"A Life of Sundays" is a song by the Scottish-Irish folk rock band

The Waterboys The Waterboys are a folk rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained ...

, which was released in 1990 as a track on their fifth studio album ''

Room to Roam ''Room to Roam'' is the fifth studio album by The Waterboys; it continued the folk rock sound of 1988's ''Fisherman's Blues'', but was less of a commercial success, reaching #180 on the ''Billboard'' Top 200 after its release in September 1990. C ...

''. It was written by Mike Scott and produced by

Barry Beckett Barry Edward Beckett (February 4, 1943 – June 10, 2009) was an American keyboardist, session musician, record producer, and studio founder. He is best known for his work with David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, and Roger Hawkins, his bandmates in th ...

and Scott. In the United States, the song reached No. 15 on ''

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Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart and remained on the chart for nine weeks.

Background

Describing the song in the liner notes of the 2008 re-issue of ''Room to Roam'', Scott said: "Across its six minute span, 'A Life of Sundays' features rock 'n' roll, blues, soul, African, psychedelia, punk or glam, Irish literature and no-nonsense trad." The song was recorded at Spiddal House,

Spiddal Spiddal ( ga, An Spidéal , meaning 'the hospital') is a village on the shore of Galway Bay in County Galway, Ireland. It is west of Galway city, on the R336 road. It is on the eastern side of the county's Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking area) an ...

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

, Ireland in 1990.

Critical reception

In a review of ''Room to Roam'',

Bruce Dessau Bruce Dessau is a British arts critic who writes for the ''London Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in Lo ...

of ''

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'' commented, "'A Life of Sundays', with its talk of a 'sense of wonder', harks back to both the original Celtic pop mystic

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

and the love-stricken metaphysical poets."

Iestyn George Iestyn George is a Welsh journalist, who previously worked as an editor at both ''NME'' and '' GQ'' and is now a lecturer at University of Brighton. Journalism career During the 1990s, George was a writer for ''NME'' magazine, and became news ed ...

of ''

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'' described the song as the album's "only rock concession" and noted "its crescendo of malevolent, thrusting bass, Hammond organ and brash chords behind Scott's

Dylanesque ''Dylanesque'' is the twelfth studio album by English singer Bryan Ferry, released on 5 March 2007 by Virgin Records. The album consists of cover versions of ten Bob Dylan songs and one traditional song that Dylan himself covered on his first ...

delivery which is joined by Noel Bridgeman's stirring and gutsy backing vocals". Neil McKay of '' Sunday Life'' said of the album, "It's all quite enjoyable in its own way, but the record only comes alive when Scott unobtrusively assimilates the folk influences in outstanding songs like 'A Life of Sundays'." John Mulvey of ''

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'' described the song as an "ecstatic rocker". John Milward of ''

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'' commented, "It's the frantic edge of Steve Wickham's fiddle that puts the adrenaline into ruminative rockers such as 'A Life of Sundays'." Gene Armstrong of the ''

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'' stated, "With its 5-minute length, rumbling rhythm section, squawking horn and riffing guitars, 'A Life of Sundays' is the album's rock single, if in fact this band cares about such things anymore." Brant Houston of the ''

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'' described the song as "semi-psychedelic" and "solely The Waterboys" in its style. ''

Musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

'' described the song as a "college radio-ready rocker" which "devolves into a wonderfully unwieldy guitar frenzy". Mike Curtin of ''

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'' wrote, "Only on the most fully developed material, notably 'Further Up, Further In' and 'A Life of Sundays,' do Scott and company fulfill their promise of a satisfying synthesis of traditional and modern styles." Eric McClary of the ''

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'' said, "Unfortunately, only 'A Life of Sundays' comes close to the visionary wanderings of the last Waterboys album, ''

Fisherman's Blues ''Fisherman's Blues'' is a 1988 album by The Waterboys. The album marked a change in the band's sound, with them abandoning their earlier grandiose rock sound for a mixture of traditional Irish music, traditional Scottish music, country music, a ...

''."

Personnel

The Waterboys * Mike Scott – vocals, guitar *

Anthony Thistlethwaite Anthony "Anto" Thistlethwaite (born 31 August 1955, Lutterworth, Leicestershire, England) is a British multi-instrumentalist best known as a founding member (with guitarist Mike Scott) of the folk rock group, The Waterboys and later as a long ...

– saxophone *

Steve Wickham Steve Wickham is an Irish musician. Originally from Marino, Dublin, but calling Sligo home,Trevor Hutchinson Trevor Hutchinson is a Northern Irish bass player and a founding member of Lúnasa. Born in Cookstown, County Tyrone, in Northern Ireland, he played with numerous bands before Lúnasa, including The Waterboys and Sharon Shannon. Discography ; ...

– bass * Colin Blakey – flute *

Sharon Shannon Sharon Shannon (born 8 June 1968) is an Irish musician, best known for her work with the button accordion and for her fiddle technique. She also plays the tin whistle and melodeon. Her 1991 debut album, ''Sharon Shannon,'' was the best-selling ...

– accordion * Noel Bridgeman – drums, percussion, backing vocals Production *

, Mike Scott – producers * Tim Martin – engineer * Robbie Adams – assistant engineer

Charts

References

{{authority control 1990 songs The Waterboys songs Song recordings produced by Barry Beckett Song recordings produced by Mike Scott (musician) Songs written by Mike Scott (musician)