Video hit Van Morrison

Van Morrison - Into The Mystic

This is about a sailor at sea thinking about returning to his lover, who is back on land. Normally a foghorn signals danger, but in this case it means he is close to home and his love.
There is room for interpretation beyond the superficial meaning.

It might be interpreted as expressing an understanding that life is finite (the ship sailing on its round trip) and must be lived to its fullest ("I want to rock your Gypsy soul"), and an acceptance of its inevitable end ("We will magnificently float into the mystic, when the foghorn blows I will be coming home"). When you have seen the world and loved someone, you should have no reason to fear the end because you have lived your life to the fullest.

The original title was "Into the Misty."

According to Morrison, he couldn't decide whether the first line should be "We were born before the wind" or "We were borne before the wind."

This was played in the 1989 Mary Stuart Masterson movie Immediate Family. She played a woman who was young and pregnant and planning to give her baby to Glenn Close and James Woods, who couldn't have a baby of their own.

According to a BBC survey, because of this song's cooling, soothing vibe, this is one of the most popular songs for surgeons to listen to whilst performing operations.

Jen Chapin, the daughter of Cat's In The Cradle singer-songwriter Harry Chapin, covered this on her 2008 CD Light of Mine.

"Into the Mystic" has featured in several movies beginning in 1971 with Sweets McGee and two movies in 1989: Dream a Little Dream and Immediate Family. It was one of the songs played in the 1998 movie, Patch Adams and again in the 1999 movie, Kate's Addiction.

It was played as Jim and Michelle's first dance as a married couple in the 2003 movie, American Wedding, along with a cover version of the song by The Wallflowers.

The song most recently can be heard on the soundtrack of the HBO television show "The Newsroom" in the 2013 Season 2 premiere.

The lyrics:

We were born before the wind

Also younger than the sun

Ere the bonnie boat was one 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 got 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 together we will fold into the mystic

Come on girl...