music monday: moondance

I'm starting a new thing on my blog:  Music Monday.  I'll discuss a musical artist or song on Mondays of my choosing.  (I'm not very strict on myself when it comes to blogging; you may have noticed from my other inconsistencies.)  Why?  I LOVE MUSIC.  I've been singing since I could talk, and have spent more time in choirs than I have doing any other extracurricular activity.  I sing along to music in my car like it's a job.  And I know music that a lot of people don't, for better or for worse.  And Music Mondays will examine the good and possibly the bad.  I think strong feelings either way are worth a discussion.  I might get into the technical elements of why it is good or bad, or I might just talk about my personal experiences with the featured music.  Or I might not talk about anything at all, and just let you listen and decide!
Okay, now that we have the ground rules laid out, let's get this party started!

I'm gonna start with my first dance from our wedding!  It was over a year ago (Oct. 3, 2009, to be specific), and the song was Michael Bublé's cover of "Moondance."

This song was originally written and performed by Van Morrison.  And while I love the idea of the song, I don't think Van Morrison quite hits the mark.  His voice is sort of a nasal-whiny, and I don't think any passion really shines through the way it does when Michael sings it (check my post about seeing MB in concert if you wanna read more about passion).  And Van Morrison just sounds so . . . ugh, dare I say it?, 70's.  And not in a good way.

The big band feel that Michael brings to it is just so perfect for this song.  Because of it, we definitely did a swing-inspired first dance with wrap-arounds, twirls, and a lovely dip at the end.  Everyone ate it up, and we loved every minute of it.

I'll let you be the judge of the two versions.  Here is Van Morrison's version:



And here is the wonderful Bublé version:

What's your preference?  And are there any other covers of this song that you think would blow me out of the water?


p.s. Any tips on embedding music onto my blog for this series very much appreciated.  That playlist site doesn't have as much variety as I'd like.