FEATURE:
Kate Bush: The Deep Cuts
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a promotional photo for 50 Words for Snow/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush/PA
50 Words for Snow
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WHEN Kate Bush’s…
50 Words for Snow celebrates its anniversary in November, I am going to writes about particular songs and the album as a whole. As part of this series that celebrates and illuminates deep Kate Bush cuts, I am spending a bit of time with the great title track from that 2011 album. 50 Words for Snow, like the rest of the tracks on that album, are hardly played at all. The fact is that they are longer songs, so you may not have heard of a song like 50 Words for Snow. Why explore Bush’s deep cuts then? I feel that, in spite of her new respect and popularity, there is still a reliance to play her best-known songs. Many fans still do not explore beyond the popular. There is a whole world of fascination beyond those singles and bigger songs that we associate with Kate Bush. 50 Words for Snow’s title track is a wonderful track that features the brilliant Stephen Fry. Here are some details about an epic title track:
“Years ago I think I must have heard this idea that there were 50 words for snow in this, ah, Eskimo Land! And I just thought it was such a great idea to have so many words about one thing. It is a myth - although, as you say it may hold true in a different language - but it was just a play on the idea, that if they had that many words for snow, did we? If you start actually thinking about snow in all of its forms you can imagine that there are an awful lot of words about it. Just in our immediate language we have words like hail, slush, sleet, settling… So this was a way to try and take it into a more imaginative world. And I really wanted Stephen to read this because I wanted to have someone who had an incredibly beautiful voice but also someone with a real sense of authority when he said things. So the idea was that the words would get progressively more silly really but even when they were silly there was this idea that they would have been important, to still carry weight. And I really, really wanted him to do it and it was fantastic that he could do it. (...) I just briefly explained to him the idea of the song, more or less what I said to you really. I just said it’s our idea of 50 Words For Snow. Stephen is a lovely man but he is also an extraordinary person and an incredible actor amongst his many other talents. So really it was just trying to get the right tone which was the only thing we had to work on. He just came into the studio and we just worked through the words. And he works very quickly because he’s such an able performer. (...) I think faloop'njoompoola is one of my favourites. [laughs] (John Doran, 'A Demon In The Drift: Kate Bush Interviewed'. The Quietus, 2011)”.
In future features, I am going to look at songs from other albums. In November, 50 Words for Snow turns eleven. It is a remarkable album with longer songs that are wonderfully rich and atmospheric. The title track has this mix of skiffling, almost tribal drumming from Steve Gadd, Kate Bush switching between a deep and sensual voice to this scream. I like the fact that Bush picked up on the myth regarding fifty words for snow. Other artists would not think to write a song around it. The list she provides of the different words for snow is great! Wild Man was released as the single from 50 Words for Snow. I think that the title track could have been as second single, as it is one of the highlights of the album. Many people might not know about the 50 Words for Snow album. Bush’s most recent studio album, it has Art Pop sounds, but there is more of a Jazz sensibility and structure to many of the songs. Seven glorious tracks that unfold and seep into the senses, everything combines beautifully on 50 Words for Snow. Humorous, silly, exotic, and exciting, this is a great deep cut. Some may say that, as we are talking about Kate Bush, there can be no deep cuts. What I mean is the songs that are not singles. Those album tracks one might normally think about or play. 50 Words for Snow is a superb track that people need to hear. If you are a big fan of Kate Bush, new convert or somewhere in between, then check out…
THIS wonderful song.