October 1- Song of the Day- We were born before the wind...

[UnforgettableLemon]

I've been listening to Van Morrison for years, at least all the big singles. But it wasn't until recently that I started looking into his albums, and discovered some of the most coherent and beautiful works in rock and roll. "Into the Mystic," from Moondance, is in my opinion a perfect song. The melody is light and breezy, the lyric ambiguous but charged with electricity and haunting images, and it has a knockout arrangement. It is also one of the most misunderstood lyrics in Van Morrison's career. It was originally just a love song about a sailor leaving home, "Into the Misty," but transformed when he was more or less convinced that mystic sounded better. (which it does). Coupled with the natural imagery and romanticism that pervades moondance, it earned him countless comments about his "mysticism" (before he started making outright and very unambiguous Christian songs). Regardless of your interpretation of the song, or what Van Morrison himself meant by the lyric, it is a pensive and gorgeous work that stands up better than some of his more commonly acknowledged hits.

"Into the Mystic"

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 that fog horn blows I want to hear it
I don’t have to fear it
I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
Then magnificently we will float into the mystic
And when that fog horn blows you know I will be coming home
And when thst fog horn whistle blows I got to hear it
I don’t have to fear it
I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
And together we will float into the mystic
Come on girl...

 

[bsp77]

I just want to say that it is an absolutely beautiful song. Moondance is just a great album overall which also includes the fantastic "And It Stobed Me".

Thanks for the background info!

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

I just want to say that it is an absolutely beautiful song. Moondance is just a great album overall which also includes the fantastic "And It Stobed Me".

Thanks for the background info!

And it Stoned Me is brilliant.
As are Caravan, Moondance, Crazy Love, I'll Come Runnin'...

 

[bsp77]

Love those songs too. I just noticed I can't spell "stoned". Maybe I am stoned right now?

 

[The John Tree]

My favorite Van Morrison song has to be "Glad Tidings". It's just so...happy.

It's got the vibe that everything will be alright.

 

[bonosloveslave]

This is my fave VM song

 

[caragriff]

bono sang a snippet of this during the sweetest thing on the last tour.
at least i have a bootleg from chicago, i believe and he includes the line "we were born before the wind."
into the mystic is my favorite van morrison song.
van the man played at the tribeca film festival concert that bono gave a speech at. i was lucky enough to be there and was hoping bono would sing with van--no luck there--bono was just there on political business
but van did play into the mystic--so it was a nice night all round

 

[fah]

One of my all time favourite songs

 

[Diemen]

Agree with everyone else - one of my favorite songs and definitely my favorite Van Morrison song.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Love this song.