FEATURE:
Leave the Light on Before You Go
COVER PHOTO: John Carder Bush (from his book, KATE: Inside the Rainbow)
Kate Bush’s And So Is Love from The Red Shoes
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THERE is more than one reason why I am…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1993
selecting Kate Bush’s And So Is Love for particular consideration. On 7th November, the song turns twenty-six, and it is from an album who celebrates its twenty-seventh anniversary on 1st November. The Red Shoes is a fantastic album and, whilst it does not scale the same heights as Hounds of Love, or The Dreaming, there are some fantastic tracks on the album. I think And So Is Love is a standout, as it is so heartfelt and emotionally pure, and one gets the impression that Bush is reflecting some of the tension that would have existed in her life and the problems in her relationship with Del Palmer – although this is just speculation. The fourth single from The Red Shoes, it is also the last single before Bush returned in 2005 with King of the Mountain from Aerial – the album celebrates its fifteenth anniversary next month. October and November are busy periods regarding Kate Bush and album releases, so I wanted to highlight that. As one of the most stirring singles Bush released to that point, I feel it is sort of like her closing a door and ending a chapter on her life; then we have that wait before she bursts back eleven years later on King of the Mountain – with her first double album and her first release since becoming a mother. I think the first side of The Red Shoes is really eclectic and impactful.
After the elastic opener, Rubberband Girl, we then shift down gears for And So Is Love – covering a more Rock vibe in the opener and something more soulful in And So Is Love. Eat the Music then takes us more into Worldbeat territory; Moments of Pleasure is sensual and gorgeous; The Song of Solomon, and Lily offer plenty of propulsion and emotion. The Red Shoes is a classic example of an album whose best tracks appear in the first half (apart from the opener of the second side, The Red Shoes), so I think that is why it has received some mixed reviews. That said, there is plenty to love on the second side, but I think And So Is Love is one of the most underrated tracks of Bush’s career and, as it was her last single release for some time, it deserves some fresh eyes! There are a few guests on The Red Shoes – like all of her albums -, and not all of them work that well. I think one of the musicians who is perfectly deployed is Eric Clapton on And So Is Love. Gary Brooker of Procol Harum is on Hammond organ too, and there is this wonderful atmosphere created on the song. It was released as a single on 7th November and it climbed to number-twenty-six in the U.K. Singles Chart. One other notable thing about And So Is Love is that Kate Bush appeared on Top of the Pops after eight years to perform it.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush captured in 1993/PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari
I think it is important to get some context regarding the inspiration of And So Is Love and its recording. It is to Genius.com for some rare assistance:
“I really wanted to get at the rawness of relationships, the way things just burn at people but never quite erupt and Eric just sensed that. The track couldn’t say it, it just had to unfold, holding the tensions until the voice goes up into the higher octave. He followed brilliantly, like it was a conversation. It feels like the guitar is answering the voice. I was so moved by what Eric played.
In interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Tom Moon.
Originally the song was a minute longer and although I wanted the feel of the track to unfold, it unfolded and then fell on the floor, so the edit tightened the track up although only the other day I became aware it’s over six minutes long – I thought it was about 3½!
Bush speaking in a letter to the fan club after a screening of the accompanying film.
The track’s original backing is a sequenced 4-bar Fairlight pattern which was played to the musicians to give them a feel for the piece.
Usually we keep more of the Fairlight sound, but in this case it got scrubbed apart from the toms so it could all stay in strict tempo, so it could all be played live.
On this track there’s a little flute/reed sound, but the Fender piano sound is a real one and the drums are Sl000 samples. We only have a very small room for acoustic recording and the sound of the room tends to get on to drum recordings, so we used a lot of S1000 drum samples triggered from Simmons pads plus real cymbals. Stuart Elliott knows that our drum recording can be a long and arduous process and he might get called back four or five times – not because we’re unhappy with what he’s done, but because the track changes as it develops.
Del Palmer, engineer and mixer of The Red Shoes, talking to Future Music in 1993”.
I think that The Red Shoes should receive some love on its anniversary, but I also reckon the single release of And So Is Love and Bush’s Top of the Pops appearance is quite significance. In terms of performance, it is one of her very best, and I really love the video as well – it is beautifully shot and Bush looks phenomenal. Lines like “We let it in, we give it out/And in the end, what’s it all about?” might suggest someone being casual regarding relationships and their solidity, but I think it is Bush breathing in that passion and love and then seeing it go. Love can be both complex and transient, and she touches on mortality – “We used to say “Ah Hell, we’re young” -, and the sadness of life. Although And So Is Love is not one of Bush’s most complex lyrics and compositions, I think its relative simplicity and directness is why it resonates and sinks so deep into the heart. One of the most affecting lines of the whole album is “It’s all we’ve got, isn’t that enough?”, that suggests that this once-solid bond has started to crack and the end is near. I have been listening to And So Is Love since its release, and it has stuck with me in a very physical way. I love Bush’s voice on every album, but it had really matured by 1993 and, on And So Is Love, her register is lower than, say, Hounds of Love, and that adds extra shiver and duskiness to a very beautiful and evocative song. As Aerial, The Red Shoes, Lionheart, and 50 Words for Snow have anniversaries next month, I am going to do one or two features on each album – except for Aerial, which I have already published a feature features about already. It is strange to think that, when the video for And So Is Love came out in 1994, that was the last time we would see a video from Kate Bush until 2005 – I think it was a great way to sort of sign off before she returned eleven years later. On an album (The Red Shoes) with some truly fantastic songs, I think And So Is Love is among…
THE absolute best.