FEATURE:
Kate Bush: The Deep Cuts
Violin
__________
IN this deep cuts series…
I am picking album tracks that many people might not know about. Many Kate Bush fans might not know too much about these songs too, so under-discussed and overlooked are they. I have visited Bush’s third studio album, Never for Ever, before for this series. Released in 1980, one can say that most of the tracks are deep cuts. I guess Babooshka is the one we connect with that album. Army Dreamers and Breathing, whilst singles, are not that known to everyone. What those three songs show is how much Bush’s ambitions, voice and lyrics had grown and expanded since her debut album two years earlier. In terms of the themes she was exploring, the technology being used and the stage she was in her career, Never for Ever is the sound of an artist fresh from an international tour who was ready to step things up and take her work to new places. Actually, though I have mentioned Bush’s debut album (The Kick Inside) and how her sound palette and repertoire was broader, I actually want to link to it in a positive way. I love The Kick Inside more than any other album, but my point is that Never for Ever is more eclectic. On The Kick Inside, there is a number called The Saxophone Song. Bush wrote that because she loves the instrument and felt that is was very mellow, rich, and interesting. Like a woman.
A definite deep cut from Never for Ever has an instrument at its heart. Violin is one of those songs that many people have never heard. I am not sure whether Bush played the saxophone or ever thought about it but, as a child, she did learn the violin. Not as enjoyable as the piano, Bush did at least commit a song to record that celebrated the violin! Whereas the saxophone is mellow and has this romantic and sensuous quality, Bush notes how the violin is wilder and has this intense energy. Indeed, listen to the vocal performances on The Saxophone Song and Violin and they are vastly different! One reason why Violin should be better know as it sees Bush deliver a more Rock-orientated vocal. Something graveled, ecstatic and blood-rushing, maybe some people who reviewed Never for Ever felt Violin stuck out. If Bush would top that intensity on her next album, The Dreaming, with the incredible Get Out of My House, Violin was not what people were used to with regards her music. It always scores quite low when music sites and magazine rank the tracks from Never for Ever. I would argue Violin is worthy of fresh ears and affection. There are so many Kate Bush songs that very rarely get played on the radio or are given short shrift. Such an eccentric and brilliant intoxicating song, let’s hope that new fans of Bush’s work are hearing songs like Violin and enjoying it!
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush performing Violin during her 1979 Christmas special
Before I carry on, the Kate Bush Encyclopedia provide information about the different versions of the song. I like the fact that Bush did perform the song live during The Tour of Life and her underrated 1979 Christmas special. I don’t think I have heard the demo version of Violin. As the album version is quite fulsome and layered, it would be intriguing to hear the demo and how this wonderful song started life:
“Versions
The studio version is the only officially released version. However, a demo version of 'Violin' has also surfaced. It appears on the bootleg 7" single 'Cathy Demos Volume Three' and various bootleg CD's.
Performances
'Violin' was premiered during the Tour of Life, when it was performed as the eighth song of the first act. At the end of 1979, Kate performed 'Violin' during the Christmas Special, after which she never performed the song again”.
Credits
Drums: Preston Heyman
Electric bass: Del Palmer
Electric guitar: Brian Bath
Electric guitar and solo: Alan Murphy
Violin: Kevin Burke
Banshee: Paddy Bush”.
Violin is an interesting song. Bush did perform is quite a bit, but after her Christmas special, that was that for this terrific song. I guess there was no call or opportunity to do it live after that. Not one of the singles from Never for Ever, I think a lot of people have passed this song by. It is not one of her best songs, but neither is it filler or something half-formed. Always an extraordinary lyricist, things are interesting, original, and memorable right at the start: “Four strings across the bridge/Ready to carry me over/Over the quavers, drunk in the bars/Out of the realm of the orchestra/Out of the realm of the orchestra”. Accompanied by Kevin Burke on the violin – who is a standout on this song -, I love the images that Kate Bush summons. My favourite verse is this: “Paganini up on the chimney/Lord of the dance/With Nero and old Nicky/Whack that devil/Into my fiddlestick!/Give me the Banshees for B.V.s/Give me the Banshees for B.V.s”. My hope is, with this run of features, to alert existing Kate Bush fans to songs that they might have forgotten about. For those new to her work, tracks like Violin demonstrate the depth and originality that Bush has. Every album has so many different moods and sounds. I love Never for Ever and its bigger songs, but cuts like Violin are also amazing. An impassioned song that has never quite got the credit it deserved, the stunning vocals, lyrics, and layers of this Never for Ever beauty proves that the incredible Kate Bush has many…
STRINGS to her bow.