The Waterboys – Whole of the Moon
I first saw this song performed by The Waterboys live back in 1989 or ’90 – I forget, I am old! It was at The Edinburgh Playhouse – I sat way up in the gods. It was a good show… I think. Steve Wickham (fiddle player extraordinaire) had already departed the band – and I was not happy about that, but that was nothing I could control. I have been going back for more for the last 30 years, so I must have enjoyed it. I do not remember how many times I have seen them perform it.
This video is from September 2019, at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. Support of “Where the Action Is” album. And although this video is concentrated on Mike Scott, the band, as a whole, are amazing to watch live. Steve Wickham is back and fiddles up a storm, and if you have never seen Brother Paul (Paul Brown) on stage you would be in for a treat – he has a key-tar!! Check out my photographs from that night – it was quite a show.
“The Whole of the Moon” was released as a single from their album This Is the Sea in 1985. It is a classic of the band’s repertoire and has been consistently played at live shows ever since its release. The song began as a “scribble on the back of an envelope on a wintry New York street”, after Scott’s girlfriend asked him if it was difficult to write a song. Scott added further lyrics to the song upon returning to his hotel and after his return to London.