The Whole of the Moon by The Waterboys Lyrics Meaning – Unlocking the Cosmic Vision in Song
Lyrics
You held it in your hands
I had flashes
But you saw the plan
I wandered 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 moon
Hmm, you were there in 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 moon
I was grounded
While you filled the skies
I was dumbfounded by truth
You cut through lies
I saw the rain dirty valley
You saw Brigadoon
I saw the crescent
You saw the whole of the moon
I 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 moon
(The whole of the moond) with 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 moon, hey yeah!
Unicorns and cannonballs, palaces and piers
Trumpets, towers and tenements
Wide oceans full of tears
Flags, rags ferryboats
Scimitars and scarves
Every precious dream and vision
Underneath the stars, yes, 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
In the pantheon of lyrically profound anthems, The Waterboys’ ‘The Whole of the Moon’ stands as a celestial beacon. Released in 1985, the song continues to echo through the chambers of the hearts of listeners, swooping them into realms of reflection and revelation.
Amongst vibrant melodies and an arrestingly hopeful chorus, lie the depths of a message waiting to be unearthed. Those willing to dive into the song’s emotive waters are rewarded with an intimate portrayal of ambition, perception, and the dichotomy between dreamers and doers.
A Contrast in Colours: Visionaries vs. Realists
The song paints the stark contrasts of two individuals — one who dreams in vivid splashes of color, while the other resides in the shade. The dreamer embraces the universe, holding a rainbow as a tangible truth, whereas the realist is limited to ‘flashes’, brief glimpses of brilliance.
This duality plays throughout, emphasizing the idea that some people are inherently attuned to seeing the ‘whole of the moon’, the entirety of possibility, while others are resigned to the ‘crescent’, bits and pieces of the grander view.
The Leap Toward Celestial Ambition
The lyric ‘You stretched for the stars’ illuminates a theme of ambition and reaching for the seemingly impossible. It’s about the pursuit of dreams that might often be dismissed as too daring or outlandish, a universal sentiment shared by artists and innovators alike.
As a metaphor for personal aspiration, ‘The Whole of the Moon’ captivates the spirit’s unyielding drive to transcend ordinary experience and touch the ethereal — a quest that is both inspiring and cautionary in its boundlessness.
Unveiling The Song’s Hidden Meanings
At its core, the song serves as a tribute to the idealists and romantics who dare to envision a world beyond current perception. Yet, it’s also a subtle acknowledgment of the isolation and misunderstanding that often accompanies such far-reaching vision.
References like ‘Brigadoon’ — a mythical village that appears for one day every hundred years — and the idea of holding dreams ‘underneath the stars’ speak to the temporal nature of opportunity and the eternal struggle to capture what is often just out of reach.
Swooning to Memorable Lines
Lyrics such as ‘You saw the crescent, you saw the whole of the moon’ resonate as an ode to those moments when an epiphany strikes, changing our perspective from the fragmentary to the complete.
It speaks to the impact of those rare individuals in our lives who illuminate pathways we could never see on our own, serving as muses that elevate our vision from the mundane to the magnificent.
A Symphony of Eclectic Imagery
The Waterboys did not shy away from painting a grandiose picture with words. Phrases like ‘unicorns and cannonballs, palaces and piers’ cascade in a symphony of images, each metaphor glistening with its unique hue of adventure and bravery.
This lyric encapsulates the crux of life’s splendid variety and our capacity to dream within it — a call to arms for the imagination and a recognition of the beauty in our varied pursuits, whether grounded or fantastical.
