Room to Roam

Infobox Album | Name = Room to Roam
Type = Album
Artist = The Waterboys


Released = October 1990
Recorded = Spiddal House, July 1989 – 1990
Genre = Folk-rock
Length = 41:21
Label = Ensign Records, Chrysalis Records
Producer = Barry Beckett, Mike Scott
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jvx1z84ajyv6 link]
*"New York Times" Favourable [http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=60128261&loc=109&sp=1&queryType= Feb 2 1990]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|4|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/_/id/231442/thewaterboys?pageid=rs.ArtistDiscography&pageregion=triple1 link]
Last album = "Fisherman's Blues"
(1988)
This album = "Room to Roam"
(1990)
Next album = "Dream Harder"
(1993)

"Room to Roam" is an album by The Waterboys; it continued the folk-rock sound of 1988's "Fisherman's Blues", but was less of a commercial success, reaching one-hundred and eighty on the "Billboard" Top 200 after its release in September 1990 (see 1990 in music). Critical response continues to be mixed. Allmusic describes it both as "not quite as [musically] successful" as "Fisherman's Blues"ref|AMG, but also as a "Celtic rock classic"ref|AMGuh. The front and back covers were designed by Simon Fowler based upon photography by Stefano Giovannini and Sean Jackson.

"Room to Roam" is named after a passage in a George MacDonald book, "Phantastes". The cover photography was done by Simon Fowler, and designed by Anni Siggins.

The album was recorded at Spidall House in Galway, where the last recording sessions from the preceding album, "Fisherman's Blues", had been recorded. "Room to Roam" would be the last of The Waterboys' folk-rock sound until the release of "Universal Hall" in 2003. Fiddler Steve Wickham, who had been a large inspiration for the change to that sound for "Fisherman's Blues", left the band shortly before "Room to Roam" was released. In the tours promoting the album, The Waterboys briefly returned to their early "Big Music" rock music soundref|RC.

ongs

"A Life of Sundays", which was more of a rock music song than the rest of the album's tracks, reached position fifteen on "Billboard"'s Modern Rock singles chart.

"Islandman" anthropomorhpizes Great Britain and Ireland as the speaker describes locations from these places as parts of their (human) body. The lyrics offer some comments about the places that Scott had recently lived in the placements he chooses. "Scotland", he sings, "is my dreaming head / Ireland is my Heart", but "London sprawls across my rump".

"The Raggle Taggle Gypsy" is a traditional folk ballad, which, according to Nick Tosches, tells the story of a true seventeenth-century love affairref|Tosches. The song's appearance on "Room to Roam" popularized it, and it has since been recorded by other Irish-folk musicians, as well as by Carlos Núñez on "Os Amores Libres" in 1999 with Scott. The recording was also emblematic of the band's sound for "Fisherman's Blues" and "Room to Roam", in the same fashion that the single "The Big Music" came to describe the group's sound for the first three albums. The official Waterboys website refers to The Waterboys during this period as the "Raggle Taggle band".

"How Long Will I Love You" was released as a single in Ireland. On the seven-inch and cassette versions of the single, an alternative version of "When Will We Be Married", a traditional song that had appeared on "Fisherman's Blues" was the B-side. On the twelve-inch and compact disc releases of the single were also a Ray Charles song, "Come Live With Me". The song's lyrics are a simple proclamation of undying love from the speaker; "How long will I love you? / As long as stars are above you / and longer if I can".

"Spring Comes to Spiddal" is an oddity compared to other Waterboys songs. The song, which refers to Spiddal, where much of "Fisherman's Blues" and all of "Room to Roam" were recorded, is arranged in a style that is a blend of folk music and New Orleans-style marching band music. The lyrics are a straightforward description of the town's inhabitants enjoying the season of spring.

The words "Further up, further in" are spoken by the character Aslan in a book by Christian fantasist C.S. Lewis, one of Scott's sources of inspiration. The lyrics describe a Joseph Campbell-style "hero's journey" to meet a king. One verse of the song describes a classic image of The Fool from the tarot.

The lyrics for "Room to Roam" are found in the books "Lilith" and "Phantastes" by the Scottish fantasist George MacDonald.

Track listing

All songs by Mike Scott unless otherwise noted.
# "In Search of a Rose" – 1:20
# "Song from the End of the World" – 1:59
# "A Man Is in Love" (Scott) / "Calliope House" (Dave Richardson) – 3:18ref|Callope
# "Bigger Picture" (Scott, Anthony Thistlethwaite) – 2:26
# "Natural Bridge Blues" (Traditional, arranged by The Waterboys) – 2:06
# "Something That Is Gone" – 3:16
# "The Star and the Sea" – 0:26
# "A Life of Sundays" – 6:14
# "Islandman" – 2:06
# "The Raggle Taggle Gypsy" (Traditional, arranged by The Waterboys) – 2:58
# "How Long Will I Love You?" – 2:50
# "Upon the Wind and Waves" (Steve Wickham) – 1:32
# "Spring Comes to Spiddal" – 1:24
# "The Trip to Broadford" (K. Donnellan) – 1:14
# "Further Up, Further In" (Traditional, arranged by The Waterboys, words by Scott) – 5:19
# "Room to Roam" (George MacDonald, arranged by The Waterboys) – 3:08
# "The Kings of Kerry" (Scott, Sharon Shannon, Wickham) – 0:56

Personnel

* Barry Beckett - piano
* Seamus Begley - background vocals
* Colin Blakey - flute, piano, Hammond organ, whistling, whistle
* Noel Bridgeman - percussion, drums, vocals
* John Burke - background vocals
* Trevor Hutchinson - bass guitar, bouzouki
* Roddy Lorimer - trumpet
* Diarmuid O'Suilleabhan - background vocals
* Ken Samson - didjeridu
* Mike Scott - guitar, piano, vocals
* Sharon Shannon - fiddle, accordion
* J. Neil Sidwell - trombone
* Anthony Thistlethwaite - mandolin, saxophone
* Steve Wickham - fiddle, Hammond organ, vocals
* Ciaran Wilde - clarinet

Notes and references

# cite web | title=Review of Room to Roam | work=Allmusic | url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE5721EDF4FA97620CE993A48C5AD23A1598B63E38F162F451BDFBA3C548E197BF159D9A584FDFB74AB78ACE02CA45A0A9FC2E455F8D6633C2DED93&sql= – 10:1j9sa9qgb23h | accessdate=November 13 | accessyear=2005
# cite web | title=Review of Universal Hall | work=Allmusic | url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ce5e8qmzbtm4 | accessdate=November 13 | accessyear=2005
# note label|RC|1|a cite web | author=Peter Anderson | title=Mike Scott/Waterboys biography | work=Record Collector magazine | url=http://www.phpwebspace.net/waterboys/biog/pageone.htm | accessdate=October 22 | accessyear=2005
# Tosches, Nick (1996). "Country: The Twisted Roots of Rock 'N' Roll". Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80713-0.
# Note that the compact disc track listing is incorrect, and places "Calliope House" as the fourth track, instead of as the tune at the end of "A Man is in Love". Further, the liner notes title the song "Kaliope House".

External links

* [http://www.mikescottwaterboys.com/mikescottwaterboys/mainframes.asp?file=Lyrics/index.htm Lyrics at mikescottwaterboys.com]
* [http://forums.delphiforums.com/waterboys/messages Official forum] Chord requests are often fulfilled at "Musician's Corner"