Vocalist Gerard Whelan met bassist Enda Wyatt in a band that Whelan was aud… Read Full Bio ↴Vocalist Gerard Whelan met bassist Enda Wyatt in a band that Whelan was auditioning for. Whelan joined the band, but it broke up soon after. After the break-up, Whelan and Wyatt formed their own band. They originally performed alone, and recorded their works on a four-track tape recorder. After a year, Whelan brought his friend David Frew into the band. Whelan and David Frew had attended the same school and lived in the same housing estate. In 1988, they decided to name the band An Emotional Fish. For a few months, they performed with a drum machine, but soon added drummer Martin Murphy as the final member of the group.

In Spring of 1989, they signed to U2's independent Mother Records label to release their eponymous debut CD. "Grey Matter" was a mild local hit, but it was followed by "Celebrate", which hit the top 10 of the Ireland charts. College radio stations began to pick up the song. It received significant airplay, and eventually reached the top 5 of the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. Atlantic Records signed the band, and re-released "Grey Matter" in the US, where it became a lesser college rock hit. Atlantic released their debut album internationally, where it received generally poor reviews but sold well in Ireland.

After a tour to support the debut album, An Emotional Fish returned to the studio to record Junk Puppets. The songs were recorded over eight months, and four of the songs were produced by David A. Stewart. In 1993, the album was released, and An Emotional Fish opened for U2 on the Zoo TV Tour. However, the album sold few copies outside of Ireland. In 1994, the band released Sloper, but only secured a distribution deal in the UK. The album was released in the US two years later.

In 2002, Gerard Whelan began performing again as Jerry Fish, including two albums with Jerry Fish and the Mudbug Club. The other former members of An Emotional Fish all made appearances as Mudbug Club musicians.

The Island
An Emotional Fish Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

All that want (want... all that want... all that want)
Cannot have (have... have...)
On the island
On the island
Here on the island

All that want
cannot have

That’s the way of the world
the chemistry of man
Takes a piece
Just because
Somebody else does
Somebody else does

No time, only tides
Just the darling little hopeful
With his hands full of
Sweetened dreams
I confess
On somebody else

On the island
On the island
On the island
On the island
Here on the island

On the island
On the island
On the island
On the island
On the island (I… I… I… I… I…)
On the island (I… I… I… I… I…)
On the island

On the island
On the island

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to An Emotional Fish's song The Island are somewhat cryptic, but upon closer inspection, they appear to be an observation of human nature and the ways in which we interact with each other. The repetition of the lines "All that want/cannot have" emphasizes a kind of universal human desire for something we cannot attain. The phrase "That's the way of the world" suggests that this feeling is something we all encounter, and the "chemistry of man" could be interpreted as the complicated and sometimes destructive ways we interact with each other.

The line "Takes a piece/Just because/Somebody else does" could be interpreted in a variety of ways, but it seems to suggest that we often desire things simply because others have them. The second verse shifts focus to the individual, with the lines "No time, only tides/Just the darling little hopeful/With his hands full of/Sweetened dreams." Here, the singer seems to be acknowledging the ephemeral nature of life and the fact that our hopes and dreams may go unfulfilled. The final lines "I confess/On somebody else" bring the song back to the recurring theme of desire and the ways in which it can drive us to compare ourselves to others.

Overall, The Island seems to be a meditation on the ways in which we are all connected as human beings and the complicated emotions that surface as a result. The song encourages the listener to acknowledge their desires and perhaps find comfort in the knowledge that these feelings are universal.

Line by Line Meaning

All that want
Those who desire

cannot have
Are unable to possess

That’s the way of the world
It's the norm of human experience

the chemistry of man
The instinctual impulses of mankind

Takes a piece
Takes a share

Just because
Only because

Somebody else does
Somebody else possesses it

No time, only tides
There is no time to waste, only a transitory ebb and flow

Just the darling little hopeful
Only the optimistic and naive one

With his hands full of
Holding tightly to

Sweetened dreams
Idealistic aspirations