FEATURE:
A Crushed Lily in My Soul
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz
Kate Bush’s Moving
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I am peppering in…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Moorhouse/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
a few song-specific bits when it comes to Kate Bush, as there are some really great songs of hers that do not really get played or talked about much. It is a return to my favourite album, The Kick Inside, and the extraordinary opening track, Moving. There are a number of reasons why I want to spotlight this one track – I have checked on features I have done before and I do not think I have dedicated one to Moving. A lot of people’s first exposure to Kate Bush in 1978 would have been her debut single, Wuthering Heights, which was released a month before The Kick Inside. I think the success of that song – it got to number-one and remains one of her most-loved tracks -, perhaps, took a little momentum away from the rest of the album. By that, I mean Wuthering Heights was still very much in vogue and being played when The Kick Inside arrived on 17th February. I guess many people would have bought the album purely on the strength of the single and Bush’s performances of the song. Whereas Wuthering Heights is the final song on the first side, the first track people would hear on Bush’s debut album is Moving. Many may not have known about Wuthering Heights prior to buying The Kick Inside so, for them, the beautiful Moving was their introduction. I have talked about how Bush was masterful when it came to opening and closing tracks.
The Kick Inside ends with the title track: a song about incest, suicide and familial tragedy and, whilst that sounds bleak, it is a song beautifully performed and ends the album with a pause and slightly tragic note. Conversely, Moving opens the album up with one of the most positive tracks. There was some critical derision regarding Kate Bush’s image and personality; many felt she was quite hippy-like and not nearly as substantial as many of the artists around in 1978. I think the fact her debut album opens with whale song did little to redress their perceptions! I have discussed the fantastic way The Kick Inside opens and the fact that we get this stunning whale song at the start! The Kate Bush Encyclopaedia provide some background regarding Moving’s background:
“The song is a tribute to Lindsay Kemp, who was her mime teacher in the mid-Seventies. She explained in an interview, "He needed a song written to him. He opened up my eyes to the meanings of movement. He makes you feel so good. If you've got two left feet it's 'you dance like an angel darling.' He fills people up, you're an empty glass and glug, glug, glug, he's filled you with champagne".
Kemp sadly died in 2018, but his impact on Kate Bush is very clear. I will look at the lyrics to Moving soon, but the words I use in the title refer to a line in the song: “You crush the lily in my soul”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1979/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz
That is a reference to Kemp and how he managed to bring out a more confident side to her. That imagery is very beautiful and, when you think about the sort of boldness and brilliance that we hear through The Kick Inside, I think Kemp was quite instrumental regarding shaping Bush as a vocalist – I think her dance and movement training directly affected the way she sang and delivered her songs. I think Moving is the perfect way to open The Kick Inside, as we get this soft-yet-powerful song with some beautiful backing vocals. I love the physicality and dance Bush projects through her vocals and, on an album full of wonderful lyrics, Moving contains some of her best. “Moving liquid/Yes, you are just as water/You flow around all that comes in your way/Don't think it over/It always takes you over/And sets your spirit dancing” is a gorgeous piece of writing that swims in the mind and gets into the heart. Although my favourite two songs on The Kick Inside are Wuthering Heights, and Them Heavy People, Moving would be right up there! Going back to the article from the Kate Bush Encyclopaedia, and they provide information regarding Bush’s performances of Moving:
“Soon after the release of The Kick Inside, Bush performed 'Moving' alongside with 'Them Heavy People' on 25 February 1978 on the BBC TV show Saturday Nights at the Mill. On 12 May, she took part in a Dutch special TV show dedicated to the opening of the Haunted Castle, the new attraction of the amusement park Efteling.
She performed six songs in six videos filmed near the castle and across the park. At the beginning of the video for 'Moving', the camera shows a tombstone covered with leaves. Then, the wind blows the leaves and lets appear the name of Kate Bush. She performs the song in front of the castle's door. In June 1978, Bush sang "Moving" at Nippon Budokan during the Tokyo Music Festival. The performance was retransmitted on the Japanese television on 21 June and was followed by a 35 million audience. She won the silver prize alongside with the American R&B band The Emotions. In 1979, Bush included 'Moving' on her first tour, The Tour of Life. Her performance can be seen on the video Live at Hammersmith Odeon”.
Bush did actually release Moving as a single in Japan (with Wuthering Heights as the B-side), and I would have loved to have seen it released in the U.K. I guess she and EMI did not want to put out too many singles but, as only two U.K. singles were released – Wuthering Heights, and The Man with the Child in His Eyes -, there would have been room for Moving. It must have been quite daunting being faced with so many T.V. interviews and performances right at the start of her career. I feel a lot of critics defined her on the strength of Wuthering Heights and its sound. I really love her T.V. appearances, and I really think she stood out from every other songwriter in 1978. Moving is a gem of a song and one of the finest Bush ever recorded. If you have not bought The Kick Inside on vinyl then go and do so, as it is a wonderful album with so many exceptional songs! Opening with the sublime Moving, we are treated to this evocative and immersive song that makes you shiver with its beauty. I will do other song-specific features through the weeks, but I was keen to explore my favourite album’s…
SIMPLY amazing opening track.