FEATURE:
Kate Bush: The Deep Cuts
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in an outtake from the Lionheart album cover shoot/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz
Kashka from Baghdad
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THIS is a new (short) run of features…
where I explore the deeper cuts from Kate Bush. One might say that most of her songs are deep cuts. That is quite true. With all but her most obvious and successful singles widely known and played by radio stations, I have long-campaigned for deeper investigation and exposure of Bush’s music. That would provided truer representation of an artist whose deep cuts are as compelling and interesting as singles like Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God). Not that there is anything wrong with the big hitters, but I do wonder how many people are conscious of songs like Kashka from Baghdad. It is no surprise that a song like this has not been heard. Whereas Bush’s debut album, The Kick Inside, is well-known and was better reviewed, Lionheart also came out in 1978. It was quite a rushed album in many ways, so Bush could not dedicate too much time to writing new songs – especially as she was promoting The Kick Inside all around the world. I am thanking the Kate Bush Encyclopedia ahead of time, as I am going to be using them when it comes to some references and interview archives around the songs I highlight. Let’s start off with Kate Bush explaining where Kashka from Baghdad came from:
“That actually came from a very strange American Detective series that I caught a couple of years ago, and there was a musical theme that they kept putting in. And they had an old house, in this particular thing, and it was just a very moody, pretty awful serious thing. And it just inspired the idea of this old house somewhere in Canada or America with two people in it that no-one knew anything about. And being a sorta small town, everybody wanted to know what everybody what else was up to. And these particular people in this house had a very private thing happening. (Personal Call, BBC Radio 1, 1979)”.
In future editions, I will explore cuts from her albums that, whilst excellent and worthy of widespread love, are either unknown, underrated, should have been singles, or are tracks that are unconventional or not exactly the most obvious radio hits – which, to be fair, could apply to most of Kate Bush’s catalogue! I love Kashka from Baghdad because of its inspiration and unusualness. Not only is the title quite intriguing; the fact that the song is really about two homosexual lovers. It is a bold and wonderfully original song that also has a beautiful composition. Right from the start, we are taken into a song with an unusual scenery, scent and situation: “Kashka from Baghdad/Lives in sin, they say/With another man/But no one knows who/Old friends never call there/Some wonder if life's/Inside at all/If there's life inside at all”. Giving the song an exotic flavour, Paddy Bush (Kate’s brother) supplies strumento da porco, mandocello and panpipes. Andrew Powell (who produced Lionheart) plays joanna strumentum. I guess Wow (which was released as a single) is the song people associate with Lionheart. Some of the remaining nine tracks are known, but I have not heard Kashka from Baghdad played that much. It is a beautiful song that Bush performed live a couple of times.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in the ‘Hollywood’ shot/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz
Another point of these features, aside from illuminating songs that are either not known or rarely talked about, is to showcase and demonstrate the sheer breadth and depth of Kate Bush’s talent and creative imagination. On her second studio album, she included Kashka from Baghdad. This was not one of the new tracks she wrote especially for the album, so this one dates back quite a bit. I think 1976. Amazing to think that, aged eighteen or nineteen, Bush was writing music that nobody else around her was. A singularly spectacular songwriter who created her own universe, it is a shame that there is not more awareness of her deeper cuts. I am only assuming, but I do feel there is a tendency for people to gravitate towards big songs from albums like Hounds of Love. I hope, through this series, to direct people to great songs they may not have known about and, in the process, acquire a deeper knowledge and appreciation of Kate Bush. Lofty aspirations, but we can but hope! Kicking off this deeper cuts feature with a brilliant song from the underrated Lionheart album, Kashka from Baghdad is a remarkable track. Lines through the song demonstrate Bush’s almost poetic approach to songwriting: “They never go for walks/Maybe it's because/The moon's not bright enough/There's light in love, you see”. If you have not heard the beautiful Kashka from Baghdad, then I would recommend that you do. It is a song that is…
WELL worth your time.