The Whole of the Moon
"The Whole of the Moon" is a song by the Waterboys which 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. Written and produced by Mike Scott, the subject of the song has inspired some speculation. The single was not a big success when initially released in 1985, only making the lower ends of the chart, although it reached 12 on the Australian chart. Subsequently, it became one of  the Waterboys' best-known songs and their most commercially successful. It was the Ivor Novello Award winner "Best Song Musically and Lyrically" in 1991. Upon its re-release in 1991, it reached No. 3 in the United Kingdom. Lyrics. The subject of the lyrics has inspired speculation, some of which has been rebutted by the writer. 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. Like the Waterboys' first single "A Girl Called Johnny", the song is a tribute to an inspirational figure or figures. In each line, the singer describes his own perspective and immediately contrasts it with that of the song's subject, summarizing the difference with the line "I saw the crescent / You saw the whole of the moon". AllMusic instead suggests that its subject is a number of people who inspired Scott, including writer C. S. Lewis and the musician Prince. Scott himself says that he "couldn't have written" the song without having read  Mark Helprin's novel "Winter's Tale", but goes on to state that the song is not about Helprin. The official Waterboys website's Frequently Asked Questions clarifies that Scott has said that the song's subject is "a composite of many people", including C. S. Lewis, but explicitly states that it is not about Prince. Musician Nikki Sudden, with whom Scott had collaborated before forming the Waterboys, has claimed that the song was written about himself. In a 2020 interview, Scott specifically rejected claims that it was about Sudden or Prince: he said that he wrote a message "on  the record's label saying, 'For Prince, U saw the whole of the moon'" as a reference to discussions between himself and Karl Wallinger about creating a Prince-inspired sound when they were recording the song. He explained: Music. The band members at the time were Mike Scott, Anthony Thistlethwaite, Karl Wallinger, and Roddy Lorimer. Drummer Kevin Wilkinson had left the band by the time "The Whole of the Moon" was recorded and drums were played by session player, Chris Whitten. Demoed but not finished at the beginning of the recording sessions, the song was eventually completed in May 1985 . Scott composed the song's piano part, which he described as "a self-taught rhythm with one finger doing one pattern and three fingers doing another", upon returning to the UK from New York. A feature of "The Whole of the Moon" is the trumpet work on the recording, courtesy of the classically trained Lorimer. Scott has said that he wanted the trumpets to have a similar impact to the flugelhorns on the Beatles' "Penny Lane": "like sunlight bursting through clouds". Lorimer spent three days with Scott working on the song's arrangement and "went home with a tape of  the song and thought about a more classical approach. After a while sitting at the piano I came up with the idea of antiphonal trumpets. A piccolo trumpet on the left answered a piccolo on the right and then the same again, growing by adding a B trumpet below each side of the stereo picture. Mike loved it, except the slightly jazzy chords I had used on the run down at the very end, which he simplified. I used the same classical approach later in the song, mixing two classical-type trumpets behind a later verse." Lorimer also contributes falsetto  background vocals to the song, while Thistlethwaite, another brass section member, performs a saxophone solo near the end, commencing after an explosion-like sound achieved by adding echo to a sound effect of a firework. Percussion was added by Martin Ditcham, who played what Scott described as "a bag of weird stuff that he rubbed together or shook". Wallinger provided synthesizer, synth bass and backing vocals: Scott has said that he asked Wallinger to play a synth line like the one on the Prince song "1999", and that another four-note melody used was inspired by another Prince song, "Paisley  Park". Scott told "Number One" in 1985, "When we wrote and recorded the song, we wanted it to sound just like Prince. His records are really positive and that's something I like very much." Additional backing vocals were provided by Max Edie. Releases. "The Whole of the Moon" was first released in October 1985 as a 7-inch and 12-inch single, which reached No. 26 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was re-released as a single (7-inch, 12-inch, cassette and CD) on 25 March 1991, and was included on the band's compilation album  The Best of the Waterboys 81–90, released on 29 April 1991. The re-release was a big hit, peaking at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart and receiving an Ivor Novello Award as "Best Song Musically and Lyrically" in 1991. The 1991 releases of "The Whole of the Moon" and "The Best of the Waterboys 81–90" was an attempt to boost the band's record sales to match their reputation. A survey of album buyers carried out by Chrysalis found that 11% considered themselves fans of the Waterboys and only 1% actually owned any of their singles or albums . "The Whole of the Moon" was partly chosen for re-release as a single because it had become popular on the dance and club scene since the late 1980s. Chrysalis chose to focus the single's promotion through retailers rather than radio as the label felt stations would be "wary of a reissue". Deals were made with music retailers and the marketing strategy included the use of press adverts, posters and counter cards. Nevertheless, the song was successful in gaining heavy airplay in the UK and across Europe. In the UK, it reached No. 3 on the "Music & Media" chart  for most played records on BBC stations and major independents. It also reached No. 22 on the "Music & Media" European Airplay Top 50 chart. Including the 2004 remastered album, the song has been officially released four times and appears on the following Waterboys albums: "The Whole of the Moon" remains one of the Waterboys' most famous and most financially successful songs. Scott said of the song's durability, "I guess it has timelessness in its sound and I know the lyrics mean a lot to people. If a lyric was true when it was written, it'll be true today . 'The Whole of the Moon' still means a lot to me and it's one of my old songs that I never tire of hearing or performing." Music video. The song's music video was directed by Meiert Avis for Midnight Films. It was shot at the Lyceum Theatre, London in November 1985. Scott sings live over an amended version of the record, on which fiddle and acoustic guitar were added at Wessex Studios, London. Lu Edmonds of Public Image Ltd. mimes the bass in the video. Steve Wickham, who joined the Waterboys shortly after the release of "This Is  the Sea", recorded his fiddle part in order to have a "genuine part" in the music video. The video achieved heavy action on Music Box and breakout rotation on MTV. Critical reception. On its release in 1985, Roger Morton of "Record Mirror" noted how the four tracks on the 12-inch release "draw out the drama in Scott's barnstorming pop poetry to raging effect" and "should bring water to both your eyes and your mouth". He considered Scott to sound "like a cross between" Bob Dylan and Cat Stevens. Jerry Smith of "Music Week" praised "The Whole of the  Moon" as a "memorable number" which "should give them their first big hit". Richard Bryson of the "Suffolk & Essex Free Press" described the song as "curiously appealing". He noted its commercial potential, but added "there is also something a little elusive at the core of this record". Track listing. 1985 release. 7-inch single 12-inch single 12-inch single (US promo) 1991 release. 7-inch and cassette single 12-inch and CD single CD single (US promo) Covers. "The Whole of the Moon" was covered by Jennifer Warnes on her 1992 album "The Hunter", by Mandy Moore on her  2003 album "Coverage", by Human Drama on the compilation "New Wave Goes to Hell", by folk singer-songwriter Peter Mulvey on his 1995 album "Rapture", by Terry Reid on his album "The Driver" and by Susan McFadden on the Celtic Woman album "". Steve Hogarth of Marillion has included it in his solo "h natural" shows. It was also a hit on the Balearic dance scene in the 1980s and has appeared on numerous other compilations. Frightened Rabbit covered the song at BBC Scotland Hogmanay Show in 2012. Prince covered the song at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club during his 2014  Hit & Run tour, and again at the Paisley Park Studios during a Dance Rally for Peace in May 2015. "He's so strict about people filming gigs on their phones, no one's posted it on YouTube," rued Mike Scott. "However, I understand it was a piano-and-vocal solo version. Boy, would I love to hear that." Mike Scott included a live solo version on his 1995 single "Building the City of Light". U2 used it as their walk-up song during much of The Joshua Tree Tours 2017 and 2019. Scott said of U2's version "They performed  it in a medley with 'Where the Streets Have No Name' on one of their tours, maybe 10 years ago, which was a very cool acknowledgement that the two songs have the same chorus melody. People keep telling me it plays just before they take the stage on their Joshua Tree tours, and that's supercool too. They must feel it sets the scene, and I can dig that." The Killers covered the song during their headline set at TRNSMT festival in Glasgow in July 2018. Kirin J. Callinan released a cover of the song and an accompanying video clip  in 2019. The track marked the first single from Callinan's third record, Return To Center. The electronic-house group Little Caesar released an indie dance version in the UK in 1990. It reached No. 68 in the UK Singles Chart. Bryan Ewald (of Starbelly, Jarflys...) released a version in 2021. Performing all of the instruments himself. Fiona Apple covered the song for "The Affair" series finale. Scott said Apple's version was "beautifully performed and arranged." Karine Polwart covered the song in her 2019 "Scottish Songbook". Two of the characters in the Netflix original film "Let It Snow" improvise  a duet of the song on a church organ while taking shelter during a snowstorm. In the Father Ted episode "Hell", Father Noel Furlong (Graham Norton) sings a very aggressive version with his youth group members in a caravan.