The Waterboys - another kind of circus, 1983

"Whilst the sound may seem dated across the years (Linn drums, anyone?) and Scott’s voice lacks the authority that it gained with subsequent maturity, the songs on The Waterboys still sound as fresh as a daisy and as startling as a summer rainstorm."

The Waterboys - a girl called johnny, 1983

"A Girl Called Johnny" was inspired by American singer-songwriter Patti Smith. Scott discovered Smith's musical work and poetry in 1976 and became a big fan, which led to him forming his own fanzine, Jungleland. In 1978, Scott was aware Smith was due to perform with her band at the Rainbow Theatre in London. He knew she always stayed at the Portobello Hotel and was successful in speaking to her over the phone after ringing the hotel. Smith suggested Scott come down from Scotland to see the show and write about it in his fanzine. He traveled down to London by train, with Smith providing him with a concert ticket, covering the expense of his hotel room and placing him under the care of her guitarist Lenny Kaye."

The Waterboys - red army blues live, 2007

"Red Army Blues" first appeared on the twelve-inch single for "December" from The Waterboys. The song is a first-person narrative of the life of a young Soviet soldier in World War II who participates in the Battle of Berlin. The soldier, along with many others, is sent to the Gulag by Joseph Stalin. The song is based upon the book The Diary of Vikenty Angorov and borrows main musical theme from Polyushko-polye by Lev Knipper."

The Waterboys - december, 1983

"Whimper, whimper. This week's 90th moody, tremulous ballad with lashings of tearful vibrato and acoustic twelve-strings. A record to sit down and listen to as the leaves fall, it informs us that 'December is the cool month'. Oh really?"

The Waterboys - church not made with hands, 1984

"From the outset there would be something spiritual about all things Waterboys without a doubt influenced by their main man Mike Scott’s mother, an English teacher, reading him CS Lewis’s Narnia Chronicles when he was a child."

The Waterboys - don't bang the drum, 1985

"The trumpet in the song's intro was performed by Roddy Lorimer, which Scott described as being a "luminous high flying freeform trumpet solo in the style of 'Sketches of Spain' by Miles Davis, set against a dark 12 string guitar and piano landscape"

The Waterboys - the whole of the moon, 1985

"AllMusic instead suggests that its subject is a number of people who inspired Scott, including writer C. S. Lewis and the musician Prince. Scott himself says that he "couldn't have written" the song without having read Mark Helprin's novel Winter's Tale, but goes on to state that the song is not about Helprin. The official Waterboys website's Frequently Asked Questions clarifies that Scott has said that the song's subject is "a composite of many people", including C. S. Lewis, but explicitly states that it is not about Prince."

The Waterboys - glastonbury song, 1993

"Glastonbury's a holy centre, a place of great spiritual power, and there are lots of spiritual legends associated with it, among them that Jesus came here when he was a boy. And Joseph of Arimathea – Jesus' uncle – brought the chalice, in which he'd collected Jesus' blood from the cross, and he buried it at Glastonbury and that's the legend of the Holy Grail. And when you go there, the place does have a power. You can really feel it."

The Waterboys - out of all this blue, 2019

"Scott may no longer be the young man who gave us "Don't Bang the Drum" and "A Girl Called Johnny" but he is far from being a Bono-like pompous windbag and on this evidence, he's not only not finished, but he may yet achieve the same mythic status of some of his own great influences."

The Waterboys - three day man live, 1984

"The Waterboys are an amazing band, with a sound that has changed quite a lot over the years. This pulls together their various sessions for the BBC, all in fantastic sound quality. The set mixes some of their well known hits, with lesser known tracks, some well chosen covers. For hardcore fans it's interesting to hear early versions of some tracks that went on to have quite different lyrics (check out This is the Sea). More casual fans should listen to some of their 'Big Music' - Don't Bang the Drum, Medicine Bow, Be My Enemy and This is the Sea."

The Waterboys - it should have been you, 1983

“This feels wrong to me. It should be the Waterboys. The musicians should have the status of being Waterboys.”

The Waterboys - the three day man, 1983

"With the help of a drum machine, Scott sang, played the piano and guitar on each of five songs. Two recordings from this studio demo session would eventually make their way onto the first Waterboys album, "December" and "The Three Day Man". The quality of the session convinced Scott to leave Funhouse. Scott made further series' of recordings on his own at Redshop in February, April and August 1982, which yielded the following tracks: "Savage Earth Heart", "It Should Have Been You", "Gala" and "Where Are You Now When I Need You?"

The Waterboys - red army blues, 1984

"The song tells the story of a Soviet soldier in WWII who somehow survives the war and comes in contact with American troops. Joseph Stalin felt that troops who were taken prisoner were weak and traitors to the Soviet state and that troops who came in contact with Allied troops were in danger of being Westernized. So after the war, many Red Army troops who had been held as POWs or had much contact with western troops were considered a threat to the state and were sent directly to the gulags where many would die while working and starving in forced labor camps. We’re talking in the millions here."