100 Great Songs From The British Invasion: 1963-1967 ‘ Mystic Eyes’- Them. This was the second single released from the Angry Young Them album- the first [It Won’t Hurt] Half As Much’- failed to chart. “Mystic Eyes’ was much more successful in the US- where it became Them’s second and final American Top 40 hit- reaching #33. Written by Van Morrison- Van would tell a reporter how it was inspired by an occasion in Nottingham Park as he walked by a graveyard wall where some children played next to it. “You know, man, there was life and death beside one another so close…yet so different…And then I thought of the bright lights in the children’s eyes…and the cloudy lights in the eyes of the dead.” Guess who was the session guitarist who played the guitar runs on this song? Yep Jimmy Page. A great compilation album could be made of the songs that an unknown Jimmy Page played on as a session man.

• Single: ‘Mystic Eyes’- Them
• Record Company- Parrot
• Genre: Rock
• Written by Van Morrison
• Time: 2:43
• B-side:’ If You And I Could Be Two’
• Album- The Angry Young Them
• Grade: A+
• Peaked at #33 in US Billboard Hot 100/ Did not chart in UK.