The Waterboys
Fisherman's Blues

THE REVIEW

The Pogues in the Eighties/Nineties accompanied my personal mental journeys that smelled of green and Dublin undergrowth. I've always had a soft spot for Ireland, driven by those stories of political factions, fishmongers who became national heroines, and those violins that offered irresistible music. Fortunately, I've never been to Ireland, so those thoughts remain there, platonic, pure, and immaterial.

"Fisherman's Blues" was released in 1988, after a long gestation. I discovered it 6 years after its release when a friend, perhaps tired of hearing me praise "Red Roses for Me" and "Rum, Sodomy and the Lash" like a litany, said to me: "ever heard of the Waterboys?". That's how I was introduced to a band that marked the history of Irish music, my subsequent listening, and, I admit, also the way I approach people and life's challenges.

It starts with a light and typically Irish ballad, "Fisherman's Blues", although the emphasis of the lyrics harks back to certain vocals already contained in albums like "This is the Sea", also by the Waterboys.
In "We Will Not Be Lovers", Mike Scott, the mad hatter, reduces the small tics or neuroses related to love to a simple, armored chorus, that thumps relentlessly: "We Will Not Be Lovers". But maybe he doesn't even believe it himself... Because this album is in fact the triumph of Love.
And indeed, next comes "Strange Boat" which surprises with its sweetness and a crystal clear, almost timeless melodic line. And the tempo of the previous track, with that rallying of violin and guitars, is still in our ears. This "Strange Boat" is honey and abandonment. Poetry and surrender.
"Sweet Thing" is Van Morrison. And the Van Morrison of "Astral Weeks", personally my favorite. It's one of those tracks where you think "oh my, what will come out of this?" and yet, thanks to an execution parallel to the original, though less jazzy and more "full", the song does not disappoint. Actually, no.
"And a Bang on the Ear" remains a ballad in the classic sense. Scott reviews his loves with a brilliant verve. It’s about reminiscing time gone by, with the awareness of having given "all his love" and thus without bitterness.
"Has Anybody Seen Hank" is the passionate invocation for a missing friend, brought down by jails, women, and alcohol. And our Scott evokes his presence for just an instant: "I want to hear a single note/from his lonely throat". But Hank, of course, doesn’t respond.
"When Ye Go Away" is the ideal continuation of "And a Bang". But in this bequest, there is no room for cold analysis. Mike Scott's heartbreaking voice howls his sadness candidly: "and I'll cry when you go".

And he sings the awareness of inevitable abandonment and I think of the obviousness of returning to breathe dust and crying under the poplars on November 2nd. Some call it "sensitivity".

It all closes with a poem by Yeats.

Come away, human child
to the water
Come away, human child
to the water and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand
for the world's more full of weeping than you can understand

And it's an eternal return. A benevolent curse. That makes you say, sing out loud,

I wish I was a fisherman
tossed on the sea
far from the dry land
and its bitter memories
casting out my sweet line with abandonment and love

And so we set off again, insist, navigate!