Sunday Samples 55
It’s about time for my hiatus to come to an end. From the last mathematical post I made two Fridays ago until Tuesday I was wrapped up in Carnival/Mardi Gras celebrations. Then on Wednesday I had to drive my visiting friend back to Baton Rouge, since it was far cheaper to fly in and out of their tiny airport last weekend than to use Louis Armstrong International. And since then I’ve been recovering.
I’d like to go back to another of my favorites from back in high school. The Waterboys were an influential Irish/British/Scottish band through the ’80s, and we can hear their echoes through all the other bands of the era. Their folky take on Phil Spector’s “wall of sound” arrangements shows up clearly in Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ songs, for instance.
Released on 1985’s This Is the Sea, “The Whole of the Moon” was rereleased in 1991 to become a staple of modern rock stations throughout the early- and mid-’90s, which is where I picked it up. It grabbed me then, as I suppose it does any frustrated optimist.
I pictured a rainbow
You held it in your hands
I had flashes
But you saw the plan
I wondered out in the world for years
While you just stayed in your room
I saw the crescent
You saw the whole of the moon
The whole of the moonYou were there at the turnstiles
With the wind at your heels
You stretched for the stars
And you know how it feels
To reach too high
Too far
Too soon
You saw the whole of the moonI was grounded
While you filled the skies
I was dumbfounded by truths
You cut through lies
I saw the rain-dirty valley
You saw Brigadoon
I saw the crescent
You saw the whole of the moonI spoke about wings
You just flew
I wondered, I guessed, and I tried
You just knew
I sighed
But you swooned
I saw the crescent
You saw the whole of the moon
The whole of the moonWith a torch in your pocket
And the wind at your heels
You climbed on 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 moonUnicorns and cannonballs
Palaces and piers
Trumpets, towers, and tenements
Wide oceans full of tears
Flags, rags, ferry boats
Scimitars and scarves
Every precious dream and vision
Underneath the starsYes, you climbed on the ladder
With the wind in your sails
You came like a comet
Blazing your trail
Too high
Too far
Too soon
You saw the whole of the moon
