The Waterboys - "The whole of the moon"

The Waterboys were a British group formed in London in 1981 by Mike Scott (guitar/vocals) and Anthony Thistlewaite (multi-instrumentalist). They later added Karl Wallinger (guitar) Steve Wickham (fiddle) and Kevin Wilkinson (drums).

Scott has often said that the character that inspired the song is a composite of many people. Some have said it was about Prince though Scott has denied this. He once mentioned that the author C.S. Lewis was "in there somewhere". In fact, the result was a tribute to some artists he admired, including Prince the writer C.S. Lewis.

More interestingly, Scott sketched out the song in a New York hotel after his girlfriend asked him if it was hard to write a song.

The year after "The whole of the moon" was released, Wallinger left the band to form World Party, who had a #27 US hit with "Ship Of Fools".

Available on the album "This Is The Sea"