Suddenly she’s everywhere again. Following the success of Stranger Things, Kate Bush took the charts by storm again with her synth-pop number Running Up That Hill. She broke record after record after record. Kate Bush has always been an exceptional phenomenon. A forest fairy who didn’t want to stick to the music industry’s recipe for success and yet went down in history.
Kate Bush’s career started early. Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour recognized the Brit’s talent and began recording demos when she was only 16. Then everything happened quickly. Two years later she signed to the record label EMI and in 1977 her debut album THE KICK INSIDE was released, with Gilmour helping out as producer.
Kate Bush has never been pinned down to one genre over the years. Every song and every album is a work of art in itself. Visual storytelling in the form of expressive dance always played an important role. Here is a far too short, subjective overview on the occasion of Kate Bush’s 64th birthday.
Top 5 Kate Bush Songs
Wuthering Heights
The soprano voice, the red dress and Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights is iconic. The song was Kate Bush’s first single and immediately showed what the only 18-year-old stood for. Surreal images and literary allusions.
The Brit was inspired while directing the TV adaptation of the novel Wuthering Heights (Note: German translation of Wuthering Heights) by Emily Brontë had seen on TV. In the song of the same name, Bush sings from the point of view of Catherine Earnshaw, who begs her lover Healthcliff to let her into his room.
Suspended in Gaffa
Those looking for catchy pop melodies on the 1982 album THE DREAMING were severely disappointed. Kate Bush took over the production for the first time and experimented with samples, sounds and different styles. This made THE DREAMING an artistic success and a commercial failure.
“Suspended in Gaffa” is perhaps the most accessible song on the album. In an interview, Kate Bush stated that the song is autobiographical. It’s about wanting something, but having to work very hard for it. Plus a typically surreal Kate Bush music video with lots of expressive dancing.
Army Dreamers
Kate Bush has always been able to put herself in someone else’s shoes. In “Army Dreamers” she takes on the perspective of a grieving mother whose son died in the war. She struggles with her own responsibility and wonders what could have become of him. “Should Have Been A Politician/ But He Never Had A Proper Education”. A song that will unfortunately always be relevant.
Running Up That Hill
In 1985, the pressure on Kate Bush’s shoulders was great. Their last album THE DREAMING was disappointing from a commercial point of view, the record companies were demanding a hit. Eventually she returned with the album HOUNDS OF LOVE. She also delivered the promised hit with “Running Up That Hill”.
In the synth-pop number, Bush sings about relationship problems. “I wanted to say that a woman and a man cannot understand each other because they are a woman and a man,” she explained. The only way to change that: switch roles. That’s exactly what the “Deal With God” is.
LakeTahoe
Good things take time. That’s why Kate Bush apparently likes to take a long time between albums. In 2011 she released her record 50 WORDS FOR SNOW. A mature work that creates its own tender world, accompanied by Kate Bush’s jazz piano and unique voice. A perfect album for cold winter days.
The song “Lake Tahoe” stands out. A quiet, almost operatic song that tells of friendship and really can’t leave anyone indifferent.