The yang to Astral Weeks' yin, the brilliant Moondance is every bit as much a classic as its predecessor; Van Morrison's first commercially successful solo effort, it retains the previous album's deeply spiritual thrust but transcends its bleak, cathartic intensity to instead explore themes of renewal and redemption. Light, soulful, and jazzy, Moondance opens with the sweetly nostalgic "And It Stoned Me," the song's pastoral imagery establishing the dominant lyrical motif recurring throughout the album -- virtually every track exults in natural wonder, whether it's the nocturnal magic celebrated by the title cut or the unlimited promise offered in "Brand New Day." At the heart of the record is "Caravan," an incantatory ode to the power of radio; equally stirring is the majestic "Into the Mystic," a song of such elemental beauty and grace as to stand as arguably the quintessential Morrison moment.
"The chord, the simplest building block for even the tritest, silliest chart song, is a beautiful, perfect, mysterious thing, and when an ill-read, uneducated, uncultured, emotionally illiterate boor puts a couple of them together, he has every chance of creating something wonderful and powerful."--Nick Hornby, Songbook
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Crazy LoveA MIXTURE OF SNOW...SLEET...AND FREEZING RAIN WILL INCREASE IN INTENSITY AS THE MORNING PROGRESSES. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL QUITE HAZARDOUS THIS MORNING. WARMER AIR WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND LIKELY CHANGE THE MIXTURE OF PRECIPITATION OVER TO ALL RAIN. HOWEVER...COLDER AIR WILL RUSH INTO THE AREA THIS EVENING AS LOW PRESSURE PASSES TO THE NORTHEAST. THIS MAY ALLOW FOR ...
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Get up, go dig out Van Morrison's _Moondance_ from that dusty corner whence it sits gathering dust, kick aside the furniture, open a nice bottle of red, grab your significant other, hold her/him tight, let the music envelop you, and dance...That is all...
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OK, so if the first track is good, generally you're going to keep listening. And a strong track two can't disappoint. It has to expand on the mood of the first track while solidifying the theme of the entire album. It has to make you want to _keep_ listening to said album. It needs to make you wonder what could come next to continue the strong beginnings and thematic scheme presented by th...
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My apologies for not getting a Cover Wars up last week. I was fighting off what I affectionately refer to as the "Tour Flu" after logging a four-day-weekend full of live music from the likes of Trey Anastasio and Umphrey's McGee. The extra time provided an opportunity for Widespread Panic and The Punch Brothers to duke it out for the title of best cover of Ophelia . Chris Thile and the Punch Br...
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Crazy LoveA MIXTURE OF SNOW...SLEET...AND FREEZING RAIN WILL INCREASE IN INTENSITY AS THE MORNING PROGRESSES. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL QUITE HAZARDOUS THIS MORNING. WARMER AIR WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND LIKELY CHANGE THE MIXTURE OF PRECIPITATION OVER TO ALL RAIN. HOWEVER...COLDER AIR WILL RUSH INTO THE AREA THIS EVENING AS LOW PRESSURE PASSES TO THE NORTHEAST. THIS MAY ALLOW FOR ...
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it's actually slim pickens in my October Songs Playlist this year because I've posted most of them already, and the only newish one I have is October Song by Amy Winehouse, and I do truly love Amy Winehouse's art but that one's actually a bit annoying. Well, I'll give it another listen soon, maybe I was just in a mood the first time. So it's the elegant and timeless Into the MysticFor tonight...
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This VM tune is the song that made me appreciate his style....the jazz is oh so sweet.....a tapper indeed.
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This fella needs no introduction.....I simply love this song, no need for explaination....
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I am certain that this song has been posted on Mog a few times, but it is a great Sunday Song for me; it may be for others as well. Van Morrison is the one band whose style personally seems similar to The Band, posted several times recently over the last few days....Anyone else get this sense? Maybe it's the harmonics that Deadman referenced in his post of an early The Band recording that cau...
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There was a time when a certain few Van Morrison songs, mostly from this album, would just break me, as I languished in my attic hovel pining for my lost love. Well, actually, I got up every day and went to work in a bank - but I was pining, baby! (Just because my practical side wanted food and shelter didn't mean I didn't feel it - thus do so many walk about in silent desperation). Brand Ne...
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Let's lighten the mood up....can't understand a word but he looks like he's having fun
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"The chord, the simplest building block for even the tritest, silliest chart song, is a beautiful, perfect, mysterious thing, and when an ill-read, uneducated, uncultured, emotionally illiterate boor puts a couple of them together, he has every chance of creating something wonderful and powerful."--Nick Hornby, Songbook
More >
Get up, go dig out Van Morrison's _Moondance_ from that dusty corner whence it sits gathering dust, kick aside the furniture, open a nice bottle of red, grab your significant other, hold her/him tight, let the music envelop you, and dance...That is all...
More >
Musicians, the great ones at least, tend to garner a certain aura about their music, a je ne sais quoi (Pardon me), that oozes from their work and follows us into our everyday lives. For example, when you listen to the Stones, more often than not, you want to get your rocks off. You want to do something chauvinistic, or sleazy, or a combination of the two. When you listen to the Gypsy Kings, yo...
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 And It Stoned Me |
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| 2 Moondance |
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| 3 Crazy Love |
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| 4 Caravan |
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| 5 Into the Mystic |
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| 6 Come Running |
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| 7 These Dreams of You |
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| 8 Brand New Day |
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| 9 Everyone |
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| 10 Glad Tidings |
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© 2006-2009 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved
 "Moondance")
