FEATURE:
Spotlights and Highlights
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1982
Kate Bush’s The Dreaming at Forty-One
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IN this anniversary feature…
for Kate Bush’s The Dreaming – which turns forty-one on 13th September -, I wanted to highlight tracks that were not singles but deserve attention. I did the same for Never for Ever. If the singles from that 1980 album are played more than any other, then it is especially true of The Dreaming. In fact, you only really hear Sat in Your Lap (the first single) played. There are four especially strong and interesting songs either not released as a single or was not released as one in the U.K. I am also going to end with a playlist that ranks the album tracks. I will reorder The Dreaming so that my favourite is at the top; the least favourite (I love all the songs but some more than ever) at the end. Number three in the U.K., prior to getting to specific songs, I want to reuse an interview snippet from 1986 where Bush quite rightly says that The Dreaming is more of a suite and single piece than individual songs. It is ironic that I am pulling apart the album, but it is interesting highlighting excellent moments:
“I have no doubt that those who buy singles because they like my hits, are completely mystified upon hearing the albums. But if it comes to that, they should listen to it loudly! If a single theme linked The Dreaming, which is quite varied, it would be human relationships and emotional problems. Every being responds principally to emotions. Some people are very cool, but they are silenced by their emotions, whatever they might be. To write a song, it's necessary that I be completely steeped in my environment, in my subject. Sometimes the original idea is maintained, but as it takes form, it possesses me. One of the best examples would be this song that I wrote on 'Houdini': I knew every one of the things that I wanted to say, and it was necessary that I find new ways that would allow me to say them; the hardest thing, is when you have so many things to fit into so short a space of time. You have to be concise and at the same time not remain vague, or obscure. The Dreaming was a decisive album for me. I hadn't recorded in a very long time until I undertook it, and that was the first time that I'd had such liberty. It was intoxicating and frightening at the same time. I could fail at everything and ruin my career at one fell swoop. All this energy, my frustrations, my fears, my wish to succeed, all that went into the record. That's the principle of music: to liberate all the tensions that exist inside you. I tried to give free rein to all my fantasies. Although all of the songs do not talk about me, they represent all the facets of my personality, all my different attitudes in relation to the world. In growing older, I see more and more clearly that I am crippled in facing the things that really count, and that I can do nothing about it, just as most people can do nothing. Making an album is insignificant in comparison with that, but it's my only defense. (Yves Bigot, 'Englishwoman is crossing the continents'. Guitares et Claviers (France), February 1986)”.
There are four tracks from The Dreaming that are deeper cuts I wanted to highlight. Thanks hugely to the Kate Bush Encyclopedia who are a resource I could not be without! I am going to donate to them as a thanks. They have collated interviews where Bush spoke about various songs. The first I want to highlight is the amazing Suspended in Gaffa. I think this should have been a U.K. single. The brilliant There Goes a Tenner was released instead. Suspended in Gaffa was released in mainland Europe. It did okay in France and Spain, though not a lot else. I think it could have been top forty in the U.K. There Goes a Tenner was distinctly not in the top forty. Here is what Bush said about Suspended in Gaffa:
“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)”.
One track that is especially strong that people might not know about is Leave It Open. The end of side one, it is an eccentric, deep and brilliant song that warrants far greater attention and respect. I love the interviews available, where Bush discussed one of The Dreaming’s most memorable songs.
“Leave It Open' is the idea of human beings being like cups - like receptive vessels. We open and shut ourselves at different times. It's very easy to let you ego go "nag nag nag" when you should shut it. Or when you're very narrow-minded and you should be open. Finally you should be able to control your levels of receptivity to a productive end. (Richard Cook, 'My Music Sophisticated? I'd Rather You Said That Than Turdlike!'. NME (UK), October 1982)
Talking about "guessing", at last someone has discovered what's being said at the end of ``Leave It Open'' - well done! But let me tell you about some of the fascinating encounters I've had. There is a Mr. John Reimers from the U.S.A. who has rung up once a week with his new version:
"Is it...?"
"Nope!"
"Well, is it...?"
"Nope!"
"Tell me! Tell me!"
John, you're terrific!
But I'm afraid this is just a mild case. One night I woke up to a tapping on the window. It was someone hanging from a nearby tree by their feet. In their hands was a card, and written on it was: "Is it 'We paint the penguins pink?'" I'm afraid I had to laugh, and shook my head. They burst into tears and ran off into the moonlight. But I think the cleverest was a phone call I had the other week.
"Hello, Kate?"
"Hello?"
"It's Jay here, how are you doing?"
He sounded a little squeaky to me. Then he said: "You know, it's ridiculous. I was sitting here listening to the end of 'Leave It Open' the other day, and I just couldn't remember what you said - I know it's crazy but -"
I interrupted.
"'We paint the penguins pink.'"
"Oh, yeah! Of course, how could I forget? See you soon - bye!"
Hmmm... see what I mean?... C-lever!
But seriously, I have enjoyed your guesses tremendously, but I have terrible dreams about your reactions now that the answer has been revealed. Do I hear cries of "You're kidding! But that's stupid!" or "Cor, that's pathetic - all our efforts over that?"
Well, I hope not... And remember to let the weirdness in. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, 1984)”.
There are a few tracks on the second side that are worthy of love. I feel two in particular could have been singles and were not. They are the final two songs on the album. I am starting with a song that is actually my favourite from Kate Bush. Houdini, in addition to being underplayed, is one that you sort of see played out on The Dreaming cover. We see Bush, as Harry Houdini’s wife, Bess, go to pass Houdini (played by Del Palmer) a golden key. As the song explains, this kiss would mask the key, so when Houdini did an underwater trick or needed to escape, he would have the key there and be able to sort of hoodwink in that sense. It is a remarkable song with some extraordinary production from Bush. It is also one of her finest vocals. The rawness you hear was achieved by her drinking milk and eating chocolate to get more mucus and gravel. It worked wonders! This is a song that Bush seems very fond of. One that is distinctly her. Here, Bush explains more about the wonderous and epic Houdini:
“The side most people know of Houdini is that of the escapologist, but he spent many years of his life exposing mediums and seances as frauds. His mother had died, and in trying to make contact through such spiritual people, he realized how much pain was being inflicted on people already in sorrow, people who would part with money just for the chance of a few words from a past loved one. I feel he must have believed in the possibility of contact after death, and perhaps in his own way, by weeding out the frauds, he hoped to find just one that could not be proven to be a fake. He and his wife made a decision that if one of them should die and try to make contact, the other would know it was truly them through a code that only the two of them knew.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in album cover outtake for The Dreaming/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
His wife would often help him with his escapes. Before he was bound up and sealed away inside a tank or some dark box, she would give him a parting kiss, and as their lips met, she would pass him the key which he would later use to unlock the padlocks that chained him. After he died, Mrs. Houdini did visit many mediums, and tried to make contact for years, with no luck - until one day a medium called Mr. Ford informed her that Houdini had come through. She visited him and he told her that he had a message for her from Houdini, and he spoke the only words that meant for her the proof of her husband's presence. She was so convinced that she released an official statement to the fact that he had made contact with her through the medium, Ford.
It is such a beautiful and strange story that I thought I had very little to do, other than tell it like it was. But in fact it proved to be the most difficult lyric of all the songs and the most emotionally demanding. I was so aware of trying to do justice to the beauty of the subject, and trying to understand what it must have been like to have been in love with such an extraordinary man, and to have been loved by him. I worked for two or three nights just to find one line that was right. There were so many alternatives, but only a few were right for the song. Gradually it grew and began to piece together, and I found myself wrapped up in the feelings of the song - almost pining for Houdini. Singing the lead vocal was a matter of conjuring up that feeling again and as the clock whirrs and the song flashes back in time to when she watched him through the glass, he's on the other side under water, and she hangs on to his every breath. We both wait. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, October 1982)”.
Many albums finish with the most personal track. Perhaps the one that is most representative of the album. I feel this has been the case with Kate Bush quite a lot. Get Out of My House, with its visions of paranoia and a possessed house, seems to be an insight into some of her feelings producing The Dreaming. Maybe feeling enclosed and tired. Working manically and all hours, it is only natural that she would feel strung out and a little paranoid! She explains more here:
“The song is called 'Get Out Of My House', and it's all about the human as a house. The idea is that as more experiences actually get to you, you start learning how to defend yourself from them. The human can be seen as a house where you start putting up shutters at the windows and locking the doors - not letting in certain things. I think a lot of people are like this - they don't hear what they don't want to hear, don't see what they don't want to see. It is like a house, where the windows are the eyes and the ears, and you don't let people in. That's sad because as they grow older people should open up more. But they do the opposite because, I suppose, they do get bruised and cluttered. Which brings me back to myself; yes, I have had to decide what I will let in and what I'll have to exclude. (Rosie Boycott, 'The Discreet Charm Of Kate Bush'. Company (UK), 1982).
It's meant to be a bit scary. It's just the idea of someone being in this place and there's something else there... You don't know what it is. The track kept changing in the studio. This is something that's never happened before on an album. That one was maybe half the length it is now. The guitarist got this really nice riff going, and I got this idea of two voices - a person in the house, trying to get away from this thing, but it's still there. So in order to get away, they change their form - first into a bird trying to fly away from it. The thing can change as well, so that changes into this wind, and starts blowing all icy. The idea is to turn around and face it. You've got this image of something turning round and going "Aah!"' just to try and scare it away. (Kris Needs, 'Dream Time In The Bush'. ZIgZag (UK), 1982)”.
As it is forty-one on 13th September, I wanted to spend time with The Dreaming. Highlighting songs that should be given more focus. In fact, the whole album should be played more than it is. I am going to include the album here but, underneath it, is my ‘reordered’ version. Taking the best track in my view; going down to one that, whilst magnificent, I maybe play a little less. See what other people think. As Bush has said, it is not really a singles album and one that you can pull apart. You need to listen to the whole thing and…
LET the weirdness in!