there is thunder in out hearts

[baboon2004]

Why is it almost every woman I know loves Kate Bush? Total absence of cock rock macho stylings is the first thing I thought of.

She's one of the many artists I've barely listened to. Might have to rectify that.

I think there's also something of the idea that because Kate Bush emerged almost preternaturally fully-formed as an artist, the male-dominated music industry didn't get the opportunity to 'mould' her as much as many female artists - she was one of the few female artists whose talent seems to have been respected in and of itself. Whereas the industry has forced so many women to change/modify themselves to fit a pre-packaged idea/l. Obviously within this the Dave Gilmour connection may have been an insulating factor too - don't know the history

 

[blissblogger]

My very small store of Kate Bush knowledge inevitably is related to Wilhelm Reich. She'd not read Reich (AFAIK) when she wrote "Cloudbusting", but she had been reading Peter Reich's (Reich's son) autobiography of his childhood - "A Book of Dreams". His father had had him around when he'd been doing his weather experiments, which led to weird UFO type manifestations in the sky that Reich has fired his cloudbusters at (cloudbusters being the devices he built to manipulate the weather). The book is Peter Reich dealing with the loss of his father and other memories like that. It's a very touching work. IIRC you see a copy of it slipped into her pocket at one point. She's playing Peter Reich in the video. Reich is played by Donald Sutherland (which means he must be fucking cool).

"I still dream of Organon" the song's opening line, refers to Reich's research base and home in Portland, Maine, which is now the Wilhelm Reich Museum.

Here's a picture of a cloudbuster:

What's odd is that another Iconic Strong Female Free Spirit Artist of the 1970s - Patti Smith - also wrote a song based on the Peter Reich book



"Patti Smith explained to The Observer: "There's a section in it where Peter describes a birthday party not long after his father died. He wandered outside and became convinced his father was coming down to get him and take him off in a spaceship.' But what he thought was a squadron of UFOs revealed itself to be a flock of blackbirds.

This story haunted me, and when we recorded 'Birdland,' which was totally improvised, that's where the track went to."
A motif runs through the song: "You are not human," which becomes "I am not human" and then "We are not human." Smith explained: "That's really talking about myself. From very early on in my childhood - four, five years old - I felt alien to the human race. I felt very comfortable with thinking I was from another planet, because I felt disconnected - I was very tall and skinny, and I didn't look like anybody else, I didn't even look like any member of my family."

 

[DannyL]

Oh wow. I had no idea about that. I'm going to have to buy the book again and reread. I ended up giving my last copy away.

 

[...]

argue against this one, haters

Good taste.

 

[luka]

And I must confess the think the sexual healing cover is ridiculous and what's more I think it is purposefully and knowingingly ridiculous. An early example of that modern trend of white, middle class acts covering black music. An Indie version of straight out of Compton with ukulele backing. The comic premise is the lack in the white artist of all the qualities the black original exemplifies, and the discomfort of the white performer with those qualities.

 

[...]

It's secksy.

 

[Mr. Tea]

It's secksy.

I'm surprised, and not a little impressed, that someone as contemptuous of memes and Internet culture generally knows the difference between sex and secks.

 

[luka]

He doesn't, surely. It's the way she pronounces it in that silly song.

 

[Mr. Tea]

He doesn't, surely. It's the way she pronounces it in that silly song.

Oh. Disappointed.

 

[other_life]

they have a naivity about them (they genuinely think doing some contemporary dance with a person in a vegetative state is constructive) but however silly it is it’s coming from a very kind hearted place. and that’s the side that kate bush captures. there’s a real wholesomeness about her music. a warmth to it. a genuine moral and psychological goodness. it’s music that would never want to hurt anybody. that's romanticised and wants to see the world be more like a fairy tale. its truly sweet and kind. however ridiculous it is or off it is, it’s heart is in the right place.

see also: natalie merchant

 

[vershy versh]

'Running Up That Hill' just reached No. 1 off the back of the Stranger Things wave.

 

[woops]

I got asked to write a poem about that song specifically in terms of nostalgia today

 

[wg-]

 

[Benny Bunter]

If I was DJing a rave I'd be digging this one out the bag right now

 

[Murphy]

knocked one out once over paused Babooshka vhs, there’s nostalgia

 

[Benny Bunter]

Good thread this actually, I missed this one. Cloudbusting is my fave, absolutely devastating.

And if you don't like this there's something seriously wrong with you

 

[thirdform]

definitely the worst music ever made.

 

[luka]

She looks like a Tory MP for Winchester but you watch it and fall hopelessly in love

 

[luka]

The capacity for getting immersed in an internal world is actually very seductive

 

[thirdform]

nah, that's Jonie Mitchell surely. Bush is too close to home to fall in love with.