“The Whole Of The Moon” — The Waterboys
There’s a great Miles Davis quote… “I don’t play what’s there. I play what’s not there.” That’s what “The Whole Of The Moon” is all about.
Miles Davis never got around to explaining what he meant…after all, he did have to keep that legendary jazz innovator mystique going somehow…but I’ve always taken it to mean he tried to bring a quality to his performance that went far beyond faithfully reproducing the notes on the score.
He brought a feeling…an emotion…an improvisation…perhaps an interpretation of the composer’s work…to his performance which you’d never think of if you just “painted by numbers” from the score. That’s why Miles Davis is still recognised today, nearly 30 years after he passed away, as one of the greatest musicians the world has ever known.
You see, there’s a lot more to the world than we think there is. Not just in music, but in life.
What’s more, the magic is often there…right in front of us…right at this very moment…but we can’t see it. We lack the gift of the perspective which makes the treasures invisible to most, visible to us.
That’s what The Waterboys describe in “The Whole Of The Moon”. They juxtapose the hum-drum outlook on the world most of us experience with the perspective of a visionary who has the capability to pull something extraordinary out…
