-
Play on Mog
Yes, it scrobbles! Learn more
-
Play on Spotify
Yes, it scrobbles! Learn more
-
Play on Rdio
Yes, it scrobbles! Learn more
-
Play on Hype Machine
Yes, it scrobbles! Learn more
About This Track
“Moondance” is a popular song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and is the title song on his 1970 album Moondance. It was not released as a single until 1977.
The song is played mostly acoustic, anchored by electric bass, with accompaniment by piano, guitar, saxophone, and flute with the instruments played with a soft jazz swing. It’s a song about autumn, the composer’s favorite season. Towards the end of the song, Morrison imitates a saxophone.
“Moondance” is the most frequently played song by Morrison in concert, as it is the only song known to have been played over 1,000 times.
Morrison on the writing of the song
With “Moondance” I wrote the melody first. I played the melody on a soprano sax and I knew I had a song so I wrote lyrics to go with the melody. That’s the way I wrote that one. I don’t really have any words to particularly describe the song, sophisticated is probably the word I’m looking for. For me, “Moondance” is a sophisticated song. Frank Sinatra wouldn’t be out of place singing that.
In the media
“Moondance” is one of the moon-themed songs used in An American Werewolf in London, a comedy-horror film released in 1981.
This song is featured in the 2007 movie, August Rush as performed by Jonathan Rhys Meyers with Robin Williams playing harmonica and also features an instrumental version by Chris Botti.
“Moondance” is one of the songs featured on the compilation album Michael Parkinson: My Life In Music, which is a 2-disc CD of Michael Parkinson’s favorite songs.
Acclaim
The song is played mostly acoustic, anchored by electric bass, with accompaniment by piano, guitar, saxophone, and flute with the instruments played with a soft jazz swing. It’s a song about autumn, the composer’s favorite season. Towards the end of the song, Morrison imitates a saxophone.
“Moondance” is the most frequently played song by Morrison in concert, as it is the only song known to have been played over 1,000 times.
Morrison on the writing of the song
With “Moondance” I wrote the melody first. I played the melody on a soprano sax and I knew I had a song so I wrote lyrics to go with the melody. That’s the way I wrote that one. I don’t really have any words to particularly describe the song, sophisticated is probably the word I’m looking for. For me, “Moondance” is a sophisticated song. Frank Sinatra wouldn’t be out of place singing that.
In the media
“Moondance” is one of the moon-themed songs used in An American Werewolf in London, a comedy-horror film released in 1981.
This song is featured in the 2007 movie, August Rush as performed by Jonathan Rhys Meyers with Robin Williams playing harmonica and also features an instrumental version by Chris Botti.
“Moondance” is one of the songs featured on the compilation album Michael Parkinson: My Life In Music, which is a 2-disc CD of Michael Parkinson’s favorite songs.
Acclaim
Send Ringtones to Cell Similar Music
Play Van Morrison RadioWith: Jackson Browne, Van Morrison & The Chieftains, Them, Tom Petty and more…
People who listen to this also like
| Track | Duration | Listeners | ||
|
|
Van Morrison - And It Stoned Me | 4:31 | 152,347 | |
|
|
Van Morrison - Crazy Love | 2:34 | 134,016 | |
|
|
Jackson Browne - Running on Empty | 5:30 | 178,919 | |
|
|
The Band - The Weight | 4:34 | 270,857 | |
| Neil Young - Heart Of Gold | 3:08 | 392,559 | ||
| Crosby, Stills & Nash - Southern Cross | 4:41 | 33,520 |
Albums featuring this track
-
The Best of Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes
- Buy Album
- Amazon $3.00
- eBay Search
-
Moondance
Van Morrison Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $7.73
- 7digital $8.99
- iTunes $9.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $7.73
- eBay Search
-
Best of Van Morrison
Van Morrison Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon $3.00
- eBay Search
-
Still On Top - The Greatest Hits
Van Morrison Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $9.49
- 7digital $9.99
- iTunes $9.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $12.61
- eBay Search
Shouts
-
wolfy76484 wrote:
A classic track by Van Morrison..No doubt. He's a great irish singer and always played on UK radio
-
wolfy76484 wrote:
A classic track by Van Morrison..No doubt
-
wolfy76484 wrote:
A classic track
-
UlalumeUlalume wrote:
I'm also getting the Tom Waits version ...
-
Muzkid wrote:
Great!
-
Sulisk wrote:
Van Morrison Mega . . . and this sounds like him, so they must of put the right one on.
-
steining wrote:
... last.fm - - - - - Get it together !
-
t00old4Punk wrote:
This Sounds like Tom Waits. It SURE ain't Van Morrison!
-
sstoys2 wrote:
this is NOT VAN the MAN!!
-
HierSoir wrote:
Man, isn't ANYONE at Last.fm checking these songs to make sure they're accurate? A rare track might slip in, but Van Morrison's "Moondance" is a very recognizable piece.
-
andthepharaohs wrote:
This definitely isn't Van the Man.
-
nelsglenn wrote:
serious??
-
ashleemj2 wrote:
What a disapointment
-
MissMP3 wrote:
What the hell? Who is singing this?!
-
weegerald wrote:
This isn't Van.......That's for sure....Cheap rendition
-
kanajedi wrote:
Doesn't sound right.
-
jaspazak wrote:
this aint van more like truck
-
jitthacker wrote:
Wrong dude.
-
coffeeone1 wrote:
This is the same guy who sings brown eyed Girl?..like both songs
-
richardbowyer wrote:
That's better, that's your man.
Track Stats
1,070,539 Scrobbles
298,571 Listeners
Recent Listening Trend
Listening Now
Top Listeners
-
Divorce2012
Top Listener
-
Snozberries69
Top Listener
-
gyberoarke
Top Listener
-
suspensefilms
Top Listener
Recent Activity
-
mistergwp added Moondance to mistergwp’s library. 44 minutes ago
-
pieterandreas added Moondance to the playlist my lovely valentine. 1 hour ago
-
farinsquared added Moondance to farinsquared’s library. 5 hours ago
-
farinsquared added Moondance to the playlist More. 5 hours ago
-
gmac52 added Moondance to their Loved Tracks. 7 hours ago
-
listentothewarm tagged Van Morrison – Moondance with irish, male vocalist and singer-songwriter. 7 hours ago
-
listentothewarm, warloghe, gdhoggan and 4 other people loved Van Morrison – Moondance. 7 hours ago
-
woca added Moondance to the playlist Feb-10-2012. yesterday afternoon
-
grack003, wcmpeewee, Jimmyzeduck and 14 other people loved Van Morrison – Moondance. yesterday morning
-
Lugnutz3 added Moondance to Lugnutz3’s library. Thursday afternoon
Related Journals
-
[189] Van Morrison – Moondance (1970)
by Llorenza |
17 Mar 2010
-
Song of the month
by fontikos |
26 Jan 2010
-
500 Greatest Songs Of All Time (Rolling Stone Magazine)
by FanMusic2 |
28 Jun 2009
| 38 comments
