Mike Scott (Scottish musician)

songwriter, musician

Michael Scott (born 14 December 1958) is a Scottish musician, who became famous as the founding member and chief songwriter of the musical group The Waterboys.

Once you were tethered
now you are free
That was the river
this is the sea.

Quotes

edit
 
She is everywhere and noplace
Like a breath or like a wind
  • I recorded "…Moon" on my own with a drum machine, then brought musicians in as they were needed. It's about a person who has a spectacular, meteor-like rise, but burns out or dies young. Though the song ain't about him, the nearest equivalent would be Hendrix. Adding a list of all the things the hero/heroine saw raised the emotional temperature. The final chorus now had an extra fatefulness. To express this I inserted "you came like a comet, blazing your trail", then a "comet", a firework sample from a BBC sound effects record. That sweetly collided with Anthony's sax solo, so that it sounds as if the sax erupts from the comet itself. Magic like that just happens.The Beatles' "Penny Lane" influenced the trumpet break — the sudden injection of super-fresh, bright and clear horns, a sound of optimism and clarity. Bowie's "Fame" inspired the final descending vocal, thought up and sung by Karl. I wanted the whole thing to sound like a carnival.
 
I have heard
the big music
and I'll never be the same
something so pure
just called my name.
  • She is everywhere and noplace
    Like a breath or like a wind

    she moves among men
    They would seek to hold her as a prize
    But she is in the shadows,
    the ocean and the sand
    She is everywhere and noplace,
    Her church not made with hands

    Uncontained by man.

    • "Church Not Made With Hands"
 
I'm coming up forever
shadows all behind me
ecstacy to come…
 
Come with me on a journey beneath the skin
We will look together for the Pan within.
 
I pictured a rainbow — you held it in your hands
I had flashes — but you saw the plan
 
I was grounded — while you filled the skies
I was dumbfounded by truth — you cut through lies
  • I have heard
    the big music
    and I'll never be the same
    something so pure
    just called my name.
  • I have drowned
    in the big sea
    now I find I'm still alive

    And I'm coming up forever
    shadows all behind me
    ecstacy to come
    • "The Big Music"
  • Come with me on a journey beneath the skin
    We will look together for the Pan within.
    • "The Pan Within"
  • The stars are alive and nights like these
    were born to be sanctified by you and me.
    • "The Pan Within"
  • Once you were tethered
    now you are free
    That was the river
    this is the sea.
    • "This Is The Sea"
  • You're trying to make sense
    of something that you just don't see

    You're trying to make sense now
    and you know you once held the key
    But that was the river
    this is the sea.
    • "This Is The Sea"
  • I was grounded
    while you filled the skies
    I was dumbfounded by truth
    you cut through lies
    I saw the lone empty valley
    you saw Brigadoon
    I saw the crescent
    You saw the whole of the moon
    • "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"
  • Flags, rags, ferryboats, scimitars and scarves
    every precious dream and vision underneath the stars
    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!
    • "The Whole Of The Moon"
 
How long will I love you?
As long as stars are above you
And longer if I can…
This album gets its title from the line of a song within Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women by George MacDonald
  • How long will I want you?
    As long as you want me to
    And longer by far
    • "How Long Will I Love You?"
 
He's like a man you'd meet any place
until you recognize that ancient Face
The Great God Pan is alive!
 
I dreamed about Jimi Hendrix
he came back for one day
was born weepin' out of an egg
the mid-wife said …
 
He played my guitar like a lightning storm
like twirlin' feathers in the wind
he could make it sound like the end of the world
a fire, the flick of a knife…
 
He stopped every clock in New York state
and every heart that heard him
and time itself was beaten and confused
and fell lamb-like under the spell of his fabulous flashing fingers …
  • At sea on a ship in a thunderstorm
    on the very night the Christ was born
    a sailor heard from overhead
    a mighty voice cry "Pan is Dead!"
    So follow Christ as best you can
    Pan is dead — Long live Pan!
    • "The Return Of Pan"
  • Some say the Gods are just a myth
    but guess Who I've been dancing with...
    The Great God Pan is alive!
    • "The Return Of Pan"
  • I dreamed about Jimi Hendrix
    he came back for one day

    was born weepin' out of an egg
    the mid-wife said
    and straight away began to pray
    with lifted head
    • "The Return of Jimi Hendrix"
  • He was young and black and beautiful
    big eyed, perfect skin an'
    he played my guitar like a lightning storm

    like twirlin' feathers in the wind
    he could make it sound like the end of the world
    a fire, the flick of a knife
    he could squeeze it slow and masterful
    like the hand that brought the world to life
    • "The Return of Jimi Hendrix"
  • He made all Manhattan shake
    and every street and sidewalk quake

    his stratocaster caused the mighty Empire State
    to vibrate
    • "The Return of Jimi Hendrix"
  • /p>He did a forty-two minute
    cosmic rise in future shocks

    Star Spangled Banner
    in the back of CBGB's

    He stopped every clock in New York state
    and every heart that heard him
    and time itself was beaten and confused
    and fell lamb-like under the spell of his
    fabulous flashing fingers

    He played an encore at the Bitter End
    a heartburst Little Wing
    even the waiters cried
    and then we fell outside
    and in the dusty dawn of Bleeker street
    a sweet rain fell
    and Jimi died.

    • "The Return of Jimi Hendrix"
 
Send out from this wooden frame
a beacon made of holy flame
This album takes its name from the performance theatre of the Findhorn Foundation.
 
Music in the heart of it
proclaiming that the lamp is lit
this light is for the world.
 
I'm gonna look twice at you
until I see the Christ in you
when I'm lookin through the eyes of love.
 
Seek the light
find the light
feel the light
be the light
 
Words take form in our minds and repeat themselves :
"My beloved and I are one…"
 
You are an eternal being of love
you are the light of the world.
 
I sacrifice my power on the altar of your love
that it may be born again on another world.
 
There’s a day to deny and a day to decry
and a day for the man with the wind at his heels!
  • This light is for the world.
    Send out from this wooden frame
    a beacon made of holy flame
    like a bridge across the morning sky
    from candle to the hills of high
    this light is for the world.
    • "This Light Is for the World"
  • This light is for the world
    send it out with sword of fire,
    with cymbal, drum and angel choir,
    music in the heart of it
    proclaiming that the lamp is lit
    this light is for the world.
    • "This Light Is for the World"
  • every breath is yours, beloved
    every breath is yours
    • "Every Breath Is Yours"
  • Ain't no words for the things I'm feeling
    ain't no tongue can tell
    no name for the song my soul's revealing
    and all is very well…
    • "Ain't No Words for the Things I'm Feeling"
  • Seek the light
    find the light
    feel the light
    be the light.
    • "Seek the Light" (co-written with May East and Craig Gibsone)
  • I've lived here before in days of old
    I recognise these buildings in my soul
    I know each winding road
    and every rise
    is friendly and familiar to my eyes
  • I can feel it in my blood
    that I belong
    to this strange and stony rock I stand upon
    yet I cannot put a name upon it
    I cannot place the time
    nor see the land as it once was
    nor tell which house was mine
    no I cannot put a name upon it
    which was where and when
    yet here I am
    a perfect stranger
    home again.
  • There's confusion in my head as I depart
    but a singing, ringing, soaring in my heart
    for beyond all time and space and doubt
    I know
    I've lived here before
    long ago.
  • I feel you move me
    in such sweet silence
    always dancing, always dancing
    never ever getting tired
    • "Always Dancing, Never Getting Tired"
  • You are an eternal being of love
    you are the light of the world.
    • "E.B.O.L."
  • I sacrifice my power on the altar of your love
    that it may be born again on another world.

    Come friend, let us climb the winding flights of stairs
    through the narrow door into the chamber bare
    a single candle burns as we seat ourselves
    words take form in our minds and repeat themselves :
    "My beloved and I are one…"
  • If high stream of dreams and truth be told
    and our intentions be entwined
    then from these high flung tower walls
    let healing grace and blessings fall
    over all this cracked and broken land
    from northern crag to southern down
    from Universal Hall to Camden town
    from city square to village green
    from parliament to housing scheme
    from Iona to the the Hill of Dreams
    I sacrifice my power on the altar of your love
    that it may be born again on another world.
  • There’s a day to ride thumb on a thunderhead
    There’s a day to make fantasy real
    There’s a day to deny and a day to decry
    and a day for the man with the wind at his heels!
edit
 
Wikipedia
 
Commons
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: