FEATURE:
Blackbird Braille, Deamondi-Pavlova, Shovelcrusted and Vanishing World…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 2011
Dispelling a Myth: Kate Bush’s 50 Words for Snow
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TODAY (21st November)…
Kate Bush’s 50 Words for Snow turns nine. It is her latest studio album and, so long after its release, it keeps on revealing new things to me. I may put out one more feature before its anniversary later, as it is an album that boasts some phenomenal songs with great stories. One such diamond is its amazing title track. The album’s title/song refers to the myth that Eskimos have fifty words for snow – I am not sure why they ever would or why people ever believed that! This is an album where Bush explores snow in a very romantic way, but she throws in some gothic and ghostly touches on Lake Tahoe; some yeti-spotting on Wild Man and, on the title track, a nod to the Eskimos and that list myth. I always love Bush’s title tracks as I think, like other artists, the title track sort of defines an album and will get extra focus. On 50 Words for Snow, she had the unenviable task of coming up with fifty different words for snow! This article from the Kate Bush Encyclopaedia gives some background regarding the track:
“Years ago I think I must have heard this idea that there were 50 words for snow in this, ah, Eskimo Land! And I just thought it was such a great idea to have so many words about one thing. It is a myth - although, as you say it may hold true in a different language - but it was just a play on the idea, that if they had that many words for snow, did we? If you start actually thinking about snow in all of its forms you can imagine that there are an awful lot of words about it.
Just in our immediate language we have words like hail, slush, sleet, settling… So this was a way to try and take it into a more imaginative world. And I really wanted Stephen to read this because I wanted to have someone who had an incredibly beautiful voice but also someone with a real sense of authority when he said things. So the idea was that the words would get progressively more silly really but even when they were silly there was this idea that they would have been important, to still carry weight. And I really, really wanted him to do it and it was fantastic that he could do it. (...) I just briefly explained to him the idea of the song, more or less what I said to you really. I just said it’s our idea of 50 Words For Snow. Stephen is a lovely man but he is also an extraordinary person and an incredible actor amongst his many other talents. So really it was just trying to get the right tone which was the only thing we had to work on. He just came into the studio and we just worked through the words. And he works very quickly because he’s such an able performer. (...) I think faloop'njoompoola is one of my favourites. [laughs] (John Doran, 'A Demon In The Drift: Kate Bush Interviewed'. The Quietus, 2011)”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Stephen Fry
I have already written a feature about another guest star who appears on the album, Sir Elton John, on Snowed in at Wheeler Street, and it was rare to that point for Bush to bring in such big names on her music – she had worked with Peter Gabriel on a couple of his albums and Prince was in the mix on The Red Shoes, but nobody had true equal billing with Bush on vocals to that point. I love the fact that Bush could just call up Elton John and invite him over for tea and a recording session and, similarly, give Stephen Fry a buzz and wonder whether he would read these words! Whereas Elton John’s contribution is more traditional and sung, Fry’s is narrated and spoken word. He is, literally, doing what Paul Simon didn’t do on 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover and actually committing to the task – Fry gives us ever-increasing weirdness and inventiveness regarding snow-related words. I can imagine Bush coming at that side of the song day after day: chipping away and removing some words; she’d then add new ones like a Christmas shopping list that keeps changing through the weeks. I would struggle to name ten words for snow, so I can believe her when she said she had some crap attempts and was still writing when Fry was on his way to record! At 8:31, perhaps releasing 50 Words for Snow as a single would have been futile, but I think it is one of the best tracks on the album - and it is a pity that, like Snowed in at Wheeler Street, Bush did not release a video of her and Fry doing this song. I can imagine a great concept that would have got a lot of love!
I will end soon enough, but I want to bring in an interview where Bush discussed working on the song. It is a shame that this track and Snowed in at Wheeler Street did not get more attention and praise from critics. Many felt Snowed in at Wheeler Street features a few clumsy lyrics and Elton John’s vocal was not as stirring as it could have been – a good track but not one of the best. Some saw 50 Words for Snow as an interesting concept for a song but, as it is a long track, perhaps it lost momentum and it was a weaker effort. I love the title track, as it is a change of direction from beautiful songs like Wild Man, Among Angels, Misty, and Lake Tahoe and, whereas those tracks allow Bush more focus, it is nice that we hear a different voice and shift on the album. I love the drumming by Steve Gadd and the fact the song has a tribal touch with some wild swagger and groove; the guitar from Danny McIntosh is excellent, and the bass from John Giblin is liquid but has a rawness and fervency. When promoting the album, Bush was asked by the HUFFPOST about coming up with the core of 50 Words for Snow’s title track:
“MR: How much fun was putting that list together?
KB: Well, it wasn’t as much fun as getting Stephen Fry to say them. We had such a load of fun doing that — he’s a lovely man. It was really fun working with him. I have to say that the whole album was a lot of fun to make. It came together really quickly, it had a flow to it. It was like there was a kind of simplicity that ran through this album, although there was some complex structures and ideas going on.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a promotional image for 50 Words for Snow/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush (from his book, KATE: Inside the Rainbow)
What I hoped that song allowed to happen was to have a bit of fun, you know? It’s not meant to be taken seriously at all — it’s meant to have a bit of a sense of humor. Stephen Fry is very popular here; he’s a lovely man and very talented actor, and very intelligent. He’s the kind of person that whenever he says something, it’s with such a sensible authority that people automatically assume that it’s important. So, I thought that it would be great to get him to read the words because he still maintained that sense of authority. He also just has an extremely beautiful voice”.
I really love the amazing title track, and the combination of Fry’s serious and dedicated listing of these absurd words and Bush’s raw interjection to (Fry’s character) Prof. Joseph Yupik (“Come on Joe, you've got 32 to go/come on Joe, you've got 32 to go/Come on now, you've got 32 to go/come on now, you've got 32 to go/Don't you know it's not just the Eskimo/Let me hear your 50 words for snow”), is fantastic! 50 Words for Snow’s long songs mean that we do not hear them on radio, so I think the best thing to do is grab a copy of the album and enjoy. It is a wonderfully absorbing and fascinating album where we are guided by Bush through these snow-covered scenes and are presented with these incredible characters! Even if many choose songs like Wild Man, and Among Angels as highlights from Kate Bush’s tenth studio album, I think 50 Words for Snow is among…
THE finest tracks on the album.