, and an easy 10.  Please don't make me work out specifically what the other 9 songs are! pxd
 fredriley wrote:

Make that 39, of which this lost little soul is one. Some artists get on your tits, and Morrison is one such. There's no rational reason - his voice grates on these lugholes, is all. No doubt that he's a brilliant artist with zillions of fans, but like Bob Dylan, his voice is like cheesewire in my brain. There is no objective measurement of "musical brilliance" - one listener's Godlike is another's Sucko-barfo, and long may that remain so.

He is a miserable bar steward on stage, I'm reliably told, barely acknowledging the audience (who've paid big bucks to attend) and never doing encores, but the faithful know that they're going to get that treatment and seem to actively appreciate it, much as some folk enjoy going to restaurants where the waiters are surly and insulting.

 
Fred, you obviously haven't heard me sing. I'm pretty sure I'd make Van sound like a Viennese choir boy.
Van's best.
I can see the Moon dancing.
 kingart wrote:
SWEEEEET. So...soulful. Who hears Otis Redding?
 
Me. In the saxes. Now that you say it.
{#Good-vibes}
As Giulgud reportedly said of Olivier: A very fine actor, but ohh, all that shouting.
Love the music, but like Coldplay, the voice ruins it.
BLAAAAH-to the mystic
That's what I hear anyway.
 fredriley wrote:

Make that 39, of which this lost little soul is one. Some artists get on your tits, and Morrison is one such. There's no rational reason - his voice grates on these lugholes, is all. No doubt that he's a brilliant artist with zillions of fans, but like Bob Dylan, his voice is like cheesewire in my brain. There is no objective measurement of "musical brilliance" - one listener's Godlike is another's Sucko-barfo, and long may that remain so.

He is a miserable bar steward on stage, I'm reliably told, barely acknowledging the audience (who've paid big bucks to attend) and never doing encores, but the faithful know that they're going to get that treatment and seem to actively appreciate it, much as some folk enjoy going to restaurants where the waiters are surly and insulting.

 
You don't sound like a lost soul.
Nice!
 calypsus_1 wrote:
 

 
MEDIC!!!
. . . Cancel that, he's just sleeping.

Van Morrison and daughter Shana Morrison by Art Siegel.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/artolog/

Van and Shana Morrison.

Last night at the Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco." ..one more time again....I want to go there one more time again...Be still in haunts of ancient peace."

Van Morrison, piano, vocals, Shana Morrison, vocals, Alistair White, euphonium.This photo was taken on November 22, 2013 using na Canon EOS REBEL T3i.

Copyright All rights reserved

 


My all-time favorite Van the Man song.{#Roflol}
Just tuned in 3 songs ago... you're killing me with kindness! great set. Thanks Bill
 kingart wrote:
SWEEEEET. So...soulful. Who hears Otis Redding? 

 
He wishes he could sing as well or as soulfully as Otis Redding did.
 gjr wrote:
this is one of the few truly "perfect" songs


those 35 sad, lost little souls that gave this a 1.  i just don't understand - is it hatred or just blissful ignorance of musical brilliance?

 
Make that 39, of which this lost little soul is one. Some artists get on your tits, and Morrison is one such. There's no rational reason - his voice grates on these lugholes, is all. No doubt that he's a brilliant artist with zillions of fans, but like Bob Dylan, his voice is like cheesewire in my brain. There is no objective measurement of "musical brilliance" - one listener's Godlike is another's Sucko-barfo, and long may that remain so.

He is a miserable bar steward on stage, I'm reliably told, barely acknowledging the audience (who've paid big bucks to attend) and never doing encores, but the faithful know that they're going to get that treatment and seem to actively appreciate it, much as some folk enjoy going to restaurants where the waiters are surly and insulting.
Dislike VM generally but this is a classic. Baseline like Elvis' version of Gentle on my Mind. Just need to find a cover with someone else singing it ;)
{#Roflol}love love love Van
 stunix wrote:
this, BEG and Moondance we can keep, the rest of his bad hyped shite can go /dev/null

rated 1 because I worked for him and hate him.

  
Do you imagine you would get along well with every other artist putting out music you like?  I've read the stories about him too, but this is a "10" all day!
Ah, saw Van live in Belfast last year, he did an Into the Mystic~Vanlose Stairway combo which was stunningly and masterfully unforgettable
 stunix wrote:
this, BEG and Moondance we can keep, the rest of his bad hyped shite can go /dev/null

rated 1 because I worked for him and hate him.

 
it takes so much energy to hate......such a waste of your energy........too bad for you.
this, BEG and Moondance we can keep, the rest of his bad hyped shite can go /dev/null

rated 1 because I worked for him and hate him.
this always takes me to special place in my mind - no worries.. {#Music}
This is it.  This is the song.  The song that makes one feel alive.
{#Cool} gjr wrote:
this is one of the few truly "perfect" songs


those 35 sad, lost little souls that gave this a 1.  i just don't understand - is it hatred or just blissful ignorance of musical brilliance?

 
Totally agree, Ireland still has some great things to be proud of. thanks Van the Man.
God love the Irish.

Van the Man, U2, and the "English of Irish descent like Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney and John Lennon 
 bluelunatique wrote:
When they say "classic" they're talking about stuff like this! This is the good stuff, gang!
 
Ask a 13 year old Snoop Dog and Rihanna fan...
Camper Van Morrison
 kingart wrote:
Dancing with what's her name at 3 a.m. on Beacon Street on a freezing winter post-party a.m. 
But apparently, I can't remember that well….

 
Hey , I used to go out with her .
Small world . 
{#Heartkiss}{#Heartkiss}{#Heartkiss} Mr Morrison at his very best