FEATURE:
I'm Not a Pandora
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush with her mother, Hannah, in the video for Suspended in Gaffa
Kate Bush’s Suspended in Gaffa
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THE last time that…
I spent some time with Suspended in Gaffa, it was late last year when I was writing about it being released as a single. Part of Kate Bush’s The Dreaming, there was this case of releasing two very different songs as singles in different parts of the world. There Goes a Tenner was a disaster when it was released as a U.K. single. In Continental Europe and Australia, Bush put out Suspended in Gaffa. I can understand why There Goes a Tenner was seen as a single. I am surprised that it did not do better in the U.K. – maybe the unconventional nature and sound of the song (it not being commercial) put people off. After the equally different and unique The Dreaming, another track that was far from the mainstream might have contributed to a lowly chart performance. I think that, instead, Suspended in Gaffa should have been released as a single in the U.K. too, to be followed by another song, Get Out of My House, as a single in other parts of the world. I think that Suspended in Gaffa would have been more successful in the U.K. than in Europe (where it didn’t do overly-well), where Get Out of My House has that urgency and atmosphere that would have resulted in a bigger impact on the charts. As Suspended in Gaffa turns thirty-nine on 2nd November, I wanted to come back to it. It has beautiful musicianship from Bush, Del Palmer, Stuart Elliott, Paddy Bush and Dave Lawson. Kate’s mum, Hannah, also appears in the song’s video!
There are some Bush anniversaries I am overlooking so that I do not post too much – such as writing about The Sensual World’s thirty-second anniversary recently -, but I am fascinated by The Dreaming and the sheer variety of sounds and sights throughout. Suspended in Gaffa is one of the underrated gems that should have been given a wider release as a single. In terms of its inspiration, the Kate Bush Encyclopaedia quotes interviews where Bush discussed the song and what compelled it:
“Whenever I've sung this song I've hoped that my breath would hold out for the first few phrases, as there is no gap to breathe in. When I wrote this track the words came at the same time, and this is one of the few songs where the lyrics were complete at such an early stage. The idea of the song is that of being given a glimpse of 'God' - something that we dearly want - but being told that unless we work for it, we will never see it again, and even then, we might not be worthy of it. Of course, everybody wants the reward without the toil, so people try to find a way out of the hard work, still hoping to claim the prize, but such is not the case. The choruses are meant to express the feeling of entering timelessness as you become ready for the experience, but only when you are ready. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, October 1982)
I could explain some of it, if you want me to: Suspended in Gaffa is reasonably autobiographical, which most of my songs aren’t. It’s about seeing something that you want–on any level–and not being able to get that thing unless you work hard and in the right way towards it. When I do that I become aware of so many obstacles, and then I want the thing without the work. And then when you achieve it you enter…a different level–everything will slightly change. It’s like going into a time warp which otherwise wouldn’t have existed. (Richard Cook, 'My music sophisticated?...'. NME (UK), October 1982)
'Suspended In Gaffa' is, I suppose, similar in some ways to 'Sat In Your Lap' - the idea of someone seeking something, wanting something. I was brought up as a Roman Catholic and had the imagery of purgatory and of the idea that when you were taken there that you would be given a glimpse of God and then you wouldn't see him again until you were let into heaven. And we were told that in Hell it was even worse because you got to see God but then you knew that you would never see him again. And it's sorta using that as the parallel. And the idea of seeing something incredibly beautiful, having a religious experience as such, but not being able to get back there. And it was playing musically with the idea of the verses being sorta real time and someone happily jumping through life [Makes happy motion with head] and then you hit the chorus and it like everything sorta goes into slow mo and they're reaching [Makes slow reaching motion with arm] for that thing that they want and they can't get there. [Laughs] (Interview for MTV, November 1985)”.
Ahead of the anniversary of There Goes a Tenner and Suspended in Gaffa being released as singles – do artists put out different singles for different continents these days?! -, I was eager to spotlight a song that I don’t think gets a lot of radio focus. Suspended in Gaffa boasts some of Bush’s finest lyrics. Right from the off, we are entranced and spellbound: “Out in the garden/There's half of a heaven/And we're only bluffing/We're not ones for busting through walls…”. The moment in the video where Bush is comforted by her mother is really touching. The production and performance on the song is phenomenal! Perhaps a little too deep and serious for single-buyers in 1982, the song sort of got overlooked. The Dreaming was not an album that boasted a lot of obvious singles and enjoyed great chart success (that was rectified on 1985’s Hounds of Love, where Bush released hugely popular songs like Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) and Cloudbusting). I love Suspended in Gaffa and hope that people who have not heard it before spend some time with it. Distinctly the work and sound of Kate Bush, it is one of the jewels of The Dreaming. Nearly thirty-nine after the song was released into the world (well, Europe and Australia), the charms of Suspended in Gaffa are still…
VERY much evident.