Song Of The Day 3/19/2015: Van Morrison - "Rolling Hills"

Five Van Morrison Songs I Just Met: Into the Music is one of those highly regarded Van Morrison albums that slipped through my consciousness the first time. It’s very polished, for one thing. I’m used to feeling some grit rub off on the best Van works, and Into the Music is largely pretty clean. But this time around, while researching for my sure-to-be-cited-by-Congress long-form review on the music site Treble, the album worked for me. It’s one of those actual two-sided albums where the two halves are loosely arranged, conceptually, or something. The first side is really buoyant. There’s nothing more fresh-faced and happy in Van’s catalog than “Bright Side of the Road.” Turning something as inherently Muppet-esque into such a rousing, legitimate number is something very few metalsmiths can do.


“Rolling Hills” is another example. This thing’s so blithe and adorably Irish it’s almost a Monty Python parody, but I fell in love with it hard. And it’s only about reading your Bible and dancing jigs. That’s the miracle. I am not what you’d call a Christian and I’m even less of a dancer, but I’m one lace doily away from making this penny-whistlin’ breakdown my ringtone. Do we still do ringtones?