FEATURE:
Swimming in the Wonder of Lake Tahoe
Kate Bush’s 50 Words for Snow at Eleven
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ON 21st November…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a publicity photo for 50 Words for Snow, creating Lake Tahoe
Kate Bush’s most recent studio album, 50 Words for Snow, is eleven. Bush has done stuff since in terms of live performance and remastering her studio albums but, essentially, when we hear Among Angels on 50 Words for Snow, that is the latest and last song from her. Let’s hope that we hear something else from Bush in the future. In the final feature ahead of the album’s anniversary, I am going to be a bit more general. Today, and because it is a track that I have a lot of love for, I am going top explore the extraordinary Lake Tahoe. The second-longest track on 50 Words for Snow – behind Misty at 13:32 -, Lake Tahoe is 11:08. Even though Bush said this was one of her quickest albums (it took her about a year), the seven tracks are longer pieces that are akin to odysseys and classical pieces, rather than traditional songs. Whether a sign of her work to come or a deviation, songs like Lake Tahoe are unlike anything she has done in terms of scope and form. Although the song is not an official single, a video was made for Lake Tahoe. Bush wrote and directed a short video, Eider Falls at Lake Tahoe, featuring shadow puppetry. It is understandable that Bush only released one single from the album (Wild Man), because of track lengths and the fact there would have to be severe radio edits!
Before concentrating on one of Kate Bush’s very best songs, it is worth taking an aside and discussing the commercial performance and reviews. It gained hugely positive reviews across the board. 50 Words for Snow reached five in the U.K. In terms of chart positions in other countries, it was very random indeed! Impressively, it got to eight in Finland and thirteen in Poland. It got to forty-nine in Japan and was in the top one-hundred in the U.S. Maybe less accessible than many Kate Bush albums, a lot of the public streamed 50 Words for Snow rather than buying it. This is an album that people need to play on vinyl, as it is such a rich and extraordinary work where you are captivated by each song. There are many reasons to love and admire Lake Tahoe. First, as Bush explained to The Quietus in 2011, there is an interesting story behind her writing a song about Lake Tahoe:
“It was because a friend told me about the story that goes with Lake Tahoe so it had to be set there. Apparently people occasionally see a woman who fell into the lake in the Victorian era who rises up and then disappears again. It is an incredibly cold lake so the idea, as I understand it, is that she fell in and is still kind of preserved. Do you know what I mean? (John Doran, 'A Demon In The Drift: Kate Bush Interviewed'. The Quietus, 2011)”.
Lake Tahoe is a freshwater lake occupying a fault basin on the California-Nevada border in the northern Sierra Nevada, U.S. It is a thing of wonder and outstanding natural beauty, but I can imagine the allure of this story that Bush was told. As someone always intrigued by the gothic and slightly dark – the fact she gave approval for Stranger Things to use her song, Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) highlights that! -, she beautifully tells a story of a spectral woman who drowned in the lake all those years ago, resurfacing now and then.
The combination of Bush’s extraordinary lyrics and vocals with quite a bare band (featured vocals from Stefan Roberts, Michael Wood mix with Steve Gadd’s subtle and atmospheric percussion; Bush is on piano), Lake Tahoe would have been perfect brought to the stage. I am not sure whether more songs from 50 Words for Snow were considered for her 2014 residency, Before the Dawn (as it was only Among Angels was included). Such is the scale and incredible atmosphere and vistas that one gets listening to 50 Words for Snow, it would be breath-taking translated for the stage! As it is, Lake Tahoe is one of Bush’s greatest songs. Linking to the album’s opening song, Snowflake, Lake Tahoe is the second track. I like the little call-back to the opener with some of the lyrics: “They say some days, up she comes, up she rises, as if out of nowhere/Wearing Victorian dress/She was calling her pet, "Snowflake! Snowflake!"/Tumbling like a cloud that has drowned in the lake/Just like a poor, porcelain doll.../Her eyes are open but no-one's home/The clock has stopped/So long she's gone”. Even though Lake Tahoe is inspired by a woman who is a ghostly figure inhabiting the water, the song is more about the dog she left behind. It is fascinating when Bush addresses the domestic, mundane, and homely. Blending the widescreen and the intimate, her lyrics and composition blend beautifully in an epic song.
PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
The lyrics project very clear images in the mind: “Here's the kitchen - There's your basket/Here's the hall - That's where you wait for me/Here's the bedroom - You're not allowed in there/Here's my lap - That's where you lay your head”. Even though the lake may look inviting and alluring, Bush does warn us at the start of the song not to go in there: “Cold mountain water. Don't ever swim there/Just stand on the edge and look in there/And you might see a woman down there”. 50 Words for Snow, Bush’s second studio album of 2011 following Director’s Cut, saw her give a lot of interviews and talk fondly about the songs. I am especially fascinated hearing her discuss Lake Tahoe. Bush can hear stories and get half-ideas and turn them into these spectacular songs that stay with you for such a long time. 50 Words for Snow is eleven on 21st November. It shows that, no matter what genre she explored and what her albums discuss, Bush is one of the most consistent and inventive artists ever. 50 Words for Snow earned her some of the best reviews of her career. Among the seven glorious songs is a real jewel in the form of Lake Tahoe. I often listen to the song and imagine I am by the lake and watching things happen. Because of Kate Bush’s vocal, songwriting and playing, you are overcome with its power and beauty. The listener imagines that she is…
RIGHT there with you too.