The Hammerhead Bar

Album: Out of All This Blue (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is about John Entwistle's mansion in Gloucestershire, England, known as Quarwood. Inside, he had a bar he called "The Hammerhead," as he had at least one cast of a hammerhead shark. Waterboys frontman Mike Scott, who wrote the song, was never there, but a friend of his who went there told him all about it, which is how Scott formed the lyric. The first verse is nearly a word-for-word description, and the rest of the song is what Scott calls "my invention, between rock-Babylonian-gods-of-excess type lines."
  • Some of the characters who belly up to this bar include Vivian Stanshall of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, Ringo Starr's son, four Uriah Heep roadies, and some groupies from Lithuania.
  • Mike Scott co-opted David Hood, the legendary bass player in the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, for the band's Out of All This Blue album. The groove of this song is based on a 1967 Etta James song called "Watchdog," on which Hood played.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"They're Playing My Song

A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.

Richard Marx

Richard MarxSongwriter Interviews

Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Yoko Ono

Yoko OnoSongwriter Interviews

At 80 years old, Yoko has 10 #1 Dance hits. She discusses some of her songs and explains what inspired John Lennon's return to music in 1980.

Loreena McKennitt

Loreena McKennittSongwriter Interviews

The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.