Kate Bush for Dummies

I’m not quite sure how she has managed to escape my radar all these years, I had such faith that my parents had surrounded me with all the singers from their era that actually really mattered. There was one near miss when I was given a revision tape from my Spanish teacher who had accidentally taped Kate Bush over it. Rather than investigating this further I wrote her off as some strange wailing banshee woman. Makes sense- my idea of musical genius back then was Eternal. I’m simultaneously gutted and excited by all the lost years. So for the last few weeks have immersed myself in all things Bush! What follows is a crash course in Kate Bush for anyone interested. I have compiled all my favourite songs and interpretations...


Bad Dreams in The Night
Whilst still at school Kate was discovered by Pink Floyd 's David Gilmour who was so impressed by her that he financed some demo recordings. EMI Records were equally taken with her and in an unusual act of faith decided not to record her immediately. Instead, they gave her a cash advance and told her to go away for two years and develop her writing, dancing and singing in preparation for a long-term career. How unheard of is that now! Well it certainly paid off as Kate returned aged 19 with “Wuthering Heights” inspired by a television adaptation she had seen as a child of Emily Bronte’s novel. She caught the last 10 minutes of a scene where the ghost of Cathy haunts her ex-lover. The scene resounded with her more so as Cathy was her nickname as a child. The song captures brilliantly the obsessive love of the novels heroine, but more importantly it’s bloody good fun to prance around the kitchen to.




It’s in the trees, It’s Coming!
This song is about being afraid to fall in love and she compares it to being chased by a pack of hounds. I love how she can turn romance into a sort of horror ballad.
But rather than giving in to the fear she sort of laughs it off and eventually concedes to the idea of love when she admits that when she does fall in love she’ll recklessly “take her shoes off and THROW them in the lake” and she’ll “be two steps on the water” cautiously following them.





Mammy’s Hero
An ode to the grieving parents of deceased soldiers- those young men who only join the army because they have no other opportunities in life as they grew up in poverty. No doubt they are keen to 'see the world' but really they are pawns to the politicians and generals who send them to wars. They know little about the situation in which they find themselves – “the chicken with the fox”. It’s like the old joke isn’t it - to join the army is to travel to fascinating places, meet fascinating people, and kill them.




Deeper Understanding
In the context of 2009 this is clearly about internet addiction, how we are lonely and lost without “our little black box”. The fact that it was released in 1989 makes it a pretty foreseeing feat by Bush.
Unsatisfied with human interaction in the real world this person turns to their computer who “brings them love and deeper understanding”. Makes me want to chuck my laptop out the window!



I know you have a little life in you yet
John Hughes contacted Kate about writing a song for a specific scene in his movie "She's Having a Baby". He sent her a clip of the scene in which a young father to be waits nervously while his partner is in the delivery room giving birth to their child.

So the song is sort of a narrative of this man's thoughts how he stands outside “this woman’s work, this woman’s world”, how he could have been there more for his partner during the pregnancy etc.

Here’s how it appeared in the film...SOB!





Why did you make it so unreal?
Awww- just love this- sung before Kate became a big star.




Life is sad..And so is Love
Written after her Mother's death "And so is Love" is about finding out that love, like life, is not perfect; but as we get older, we learn that our loved ones matter most.