Van Morrison: Into the Mystic Meaning
Into the Mystic Lyrics
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...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:Into The Mystic
(a Christian viewpoint)
We were born before the wind - (Adam and Eve were created or "born" before the wind, there was no wind or adverse weather in the perfect garden Paradise. The wind and weather was part of Earths curse upon his later fall from God’s grace)
Also younger than the sun - (God created the sun on the fourth day of creation, He created Adam and Eve on the sixth, making them 2 days younger than the sun)
Ere the bonnie boat was won as we sailed into the mystic - (According to the traditional Irish Skye Boat Song, the line "Carry the lad that is born to be king" could be referring to the Christ child, who was born to be king, thus the singer was “One with Christ” or ‘won with the bonnie boat' as they "sailed" or ventured into the unknown “mystical” future of life)
Hark, now hear the sailors cry, Smell the sea and feel the sky - (Upon the fall of man everything has changed, no longer is the earth watered from the morning dew, or is there the serenity of a gentle river. Now there are Seas and oceans that rage and roar and toss men about, they produce driving rain and hail that we seek shelter from.
Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic - (man’s troubles along with earths and creations imperfections are Not something to be overcome by self will and determination, but are designed to create a need, a longing and desire to seek and return, by letting go and surrendering your Soul and Spirit to the unseen God who created you.
And when that fog horn blows I will be coming home - (The Bible states: "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call (fog horn) of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever")
And when that fog horn blows I want to hear it - (When Christ returns for his own, when that shout or “foghorn” is heralded from the heavens, this singer wants to experience it as a personal invitation, for it will be the call to come home where all will be well.
I don't have to fear it - (no more pain or tears, but the restoration to perfection and reconciliation with God)
I want to rock your gypsy soul just like way back in the days of old (instead of the long hours of toiling over a cursed environment that kept the two apart, there is a longing to enjoy life as it was originally intended in the “days of old" back before the 'fall')
Then magnificently we will float into the mystic - ("float" those raging seas are gone, the gentile river of life is again present, and the perfectly wonderful life with Jesus our "bonnie boat" continues into whatsoever He has planned for us)
And 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
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... (otherwise affectionately known as his little “Rib-let”)
Dan - Detroit, Mi -
2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:Into the Mystic
Souls and spirits being mentioned in this song have far has less significance to be recognized than the other metaphysical concepts and spiritual mysticisms imbedded in its subconscious message. Unless, of course, the young Van Morrison studied the Platonic dialogues or Martin Heidegger or had experienced some how, Spiritual Realms of metaphysical Eastern philosophies growing up in Belfast, Ireland it is apparent these beautifully painted images, in their allegorical essence are just as I have previously claimed; They are that which Freud and Jung would identify as, messages of the subconscious mind. However, the message is wonderfully expressed as a voyage of the true-self, our inner-being.
With particular focus on the works of C.G. Jung with his psychological archetypes and his view of mans inner-self, in its true-nature is, intrinsically spiritual, one will find Morrison is clearly defining a beckoning, a calling for the souls journey or, what is known in Hindu thought, as the Jiva; The eloquent indication of a joyous return home, that begins with the beckoning fog horn, described as a deeply revered calling for ones unification with the divine presence of the universe.
My description of the invocation to such a return as one from the supernatural, particularly of our connectedness and oneness with the universe, is not a notion carelessly thrown into this interpretation without grounds. The song writer specifically chose to make it very clear in the beginning lines of the song that, “We were born before the wind, also younger than the sun”, a source, a collective cosmic-energy; we are a manifest of universe itself.
Science has avowed that energy cannot be created nor can energy be destroyed; Science has also gone on to confirm that each and every living being is composed of energy. Is this the very energy that various cultures identify as spirit, or soul, Jiva or Atman, holy spirit or ghost, or what philosophy may call the will or the being, psychologists, the consciousness or the knower? If we cannot decide on a word to pin-point that which we are discussing, nevertheless, we all can agree that we are now well acquainted with the concept I have introduced as interpretation, the true-inner-self or divine presence within each and everyone of us. Morrison declares that, “ere the bonnie boat was one”, not won. That is to say that we are all seafaring explorers, sailing on this vessel, connected as one.
As Morrison transforms our souls into metaphysical embodiment of sailors embarked on an eternal journey through an ocean, entitled in this song as, the mystic; in this light it becomes the Bardo, as it were, our intermittent realm between birth, death, re-birth, or even the path to liberation. The sailor associates the calling of the fog horn with guidance of the light house, a religious and mythological reference to the divine.
There is a presence each man has deep within, it is a guiding invocation when it is listened to. When you no longer fear the message given from within, our archetypical nature is identified, we finally gain the ability to define what our purpose is in this particular life. That innate sense of duty summons you into its presence with a luminous guidance to a place Morrison calls home, in this song, that is, what many other cultures and professions refer to as Heaven, Brahma, the Toa, or Nirvana, some may call it enlightenment, the Good, or refer to it as the Supreme being, God.
We are getting the notion of a relationship between man and the divine in this philosophical interpretation. The divine is invoking upon the sailors or souls as we have identified them, to return to the source, to come home to the light, to sail into the mystic.
Although, Morrison could just merely be saying he has been working hard all day, out on his fishin’ boat and is ready to call it day, hearing the fog horn as a signal that the hard days work is over and is to return home to his loved one. Personally, I enjoy interpreting it in the phenomenological sense.
Thanks for letting me share, Ban. -
3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:Into the Mystic....
Into the the unknown without fear
with your soulmate at our side -
The song is about life at sea, the freedom, beauty, and mystery of it all.
Copied because the explanation was too short: The song is about life at sea, the freedom, beauty, and mystery of it all. -
It has so many meanings. I guess it depends on what state of life you are in.I played it at my husband memorial. 17 YRS LATER IT MAKES ME THINK OF MY HIPPY YRS IN THE 60S
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We are stranded waiting to be reunited with our first love, to go back where we came from.
Waiting to hear the sound that will signal our departure is at hand, knowing that we are finally going back home we long to hear it and won't fear it because by letting go of this world we begin our journey back to our home where we'll reunite with our true love.
Once we enter the realm of the mystic our consciousness awakens and begin to see with our inner eyes and the mystic ceases to be the unknown, we become the mystic. -
I think it’s about Heaven and going home. The “ fog horn” is God’s trumpet at the rapture. We are spirits returning to our spirit home. We are going n this world but not of this world .
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I had this played at my husbands celebration of his life. He was a big Van Morrison fan and loved The Band. Into The Mystic lyrics gave me peace when I lost my partner and soulmate. I also played I Take You With Me, Melissa Etheridge, in case anyone needs songs that might help a little for a loss of someone very special.
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My brother was killed 11/9/1991 at 18 years old with five other teens in a terrible car crash. I remember walking into his room that night & pushing the tape deck on his stereo & this song came on. It will always remind me of my brother.
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My daughter and I danced to this song on her wedding day. Our song growing up. To me sending her off into the mystic on her wedding day. To start a new life of adventure.
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I like to think if it as my fiancée and I are born before time. We are joined then and forever. We have given ourselves over to this completely. Our ceremony is a testiment to that.
He gently rocks and sways my Gypsie soul, as we dance we lose ourselves, we are liberated, in our journey into life forever, our hearts are one. Sealed by fate. -
Into the Mysti....
Into the the unknown without fear
with your soulmate at our side
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