# What are the best Van Morrison covers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [December 1, 2022, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-van-morrison-covers/975893 "2022-12-01T23:35:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2022, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-van-morrison-covers/975893/1 "2022-12-01T23:35:26Z")
Some singers are hard to cover. There are not many Aretha Franklin covers, for instance, because why should somebody even try? Van Morrison may not be the same kind of force of nature like Aretha (though he’s close), but he also has a distinct voice and style of singing and arranging that sets him apart from most others. So there really aren’t many Van Morrison covers compared to peers like Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen. The two best I know are both by British bands of the eighties, the Dexys Midnight Runners version of “Jackie Wilson Said” and the Waterboys’ “Sweet Thing”. Both bands were heavily influenced by Van and not only paid tribute to him in their covers, but also in their own songs. Then there’s Maria McKee’s version of “The Way Young Lovers Do”, which I also like very much. Do you know other great Van Morrison covers? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ikosOQrF_zk/maxresdefault.jpg "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikosOQrF_zk) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Be3OkvBZaIY/hqdefault.jpg "The Waterboys - Sweet Thing (High Quality)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be3OkvBZaIY) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mAmq5LHlO8E/hqdefault.jpg "Maria McKee - The Way Young Lovers Do (cover Van Morrison)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAmq5LHlO8E) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2022, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-van-morrison-covers/975893/2 "2022-12-02T00:22:43Z")
This is odd. I put Morrison and Dylan in the same category of “Brilliant lyrics, meaningful music, but such a quirky voice”.\* As mentioned, a lot of people have done a lot of good Dylan covers (where would the Byrds have been without them?). But some of them sound close to Dylan’s version. At my first ever live gig, we went onstage after a folkie who covered “Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts”, and the guitarist said “I’ve got to apologize, I sang that just like Bob would. I tried different styles, but none of those worked. Weird, huh?” And whenever I hear a Van Morrison song covered, like the OP’s examples, it sounds pretty Vanny (Dexy’s was so close, I kept waiting to hear some Pee Wee Ellis sax (best part of the original). . \*I’m old. I loved “Astral Weeks”, and “Moondance” was the first album I ever bought with my own money. And I’m _almost_ used to Van’s voice. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2022, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-van-morrison-covers/975893/3 "2022-12-02T00:44:34Z")
Lagwagon - Brown Eyed Girl [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mpj_nn87VVc/hqdefault.jpg "Lagwagon-Brown Eyed Girl") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpj_nn87VVc) ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2022, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-van-morrison-covers/975893/4 "2022-12-02T00:45:43Z")
How about Patti Smith or The Doors coverijng Gloria? Probably other people as well although I can’t think who offhand. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2022, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-van-morrison-covers/975893/5 "2022-12-02T00:53:32Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > How about Patti Smith or The Doors coverijng Gloria? How could I forget about Gloria? Yeah, everybody and their grandma did Gloria, but Patti’s version is the best. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2022, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-van-morrison-covers/975893/6 "2022-12-02T01:21:11Z")
Jimmy Buffett does my favorite cover of Brown-Eyed Girl. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2022, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-van-morrison-covers/975893/7 "2022-12-02T02:45:38Z")
Wild Night was a pretty big hit for John Mellencamp in the 90s. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2022, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-van-morrison-covers/975893/8 "2022-12-02T02:50:02Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/I1PAlG4Af6c/maxresdefault.jpg "Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová - Into The Mystic (Studio Version)(@MarketaIrglova)(@glen\_hansard)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1PAlG4Af6c) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2022, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-van-morrison-covers/975893/9 "2022-12-02T03:32:44Z")
Somewhere I have an entire album of different people covering Van Morrison songs. I haven’t listened to it in a long time and I can’t recall the title. Wikipedia has a page dedicated to the OP’s topic — [List of artists who have covered Van Morrison songs - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_artists_who_have_covered_Van_Morrison_songs) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2022, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-van-morrison-covers/975893/10 "2022-12-02T12:33:39Z")
I’m surprised no one has covered any songs from Van’s ‘contractual obligation’ album. Some real underrated gems on there, like this one: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/LdKzRTju4yk/maxresdefault.jpg "Ring Worm") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdKzRTju4yk) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2022, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-van-morrison-covers/975893/11 "2022-12-02T13:35:59Z")
Ah here’s the album of Morrison covers I have: > **[No Prima Donna: The Songs of Van Morrison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Prima_Donna:_The_Songs_of_Van_Morrison)** > > No Prima Donna: The Songs of Van Morrison released in October 1994 is the first tribute album for the songs of singer-songwriter Van Morrison. The album was produced by Van Morrison and his friend for many years, Phil Coulter. Morrison's longtime girlfriend, Michelle Rocca was the model on the cover of the album. Morrison was actively involved in choosing the songs and the artists who performed them, which is unusual for most tribute albums. > All songs by Van Morrison > On all tracks