FEATURE:
Kate Bush’s The Dreaming at Forty
The Gorgeous Night of the Swallow: A Song That Should Have Been a U.K. Single
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AS part of a run of features…
marking the approaching fortieth anniversary of The Dreaming, I am looking at various songs from Kate Bush’s masterpiece fourth studio album. The Dreaming was released on 13th September, 1982. I think a lot of critics had an idea of what the album would sound like – maybe similar to 1980’s Never for Ever (her third studio album) -, whereas others were approaching Kate Bush new and felt The Dreaming was too dense, odd, and inaccessible. There has been retrospection, but there was some confusion in 1982. Bush was doing something fresh and producing an album that she wanted to make. Rather than follow another producer or do what the record label necessarily wanted, she was determined to make something more authentic and in her own mould. Quite artistic, deep, and serious in places, I get the feeling The Dreaming was a very deliberate statement from Bush to establish herself as a ‘serious’ artist. Maybe still being mocked for being the girl who sang Wuthering Heights or lacking any political seriousness – though Army Dreamers and Breathing from Never for Ever did address that -, The Dreaming was an emphatic statement that she was serious and capable and making an album that was both deep yet it had playful moments. Even though she was doing what a lot of people wanted, they were still not happy!
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush signing copies of The Dreaming at the Virgin Megastore, Oxford Street, London on 14th September, 1982 in London/PHOTO CREDIT: Pete Still/Redferns
I have written about it before, but the singles released from The Dreaming were a little strange. Bush released the song I am about to discuss in Ireland only. The brilliant Suspended In Gaffa was released in mainland Europe, whereas the weaker (but excellent) There Goes a Tenner was released in the U.K. The Dreaming’s title track was released as a single, as was Sat in Your Lap. Half of the album’s tracks were released as singles but, of the five tracks remaining, at least three of them would have made stronger and more successful releases. I feel All the Love, Houdini and Get Out of My House would have charted well and helped boost the album. Not that the singles were a failure or a bad representation of the amazing album. I think The Dreaming is more of a piece that needs to be heard as a whole. It is not really designed with singles in mind. Before coming to one of my favourite songs from The Dreaming, I want to bring in some more general thoughts from Kate Bush concerning The Dreaming:
“After the last album, 'Never For Ever', I started writing some new songs. They were very different from anything I'd ever written before - they were much more rhythmic, and in a way, a completely new side to my music. I was using different instruments, and everything was changing; and I felt that really the best thing to do would be to make this album a real departure - make it completely different. And the only way to achieve this was to sever all the links I had had with the older stuff. The main link was engineer Jon Kelly. Everytime I was in the studio Jon was there helping me, so I felt that in order to make the stuff different enough I would have to stop working with Jon. He really wanted to keep working with me, but we discussed it and realised that it was for the best. ('The Dreaming'. Poppix (UK), Summer 1982)
Yes, it's very important for me to change. In fact, as soon as the songs began to be written, I knew that the album was going to be quite different. I'd hate it, especially now, if my albums became similar, because so much happens to me between each album - my views change quite drastically. What's nice about this album is that it's what I've always wanted to do. For instance, the Australian thing: well, I wanted to do that on the last album, but there was no time. There are quite a few ideas and things that I've had whizzing around in my head that just haven't been put down. I've always wanted to use more traditional influences and instruments, especially the Irish ones. I suppose subconsciously I've wanted to do all this for quite some time, but I've never really had the time until now. ('The Dreaming'. Poppix (UK), Summer 1982)”.
The final single released from The Dreaming, Night of the Swallow, was released two years and five months after the first single from the album, Sat in Your Lap! It is amazing to think of the huge amount of time between that first and last single! Maybe as a last fling of the dice or a way of keeping The Dreaming in people’s thoughts, this excellent song was released in Ireland only. In November 1983, Bush was already working on her new album, Hounds of Love. In fact, she was recording demos and starting to give some iconic songs shape when Night of the Swallow came out. I guess it was invariable the final single would not sell well, seeing as The Dreaming came out a year before. Initially, a thousand copies were made with a picture sleeve; the vinyl 7" was pressed. More vinyl was produced than sleeves. And, because the single did not sell well, by the time the next shipment of 7" singles was in transit, the single had already flopped. This was a period when Bush was not having much luck with singles. That would be corrected by the time Hounds of Love came out. This was an album where I feel Bush wanted to make something more commercial, yet it was ambitious and something that she wanted to do. If The Dreaming is a more claustrophobic and darker listen, Hounds of Love embraces the nature and openness of her surroundings at the time. It is warmer in general but, even when the songs are darker, you get a very different production sound. I love The Dreaming, and I feel Night of the Swallow was too good to be released as an afterthought or attempt to appeal to Irish audiences. I love the Irish musicians on Night of the Swallow. With Bill Whelan (bagpipes, string arrangement), Liam O'Flynn (uilleann pipes, penny whistle), Seán Keane (fiddle) and Dónal Lunny (bouzouki) adding magic and such passion to the song, I hope a lot of people listen to Night of the Swallow ahead of the fortieth anniversary of The Dreaming.
PHOTO CREDIT: Pierre Terrasson
So, what is Night of the Swallow about? Thanks to the Kate Bush Encyclopedia for providing interviews where Bush spoke about the song. The below is a very detailed and interesting account. It does make me wonder how Night of the Swallow would have fared had it came out in 1982 and been released worldwide. I think it would have earned quite a high chart position:
“Unfortunately a lot of men do begin to feel very trapped in their relationships and I think, in some situations, it is because the female is so scared, perhaps of her insecurity, that she needs to hang onto him completely. In this song she wants to control him and because he wants to do something that she doesn't want him to she feels that he is going away. It's almost on a parallel with the mother and son relationship where there is the same female feeling of not wanting the young child to move away from the nest. Of course, from the guys point of view, because she doesn't want him to go, the urge to go is even stronger. For him, it's not so much a job as a challenge; a chance to do something risky and exciting. But although that woman's very much a stereotype I think she still exists today. (Paul Simper, 'Dreamtime Is Over'. Melody Maker (UK), 16 October 1982)
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush at Abbey Road Studios on 15th October, 1982/PHOTO CREDIT: Steve Rapport/GI
Ever since I heard my first Irish pipe music it has been under my skin, and every time I hear the pipes, it's like someone tossing a stone in my emotional well, sending ripples down my spine. I've wanted to work with Irish music for years, but my writing has never really given me the opportunity of doing so until now. As soon as the song was written, I felt that a ceilidh band would be perfect for the choruses. The verses are about a lady who's trying to keep her man from accepting what seems to be an illegal job. He is a pilot and has been hired to fly some people into another country. No questions are to be asked, and she gets a bad feeling from the situation. But for him, the challenge is almost more exciting than the job itself, and he wants to fly away. As the fiddles, pipes and whistles start up in the choruses, he is explaining how it will be all right. He'll hide the plane high up in the clouds on a night with no moon, and he'll swoop over the water like a swallow.
Bill Whelan is the keyboard player with Planxty, and ever since Jay played me an album of theirs I have been a fan. I rang Bill and he tuned into the idea of the arrangement straight away. We sent him a cassette, and a few days later he phoned the studio and said, "Would you like to hear the arrangement I've written?"
I said I'd love to, but how?
"Well, Liam is with me now, and we could play it over the phone."
PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
I thought how wonderful he was, and I heard him put down the phone and walk away. The cassette player started up. As the chorus began, so did this beautiful music - through the wonder of telephones it was coming live from Ireland, and it was very moving. We arranged that I would travel to Ireland with Jay and the multi-track tape, and that we would record in Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin. As the choruses began to grow, the evening drew on and the glasses of Guiness, slowly dropping in level, became like sand glasses to tell the passing of time. We missed our plane and worked through the night. By eight o'clock the next morning we were driving to the airport to return to London. I had a very precious tape tucked under my arm, and just as we were stepping onto the plane, I looked up into the sky and there were three swallows diving and chasing the flies. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, October 1982)”.
It is clear that Kate Bush loved Night of the Swallow. It sounds like it was a great and happy recording experience. I think it was just timing that meant the song didn’t really do anything. The Irish sounds would be heard on future songs like Jig of Life (Hounds of Love) and The Sensual World (from the 1989 album of the same name). It is an area that Bush was comfortable in – as her mother was Irish and she knew the music and culture well -, so I did want to shine a spotlight on a terrific track that deserved more. The seventh track on the album, it then leads to that remarkable and very different run of three: All the Love, Houdini, and Get Out of My House. There is no denying the fact that Night of the Swallow is…
SUCH a beautiful song.