"Into the Mystic" was recorded during the Moondance sessions at A&R Recording Studios in New York City in September to November 1969. Elliott Scheiner was the engineer. The lyrics are about a spiritual quest, typical of Morrison's work. "Bass thrums like a boat in motion, and the song comes back to water as a means of magical transformation." "At the very end Van sings: too late to stop now, suggesting that the song also describes an act of love." Compared to "Yesterday" by The Beatles, it has been described as "another song where the music and the words seem to have been born together, at the same time, to make one perfectly formed, complete artistic element.“ Morrison remarked on the song and how its use of homophones lent it alternate meanings:
Reception
A Rolling Stone review by Greil Marcus and Lester Bangs described the song's importance on the album as: "'Into the Mystic' is the heart of Moondance; the music unfolds with a classic sense of timing, guitar strums fading into watery notes on a piano, the bass counting off the pace. The lines of the song and Morrison's delivery of them are gorgeous: 'I want to rock your gypsy soul/Just like in the days of old/And magnificently we will fold/Into the mystic.' The MoondanceAllmusic review described it as "a song of such elemental beauty and grace as to stand as arguably the quintessential Morrison moment." Ultimate Classic Rock rated "Into the Mystic" as Morrison's greatest song, stating that its "grace and style" turned it into "an instant classic."
Acclaim
"Into the Mystic" is No. 474 on the list of Rolling Stone magazine's 2010 feature, The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and was listed as No. 42 on The 885 Essential XPN Songs compiled in 2008 by WXPN from listener's votes. 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 while performing operations. Singer-songwriterElvis Costello has identified this song as one of his favourite songs on Moondance, one of his 500 essential albums.
Alternate mix
On the original 1970 pressings of the Moondance LP, "Into the Mystic" is presented in a mix done on December 10, 1969, featuring a prominent tambourine throughout the song. Later LP pressings, and all CD reissues of the album prior to 2008, contain an alternate mix of the song done on January 5, 1970, lacking the tambourine and with a more muted foghorn sound. The original tambourine mix of the song made its CD debut in a 2008 Japanese Moondance remaster, and was also restored for a vinyl reissue of the album on Rhino Records later that year. The 2013 remaster of the Moondance album also features the tambourine mix.
Other releases
A live version was included on the 1974 double live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, with the same live version included on the 2007 compilation album, Van Morrison at the Movies - Soundtrack Hits. An instrumental version of the song is played in a medley with "Inarticulate Speech of the Heart" on the 1984 live album Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast. The original version is one of the songs included in the 2007 compilation album, Still on Top - The Greatest Hits.
In the media
"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 can also be heard on the soundtrack of the HBO television showThe Newsroom in the 2013 Season 2 premiere.
