Your Wednesday Musical Interlude
Posted on July 23, 2008 Posted by John Scalzi 20 Comments
Mandy Moore doing “The Whole of the Moon” by the Waterboys:
It’s surprisingly not horrible! Indeed, I think it’s pretty good. Also, not to put too fine a point on it, there would be no way Athena would listen to the actual Waterboys version without proclaiming her boredom with it (“Dad, the whiny man is boring me with his voice,” is a phrase I believe she’s used regarding Mike Scott). Maybe she’ll grow into the Waterboys; in the meantime, there’s this.
(This is the covers album this is off of, by the way.)
Y’know, that’s the only Waterboys song I’ve ever heard. Only heard about them in the first place because of Wallinger’s other band, World Party…
Dude, the Waterboys are awesome. Get Fisherman’s Blues.
Interesting, I’m surprised her handlers didn’t go all out and have her do a Serge Gainsbourg cover. Maybe they are saving that for a Miley Cyrus-Lil’ Wayne duet.
I’m another person who remembers the Waterboys pretty much for the Whole of the Moon. Which is a good song, and one I like.
Will check this out.
Nice cover. I think she does a great job with the lyrics. However, the electro-production sticks a little too close to the original (which was not electronic in any way IIRC) so this version suffers a bit.
This was the most memorable Waterboys song for me, the only other one I remember is “We Shall Not Be Lovers.”
The Waterboys’ cover of Sweet Thing is sublime.
I think it’s not bad but the overproduction strips the soul out of the song. If she’s going to cover it she needs to really change it up to add something new.
Huh. Not bad. I’m pretty impressed she did a cover of this. I thought it was a fairly obscure song.
What’s most impressive? How she doesn’t move a single bit during the video. Not even to sing. That’s hard core!
The vocals are OK, but the music isn’t majestic enough. The original soars, right from the beginning.
For anyone who says they haven’t heard any other Waterboys, if you’ve seen the movie Waking Ned Devine, you’ve heard the title track to the excellent Fisherman’s Blues.
D
John and I used to listen to Fisherman’s Blues over and over on vinyl while shooting an inordinant amount of pool and drinking a rather large amount of Coke. Damn fine album.
The original of this song may be a bit over done for some, but this version is too sweet. The choral singers and the whole delivery loses Scott’s emotion. (And whiny? Then what the heck is Yaz?)
Covers are difficult but great when the artist does something it make it his or her own song. Try Siouxsie and the Banshees Through the Looking Glass for some rather cool interpretations (her version of Trust in Me from The Jungle Book is well, it’s Siouxsie)
I went to see the Waterboys live, never having heard Whole Of The Moon.
They played it. It wasn’t among the ten strongest songs of their set.
(The best one was Medicine Bow, obviously)
The low res you picture looks more like Marie Osmond then Mandy Moore. I never would have know otherwise if it were for the title.
You know, the music threads are becoming my favorite part of this blog.
If you want to hear a really good cover of this song, check out Jennifer Warnes cover from “The Hunter”. I can’t find an audio of it anywhere, but she’s a truly gifted singer and her cover of it is wonderful. In fact, that whole album is wonderful!
The best one was Medicine Bow, obviously
Oh, that would be good live, yeah.
I saw the Waterboys twice in two nights in Boston back in… oh, 1989 or so. Awesome shows.
I’m personally very fond of “Church Not Made With Hands” and “This Is the Sea”, myself.
Another thumbs-up for the Jennifer Warnes cover. “The Hunter” is a terrific album.
I have to say, the video for the song is a little static. I kept waiting for her to start dnacing. I mean, even the lipsync’ing is way off.
Wow, I am impressed. That song brings me back to college. I was really into the Waterboys then. I need to dig through my tape collection to see if I can find them.
Ack. It made me want to eat my own hair, but then the Waterboys are one of my seminal bands. “This Is the Sea” is one of my favorite records ever, and I’ve seen them live about a zillion times.
Some other stuff on that Mandy Moore album, though… “Senses Working Overtime” and “Breaking Us In Two” sound okay. But she goes for pop and no longing with “Whole of the Moon.”
I do like that she, or someone in her camp, has some bloody good taste.
I think I prefer this version.