Linden Arden POLL the Highlights--ILM Van Morrison Poll Results

Christ, what a track.

oh yeah "summertime in england" makes me cry, every single time, when it gets to the "it ain't why why why it just is" part

http://i.imgur.com/6QQXSPY.jpg

11. Gloria
Them! single
12 votes, 281 points, two #1 votes

it's weird i was expecting this one to land at 10 or 11

was it van who said if you threw a guitar down the stairs it would eventually play the chord sequence of "gloria"

Can you dig the top ten?

The first time I listened to It's Too Late To Stop Now (about 3 decades after I should have first listened to it), when he went into "Gloria" I thought, "Ugh, why does he have to cover this cliched war-horse...oh wait...he WROTE this."

http://i.imgur.com/9iKJ0FT.jpg

10. Ballerina
from Astral Weeks
12 votes, 299 points, one #1 vote

i love how much van straight up screams through the them material

step right up

and at least four astral weeks tracks to come, lol

And it's getting late, yes it is, yes it is.

Take off your shoes!

grab the ketchup!

http://i.imgur.com/2fbayde.jpg

9. Sweet Thing
from Astral Weeks
16 votes, 310 points, one #1 vote

Well.

this song is so BEAUTIFUL

SUGAR BAAAABY

With your champagne eyes and your saint-like smile

I say we stop here today. I want suspense created as inexorably as Van pausing over a syllable in It's Too Late...

Sweet thing made my top ten

I say we stop here today. I want suspense created

It's too late to stop now.

http://i.imgur.com/3JPZsat.jpg

8. Madame George
from Astral Weeks
15 votes, 336 points, two #1 votes
14 points for T.B. Sheets version

I have no idea what at least one of these top 7 will be

I have no idea what at least one of these top 7 will be

― Gaspard de la Nuit: III. ScarJost (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, August 7, 2017 2:18 PM (fifty-seven seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

justice for "i forgot that love existed"

jk

Here is my #1.

http://i.imgur.com/Wncvh9k.jpg

7. Saint Dominic's Preview
from Saint Dominic's Preview
15 votes, 345 points, one #1 vote

This is just the greatest song.

as we gaze out on

it really is, and it never gets old

as we gaze out on

When I was compiling the votes, I played it on repeat for about 30 minutes and it sounded better every time.

Plus Van coins a new phrase in it, no regrettiance. So much more sophisticated than "no regrets."

Way upon...

http://i.imgur.com/3jBEWnI.jpg

6. Cyprus Avenue
from Astral Weeks
15 votes, 345 points, one #1 vote
23 points for It's Too Late To Stop Now" version

the avenue of trees

and I'm conquered in a car seat

Not a thing that I can do

This was a song I read about in great detail before ever hearing, in that Lester Bangs anthology from the 1980s. It did not disappoint.

obvious point but it's extremely worth watching him tear this shit up live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKuM5oKk0es

Yes. And of course, the version on It's Too Late To Stop Now is off the charts intense.

Before any ballots came in, I figured this next song would win in a landslide. It did not.

title track?

http://i.imgur.com/wjGopMT.jpg

5. Into the Mystic
from Moondance
15 votes, 379 points, two #1 votes

oh yeah god how had i forgotten

also a good time to share this unreal performance!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpPSBzGEklE

Iiiiiiiiii wanna rock youuuuur gypsy souuuuul

This was a song I read about in great detail before ever hearing, in that Lester Bangs anthology from the 1980s.

Same.

I believe that must be Janet Planet on that Into The Mystic sleeve.

She sells handmade jewelry on etsy, you can visit her store below.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/lovebeadsbyjp

Now, every ILM poll worth its salt has a Sway, ie a relatively obscure album track that charts unusually high. It's named after the immortal Rolling Stones song from Sticky Fingers.

It's time for Sway.

http://i.imgur.com/10a6gtw.jpg

4. Linden Arden Stole the Highlights
from Veedon Fleece
16 votes, 382 points

I found this image on the website of a graphic designer.

https://jakenewton.wordpress.com/2012/11/24/linden-arden-stole-the-highlights/