Van Morrison's Greatest Song

Wavelengt5h.

 

Madame George, but my ear does hear Madam Joy, but that's another controversy...

 

This is the problem with the casual listener who assumes Moondance is his best work; chances are they are missing out on what really makes Van the Man.

His finest work is nothing like Moondance, and once you've heard the rest, Moondance almost sounds like a cover song he whipped together in an hour.

 

Moondance here.

 

That’s a good call. The whole of side one of Veeden is perfect. Combine side one of Veeden with side two of Into the Music and you have the greatest album ever imo.

 

Next post:

I think that is what you call bathos!!

 

Angelou.

 

Too many to name just one so list my top 6 in no certain order

Gloria

Cypress Avenue

Caledonia Soul Music (from the TMOQ boot Van The Man)

Into The Mystic

T B Sheets

Saint Dominic's Preveiw

 

The difficulty with "greatest song" is that, in the case of an artist as diverse as Van Morrison, it can't be representative.

Maybe it's Gloria. Maybe Madame George. Maybe Moondance. Maybe something else. But no one song will do.

Tim

 

I've recently whittled my essential Van playlist down to 187 songs. So this was a piece of cake

I will go with 'Oh The Warm Feeling' because it makes me feel how I feel when I am beside the ones I love.



In reality this is an impossible task when faced with the work of a master. Picking a 'greatest' is not possible. Picking a favourite is hardly easier.

 

Incredible that anyone is capable of this. Oh to have been there!

 

Never ever tire of this song. My wife to be on the other hand ...

 

I loved Van Morrison's work with "Them" as far back as the mid-1980s as a student so for me it would have to be one of those songs that I think best. "I can only give you everything" was my favourite track but not written by the band. As people have said it would probably have to be the marvelous "Gloria" from the era.

Sadly I probably missed out on enjoying the rest of his catalog. Everyone used to recommend "Astral Weeks" as his best album, whereas if I'd bought "Moondance" (which I tried for the first time last year and enjoyed a lot) instead it's highly likely I would have listened to him a lot more. Now it's all a bit late.

I don't think "Astral Weeks" should be even considered as a recommendation as someone's first album by him, I found it just mystifying and not very good, I'm pretty sure you have to listen to some of his more accessible albums before going on to the hard stuff. They also used to recommend "Trout Mask Replica" in the 1980s if you wanted to try Captain Beefheart. Those music journalists will have their little jokes every now and again. I think I listened to both once or twice and consigned them to the "not for me" pile. In the case of Van the Man it was probably a bit of a shame.

 

Did exactly the same. As a boy I bought the best of and AW at the same time. It wasn’t until much later that I found a way into Van through Veedon Fleece. It is never too late!

Have you ever gone beyond Moondance?

 

No I didn't but it is something maybe to try. I seem to have spent a lot of time listening to the Velvet Underground recently. But I'm probably nearing the end of that phase for a while.

Amazon Prime has Van's most popular albums available for streaming for free including all the albums we mentioned. Not much excuse really.

 

You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push the River

 

St. Dominic’s Preview

 

Greatest title.

 

Saint Dominic's Preview

A top-ten all-time song for me. I once experienced an epiphany listening to this song while driving across San Francisco Bay after hiking Mt. Tamalpais on Independence Day. This song is a sermon in my own personal religion.

 

'Easy' entry albums for me would be: Moondance, Beautiful Vision, The Healing Game. Three from across the decades.

Happy hunting

 

Listen To The Lion
Ring Worm

 

So many great songs to choose from;
Gloria
Here Comes the Night
Moondance
Someone Like You
Have I Told You Lately
I'm Not Feeling It Anymore
Tupelo Honey
Domino
Brown Eyed Girl
Why Must I Always Explain
Jackie Wilson Said
And It Stoned Me

 

Greatest? I don't know. "Cleaning Windows" is my personal favorite.

 

Love into the mystic

And it stoned me

And side two of into the music

 

Here's a Spotify playlist featuring all the songs mentioned on this thread so far (excluding bootlegs):

Van Morrison’s Greatest Songs