10 Desert Island Van Morrison Songs We Can’t Live Without

Photo: By sahlgoode [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

It took us a long time to get to a Top 10 Van Morrison Songs list because the man has released so much music throughout his career. By 2026, Van Morrison had released forty-eight studio albums, not counting compilations and live records. His most recent studio album, Somebody Tried to Sell Me a Bridge, arrived in January 2026.

Van Morrison has consistently released incredible music throughout his entire career. There have never been any down periods. Even when he was going through his enlightenment phase, he was releasing jaw-dropping material.

It is difficult to compile Top 10 lists for artists who have enjoyed such long careers. With Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, the Rolling Stones, and Bruce Springsteen, we published Top 10 songs lists organized by decade. For the Beatles, we published a Top 10 list for every year in which they released albums.

Of course, all of that is in good fun. With Van Morrison, even selecting songs by decade seemed impossible. Instead, we picked the favorites we always look forward to hearing. These are the Van Morrison songs we would want with us on a desert island.

Our 10 Favorite Van Morrison Songs

# 10 – Angelou

“Angelou” is probably the least familiar Van Morrison song on this list. It appeared on our favorite Van Morrison album, Into the Music, released in 1979.

In early interviews, Bruce Springsteen often mentioned being inspired by Van Morrison. One can easily hear that influence on Springsteen’s second album. However, by 1979, it seemed as though Van Morrison might also have been listening to Bruce. You can hear some Springsteen influence on this great song.

# 9 – Astral Weeks

This was one of those songs in which you heard something incredibly new and beautiful yet did not completely understand it. It was simply there. The entire album felt that way.

“Astral Weeks” represented the moment when many people in the music industry, along with generations of music fans, recognized that Van Morrison was a musical genius.

# 8 – Hungry for Your Love

Sometimes, writing a great song built on a simple chord structure and melody is more challenging than using complex or unusual chord changes. Van Morrison’s “Hungry for Your Love” is a perfect example of beauty in simplicity.

Many of us fell in love with this song and Debra Winger at the same time.

# 7 – It Must Be You

This is the song I want to wake up to every morning on my desert island. The tremendous double album Hymns to the Silence may well be Van Morrison’s most underrated work. The album was released in 1991.

# 6 – Tupelo Honey

You know this one. The song’s introduction is simply breathtaking. Once Van Morrison starts singing, fueled by his iconic phrasing, he takes the performance to a level that few musical artists have ever reached.

# 5 – Into the Mystic

When you examine the track listing on the Moondance album, it reads like a greatest-hits compilation. “And It Stoned Me,” “Moondance,” “Crazy Love,” “Caravan,” and “Into the Mystic” all appeared on the record’s first side.

“Into the Mystic” still managed to stand out on an album filled with remarkable tracks. Even the song’s title became part of popular culture.

# 4 – Dweller on the Threshold

We often discuss Van Morrison’s sense of melody and lyrics. However, he also created incredible grooves and sang over them in a free rhythmic style while remaining perfectly in control.

No one can sing and groove in that unmistakable Van Morrison fashion except the man himself. “Dweller on the Threshold,” released on the 1982 album Beautiful Vision, is a perfect example of the spiritual groove that defines some of his best material.

# 3 – Wavelength

Van Morrison took that spiritual groove and created a highly commercial-sounding record that almost everyone loved, except perhaps some listeners who disliked the accessibility of “Wavelength.”

Nonetheless, this is the perfect song for rolling down the windows and driving around all day with a big smile on your face.

# 2 – Brown Eyed Girl

“Brown Eyed Girl” is another great pop song that simply bleeds the sound of the late 1960s. It blended rhythm and blues, pop, folk rock, the British Invasion, and the many other musical styles circulating in 1967.

Even though we have heard it a million times, it never gets old.

# 1 – Moondance

We have our morning song, our dancing song, our driving song, our spiritual song, our oldies song, and our rare song. Now we have our cool evening song.

We cannot leave home without this one. “Moondance” is as cool as it gets.