Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
The Whole of the Moon (1985)
I hadn't even had a chance to think about what I was going to write about today when I heard the horrible news that Karl Wallinger had died. Having written about one of his masterful World Party songs in January, the logical next move was to write about the epic Waterboys song "The Whole of the Moon," which Wallinger played on.
The Waterboys were formed in London in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott, with a self-titled debut filled with sweeping anthemic songs released that July. Early influences included David Bowie, Bob Dylan and Patti Smith. Wallinger joined the band on keyboards in time for their first public performance on the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test. The album got good notices, as did the 1984 release A Pagan Place. The band's sound was being called The Big Music, which was also the name of the first single on A Pagan Place, referring to the wall of sound Scott would build with a variety of instruments.
Released in September 1985, This Is the Sea was the third Waterboys album and the last of their Big Music rock albums. It was also the last Waterboys album featuring Wallinger, who would leave to form World Party. The album features the greatest Waterboys song (and there are many great ones), "The Whole of the Moon."
In the song Scott pays tribute to an inspirational figure, although he's claimed in interviews it's not about a specific person. There was speculation it was about Prince or British musician Nikki Sudden (who had collaborated with Scott previously), but Scott has denied that, saying it's about a composite of many people including writer C.S. Lewis.
"I pictured a rainbow/You held it in your hands/I had flashes/But you saw the pan/I wandered out in the world for years/While you stayed in your room/I saw the crescent/You saw the whole of the moon."
The band's kitchen sink instrumental approach is in full effect on "The Whole of the Moon," including classical-sounding trumpets, a saxophone solo, and synths and synth bass from Wallinger. Scott said he wanted synth lines echoing ones used by Prince on the songs "1999" and "Paisley Park." And Wallinger's backing vocals at one point were meant to echo Bowie's "Fame."
"With a torch in your pocket/And the wind at your heels/You climbed the ladder/And you know how it feels/To get too high/Too far too soon/You saw the whole of the moon/The whole of the moon."
When it was first released, the song reached #26 on the UK Singles Chart, while getting frequent FM radio and MTV play in the U.S. But when it was re-released as part of a best-of compilation in 1991, it became a hit, going all the way to #3 in the UK; it even received an Ivor Novello Award for "Best Song Musically and Lyrically" in 1991. In recent years, it's been covered by the likes of Frightened Rabbit and Fiona Apple.
Despite (or maybe because of) the success of This Is the Sea, Scott took the band in another musical direction, exploring roots music: first American, then Irish. This led to 1988's Fisherman's Blues, which became the Waterboys' best-selling album, hitting #13 in the UK and #76 on the Billboard 200. The band released two more albums (including the rougher-edged Dream Harder) before splitting up the Waterboys. He played as a solo artist for the rest of the '90 before reforming the band in 2000. The band has had more than 70 members over the years, but Scott remained the only constant in the Waterboys, releasing nine albums from 2000-2022.
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