I Wanna Be Kate: The Kate Bush Primer

I hear where you are with The Dreaming Snarf, but for me nothing beats Hounds of Love - nostalgia has a lot to do with that I think. The second half of that album is like a deeply intense (and just a bit disturbing) dream sequence that I will never shake. I think I listed it on my top 10 album list somewhere else on these forums...
 
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I discovered the song years ago during the credits of The Chocolate War movie. Which I still haven’t seen, only caught the credits flipping through channels, but have now seen the credits many times. Very much an OMG what is that song moment, so I can imagine Stranger Things fans having the same experience. I guess, at the time, I was very much like payn’s buddy except more of, “How did I not know about this song? Did you know about this song? Why didn’t you tell me?”
 

I've probably still got my copy of The Red Shoes somewhere in storage with my other CDs. Picked it up during that period in my life I was picking up music that caught my fancy while watching 120 Minutes.
 

I hear where you are with The Dreaming Snarf, but for me nothing beats Hounds of Love - nostalgia has a lot to do with that I think. The second half of that album is like a deeply intense (and just a bit disturbing) dream sequence that I will never shake. I think I listed it on my top 10 album list somewhere else on these forums...

I RAISE YOU FROM THE DEAD!

The thread about Christmas songs (I posted Kate's song, of course) caused me to come back here and I saw that I never replied to this.

You're not wrong! I don't think anyone can be criticized for saying Hounds of Love is the "best" Kate album. And, like you, that second side ... it kills me. Every single time. The transition from Sheep to Under Ice to Waking the Witch .... and then Jig of Life to Hello Earth ... all of it is great. But the Ice/Witch part, especially.... I was in THE NORTH at one point long ago, and I remember walking in the darkness, snow everywhere on the ground and falling around me, listening to a tape* on a walkman** with that playing and just being transported to somewhere else.

*This is an old way of listening to music. See also, 8-track, reel-to-reel.
**See above. It's like an iPod. An iPod? Um... Nevermind.

That said, we all know the rules of True Fans(tm). We can never make the obvious choice! Seriously, though, The Dreaming might not have that specific transition, or any of the "hits" (defined loosely) of Hounds, but the songs are so powerful and surreal. There are times when, for no particular reason, that part (and you know the part) from Night of the Swallow will come, unbidden, to my brain, and I have to dig out the vinyl and play the album*** until it goes away.

***This is a euphemism for streaming the album from Apple Music or Spotify or your service of choice. Unless you are hip to the youth of today, in which case ... yeah, vinyl.
 

Kate Bush was never really popular here in the United States, but you would occasionally hear "Running Up That Hill" on oldies stations playing the hits from the 1980s. In 2022, I was driving somewhere listening to the radio when halfway through a song I realized, "Damn, they're playing a Kate Bush song?" I was shocked because the station's format was contemporary pop hits rather than oldies from the 1980s.

I heard someone once describe Bush as "Artsty fartsy, airy fairy" music. That sounds about right to me. I don't think I really listened to any of her music any sooner than 15 years ago or so. He music is ridiculous and bizarre but still enjoyable for some reason. Her song "Wuthering Heights" is like watching a trainwreck and I can't turn away. I like "Them Heavy People" though.
 


Kate is like a cat in the dark and then she is the darkness.

She is forever suspended in gaffa....

(Aside- if you don't know what gaffa is, don't find out. I still love that song so much, and learning exactly what it was didn't change the meaning of the song so much, but it lost .04% magicnation when I realized exactly what it meant, as opposed to what I had conjured in my mind.)
 

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