FEATURE:
Kate Bush’s Unique and Stunning Gifts
IMAGE CREDIT: Popphilosophy/ORIGINAL PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush (for 1989’s The Sensual World)
Immense and Calming Beauty in So Many Forms
__________
THAT may be a vague…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978
title that doesn’t really provide huge clarity or answers. I didn’t mean to publish this but, as I have been working hard on anniversary features, I have been getting very specific and diving into the work of Kate Bush. I am not done yet but, as September is a busy month regarding album anniversaries – Never for Ever, The Dreaming and Hounds of Love have anniversaries -, I have been unable (not that I’d want to!) to escape her music. I am not going to include specific tunes or albums. Rather, I wanted to use this feature to solidify and augment something I have suggested and covered in various forms in other features. We associate Kate Bush with being an innovate and hugely original artist who broke through with the strange and stupendously original Wuthering Heights (1978). I think one of the words that got levied at her early work is ‘pretty’. Some meant it as a compliment, but others used it as a term for ‘simple’. This beautiful and ornate music that didn’t have a great deal of depth and memorability. As much as anything, I feel Bush’s gift for writing these beautiful and utterly spellbinding songs is one of her best talents. She is simply beguiling. Her first three albums, The Kick Inside (1978), Lionheart (1978) and Never for Ever (1980), all have these gorgeous songs that showcase her immense vocal gifts. Although her albums became more layered and ambitious when she started producing solo, my favourite occasions are the ones where we get these moments that buckle the knees. Whether it is the title track of The Sensual World or the songs on the second side/disc of Aerial, A Sky of Honey, these are the sounds and emotions that affect me. Whether it is Bush’s voice that is delicate or tender or a composition and mood is summoned that puts your mind in a tranquil space, she seems to elicit something staggering and divine more easily and prolifically than any other artist.
PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
In a recent feature, I talked about how Bush’s music has calmed me and really hit me emotionally. I find myself immersing myself in her songs when I need to escape or require answers. Whether it is a tough time or a darker period, Kate Bush’s music has a rare power. She has a maturity and wisdom that lifts me. Her astonishing voice can nourish and wrap arms around me. She can also set scenes and images that she invites the listeners to walk inside. You may notice that the odd photo in this feature is Bush with flowers in her hair or around her. I have needed a lift, and I just randomly Googled ‘Kate Bush flowers’ and got these image results. I love so many photos of Kate Bush, but ones where she has flowers around her or as part of her look are among the most remarkable! Just seeing photos of Kate Bush and flowers or a garden make me smile! She has this classic beauty and elegance that fits wonderfully with floral additions. The same can be said of her music. Some of her most immediate and soul-reaching songs are those where she takes us into the garden and among the flowers (including the B-side to Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God), Under the Ivy). Promotional photos for Hounds of Love’s second side, The Ninth Wave, see Bush in the water with flowers around her. Maybe it is a funeral touch, but it adds new possibility and meaning to the songs. Go and Google it yourself but, from shots of her in the Hammer Horror video to iconic shots of her with flowers and ivy in her hair, I have been compelled!
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a promotional photo for Hounds of Love’s The Ninth Wave/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
It has been a very tough and changing year for many of us. For me, I have undergone some change and a bit of upheaval. More than at any time, I have needed to rely on music to provide me with some hope and strength. Kate Bush’s music always does that, but it is her ability to kiss the soul and soothe the senses that has been especially instrumental and important. I don’t think those who called Bush’s music pretty or juvenile in the early days understood her or got the music. Sure, some of the songs are a bit under-developed or lacking too many layers. Maybe they didn’t like her voice. In my view, Bush’s beautiful songs and the incredible femininity is one of the biggest strength. She did shift her voice from The Dreaming onwards to give it a more masculine edge, but even then her songwriting still took us into magical and strange lands - and ably and willingly managed to touch the heart. Not to get into areas around her natural beauty and looks, but seeing photos or Kate Bush also cause you to smile and feel calm. I have been looking at one connected to flowers, but there are so many shots that lift the mood or calm anxieties. Of course, there are many facets and sides to Kate Bush. Her experimentation, wonderful production talents and constant evolution is just as important as anything else.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1993
I wanted to use this feature to focus on Bush’s soulful, beautiful and warm music. Whether it is more teenage or naïve in her earlier work, or sensual and blossoming on albums like Hounds of Love or The Sensual World, or indeed maternal and older on Aerial and 50 Words for Snow, she has this inexplicable and peerless knack of being able to do something to the listener that nobody else can do in the same way. Maybe it is her extraordinary lyrics and compositions that build these words around you, or the way her voice can entrance and pull you into the music. I have been really benefiting from that of late. It is nice to escape a bit when things are a bit raw and unsure. Kate Bush’s music is so valuable and precious. I think she speaks to people in different ways. This is a sort of thanks (one, obviously, that she will never read!) to her for all that she has given and how her music can provide support and reassurance. Not that her beautiful voice and songwriting alone can make everything better, but I have been particularly engaged and inspired by the beauty she projects through her vocals and music. From the amazingly beautiful and swooping vocals on The Kick Inside, to the way an album like Aerial can evoke gardens, dawn, warmth and calm is mesmeric! Other artists can do this, but none quite like the amazing Kate Bush. Not to be taken lightly, this is…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush and the late Lindsay Kemp during the filming of 1993’s The Line, the Cross and the Curve
SUCH a talent to love and cherish.