<P> "Into the Mystic" is No. 474 on the list of Rolling Stone magazine's 2010 feature, The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and was listed as No. 42 on The 885 Essential XPN Songs compiled in 2008 by WXPN from listener's votes . </P> <P> According to a BBC survey, because of this song's cooling, soothing vibe, this is one of the most popular songs for surgeons to listen to while performing operations . Singer - songwriter Elvis Costello has identified this song as one of his favourite songs on Moondance, one of his 500 essential albums . </P> <P> On the original 1970 pressings of the Moondance LP, "Into the Mystic" is presented in a mix done on December 10, 1969, featuring a prominent tambourine throughout the song . Later LP pressings, and all CD reissues of the album prior to 2008, contain an alternate mix of the song done on January 5, 1970, lacking the tambourine and with a more muted foghorn sound . The original tambourine mix of the song made its CD debut in a 2008 Japanese Moondance remaster, and was also restored for a vinyl reissue of the album on Rhino Records later that year . The 2013 remaster of the Moondance album also features the tambourine mix . </P> <P> A live version was included on the 1974 double live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, with the same live version included on the 2007 compilation album, Van Morrison at the Movies - Soundtrack Hits . An instrumental version of the song is played in a medley with "Inarticulate Speech of the Heart" on the 1984 live album Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast . The original version is one of the songs included in the 2007 compilation album, Still on Top - The Greatest Hits (UK edition only). </P>

What is into the mystic by van morrison about