FEATURE:
The Green on the Grey
PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
Kate Bush’s Majestic Under the Ivy: The Single That Never Was
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I do not want to suggest that…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a promotional image for Hounds of Love’s The Ninth Wave/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
Kate Bush’s Under the Ivy was ever pencilled in as a potential single but, on 1985’s Hounds of Love, she was in such rich form that, alas, Under the Ivy was included as a B-side to Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)! The song has said of taken on its life and, not only is it the title of Graeme Thomson’s much-referenced (on this site) Under the Ivy: The Life & Work of Kate Bush, but the track features high in poll’s of Bush’s best tracks – MOJO placed it at number-seventeen in their recent feature about Bush (remarking how it was bafflingly provided as a B-side and is, literally, “a hidden treasure”; LOUDER ranked it at sixteen in their list of her greatest songs. Given the fact that many consider Under the Ivy as one of Bush’s top-twenty tracks, it is surprising that the song was never included on Hounds of Love! I guess, when you consider the songs on the album, then it might not have fitted time-wise. That said, thematically, it could have worked on either side. It could have been on the first side and slotted after Mother Stands for Comfort (and before Cloudbusting) and maybe it would have slotted on The Ninth Wave as a possible dream-type song - maybe coming between Watching You Without Me, and Jig of Life. I am going to dissect the track in a bit more detail soon.
Before that, I wanted to bring in some details from the Kate Bush Encyclopaedia - where we learn more about Under the Ivy:
“'Under The Ivy' we did in our studio in just an afternoon. (Peter Swales, 'Kate Bush'. Musician, Fall 1985)
It's very much a song about someone who is sneaking away from a party to meet someone elusively, secretly, and to possibly make love with them, or just to communicate, but it's secret, and it's something they used to do and that they won't be able to do again. It's about a nostalgic, revisited moment. (...) I think it's sad because it's about someone who is recalling a moment when perhaps they used to do it when they were innocent and when they were children, and it's something that they're having to sneak away to do privately now as adults. (Doug Alan interview, 20 November 1985)
I needed a track to put on the B-Side of the single Running Up That Hill so I wrote this song really quickly. As it was just a simple piano/vocal, it was easy to record. I performed a version of the song that was filmed at Abbey Road Studios for a TV show which was popular at the time, called The Tube. It was hosted by Jools Holland and Paula Yates. I find Paula’s introduction to the song very touching.
It was filmed in Studio One at Abbey Rd. An enormous room used for recording large orchestras, choirs, film scores, etc. It has a vertiginously high ceiling and sometimes when I was working in Studio Two, a technician, who was a good friend, would take me up above the ceiling of Studio One. We had to climb through a hatch onto the catwalk where we would then crawl across and watch the orchestras working away, completely unaware of the couple of devils hovering in the clouds, way above their heads! I used to love doing this - the acoustics were heavenly at that scary height. We used to toy with the idea of bungee jumping from the hatch. (KateBush.com, February 2019)”.
There has been speculation that the song could be about suicide but, to me, it is more about capturing an innocence and embracing passion under the ivy. Bush – or whether she is playing a protagonist -, asks the man to find her away from the party and in this secluded space; the first verse alone summons up so many gorgeous and evocative images and possibilities: “It wouldn't take me long/To tell you how to find it/To tell you where we'll meet/This little girl inside me/Is retreating to her favourite place”. I will talk about why Under the Ivy would have fitted as an album track but, consider the child-like imagery and the way Bush/the heroine is sort of regressing and trying to escape something quite hectic or sad, it seems, to me, it would have been a perfect vision summoned up during The Ninth Wave!
I love how Bush wrote the song quickly because there were songs on Hounds of Love that were quite a task to get together (especially The Big Sky). Although Bush views the song as a last gasp of innocence or this sort of wonderful bonding in a garden, one can interpret the song in other ways. It is such an interesting and deep song where one cannot help but immerse themselves in. Consider the lines: “I sit here in the thunder/The green on the grey/I feel it all around me/And it's not easy for me/To give away a secret/It's not safe”. There is definite emotion and tension in Bush’s heart, but I feel there is this desire and need to embrace someone and fulfil a desire inside her. I have seen some view Under the Ivy as Bush/the heroine submitting and disappearing but I don’t feel that way. There is a video of Bush performing the song, but I would have loved to have seen Under the Ivy visualised through an official music video. I could just imagine all the gorgeous colours and scenes that we would see in the video; maybe with Bush directing it, it would definitely be a stunning video! Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) reached number-three in the singles chart in the U.K. and, whilst that has a lot to do with the song itself, I think this remarkable B-side also contributed.
There can be no doubt that Under the Ivy is Kate Bush’s greatest B-side - and it is one of music’s greatest ‘what-ifs’. I have speculated where it could have fitted on Hounds of Love and, as I said, it would have been okay on either side. The Ninth Wave seems to be the best place for Under the Ivy; where we could have seen the heroine adrift at sea casting her mind to a party where she had this beautiful moment – possibly towards the end as there is light at the end of the tunnel. Sonically, it would have been perfect after Watching You Without Me and the more spirited Jig of Life. At 2:16, adding Under the Ivy would have taken the running time for The Ninth Wave to 28:28, which not only provide nice symmetry but it would have added even more body and wonder to a great suite! Maybe Bush would have felt The Ninth Wave a little bloated at eight tracks if Under the Ivy were included. Alternately, it could have fitted on the first side maybe, as I mentioned, after the dark and eerie Mother Stands for Comfort. I think it would have been a great accompaniment to another child-like song, The Big Sky, which appears before Mother Stands for Comfort; we would get this nice run of three songs were childhood, in some form, is examined.
Maybe, as Cloudbusting also nods to a child – in this case, Peter Reich, son of Wilhelm Reich, working on a cloudbusting device -, it would have been too samey. I reckon it could have worked alright. The running time for that first half would have been about twenty-three minutes and, as Under the Ivy is such a short song, I don’t think it would have overloaded the first half – and it would have meant that there was six tracks on the first half (it would have balanced out the two halves better). I guess Bush did need a B-side for Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) and, as it was the first single from Hounds of Love, she wanted to go in strong with an incredible B-side! I think Under the Ivy could have worked as part of a double A-side. Bush had other great B-sides that she released through the promotional campaign for Hounds of Love – including My Lagan Love (from Cloudbusting), and Burning Bridge (Hounds of Love) -, but there is something utterly wonderful and unmatched on Under the Ivy! I know Under the Ivy was released on a flexi-disc in Poland but, apart from that, there has not been a lot of attention for it as a standout track. It surely ranks as her greatest ‘lost’ track and, to me, it is in her top-twenty all-time best songs.
One can find Under the Ivy included on the album, The Other Sides, which was given a stand-alone release in 2019. Alongside Ran Tan Waltz, and You Want Alchemy, Under the Ivy is one of those lesser-known tracks that should be covered in greater depth – and get some more airplay on radio. It is a shame we never got to see an official video for the song, but the fact the song exists at all is a blessing. It just shows the sort of creative level Bush was during Hounds of Love that a song as majestic as Under the Ivy could be written so quickly and considered only as a B-side! Whilst it may seem personal to Kate Bush, I think many listeners can transport themselves inside the song and make the lyrics relevant to themselves. Listening to Bush perform Under the Ivy on The Tube in 1986 elicits shivers, and one can see that the song means a lot to her! It is such a remarkable moment in a career full of them and, if you have not heard the song, I would urge people to buy The Other Sides as it displays the variation and eclectic nature of Bush’s B-sides. Even though Under the Ivy was not given an outing on Hounds of Love I think, as a song, it is utterly engrossing. It is a completely wonderful track and…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1985/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
AN evergreen treasure.