FEATURE:
Wings Fill the Window
PHOTO CREDIT: Steve Rapport
Kate Bush’s Night of the Swallow at Forty-One
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THE final single released…
from Kate Bush 1982’s album, The Dreaming, is one of her most underrated and under-discussed tracks. Night of the Swallow was released on 21st November, 1983. Though most people who are unaware of Kate Bush might never have heard of this song. For those who know Kate Bush and her albums, Night of the Swallow will be on their radar. Many consider it to be one of her best tracks. It is hard to argue against that! Released only in Ireland, I think it should have got a wider release. Perhaps one of the reasons why it was only released in Ireland was because of the Irish sounds. It is heightened by its sonic palette. I love the mix of players on Night of the Swallow. We have Bill Whelan on bagpipes, string arrangement; Liam O'Flynn on uilleann pipes, penny whistle; Seán Keane on fiddle and Dónal Lunny on the bouzouki. I am going to get some words from Kate Bush about working with Irish musicians and that experience of connecting with them. In terms of the story of Night of the Swallow, it is about a smuggler planning his next clandestine journey. Kate Bush adopts the role of his lover, pleading for him not to leave. The smuggler speaks in defiance. Even if that is what the song literally references, Bush has said in an interview that she was thinking of men trapped in relationships who want to leave and might not be able to because of the woman’s insecurities. Also the same with the mother-son dynamic and the mum not wanting the son to leave the nest. That feeling that the male is compelled to pull away when they meet with this resistance. Bush turning that everyday and common dynamic that she has witnessed and turning it into one of her most transfixing songs. The author John Boyne was on Desert Island Discs earlier this year and he chose Night of the Swallow as one of his eight discs. He actually selected it as the one he would save from the waves. He has heard the song countless times and it is very special to him. He is not the only one. It is a track that goes deep and provokes such strong emotions.
Prior to moving on, this is what its writer said in the Kate Bush Club newsletter of October 1982. She would release the single just over a year later. It is a shame that it was not a worldwide release, though I guess it might have struggled in terms of chart positions.
“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 aceilidhband 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.”
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.
I do feel this is one of Kate Bush’s ‘lost’ singles. One that should have done better or be released more widely. Perhaps Night of the Swallow was seen as more suited to Ireland due to the nature of the composition. That it would resonate harder. Given extra gravitas as it featured members of the Irish bands Planxty and The Chieftains. It is one of my favourite Kate Bush A and B-side releases. An incredibly strong single with Houdini as the B-side. It could have been a single itself. When Night of the Swallow was released, only about a thousand copies were made with a picture sleeve. In addition, a vinyl 7″ was pressed in England and the sleeve produced in Ireland. Unfortunately, as a greater number of vinyl was produced than the sleeves, it did cause issues. The single did not sell well and, once the next shipment of 7” singles was in transit, Night of the Swallow had already stalled. It meant that there was this stock of discs that could not go anywhere. It is said from about 1990, there were copies with a lighter-weight sleeve. Original copies with the hard card sleeves and later ones with a paper sleeve. Thanks to the Kate Bush Encyclopedia for that information. I think The Dreaming is one of Kate Bush’s most varied albums in terms of the themes and sounds. Her role as producer crucial in that respect. Her lyrics are always strong, though she hit a career peak in 1982 with The Dreaming. Night of the Swallow boasts some of the album’s finest and most striking words. I think my favourite section is this: “Give me a break!/Ooh, let me try!/Give me something to show/For my miserable life!/Give me something to take!/Would you break even my wings,/Just like a swallow?”.
Night of the Swallow gets brief mention. Whether it is a review for Bush’s 2019 lyrics book, How to Be Invisible, where the song is described as one of obligation in a relationship. There is the odd review where Night of the Swallow is giving some kudos. Whether it is from Medium (“Night of the Swallow” — Another haunting track (and my personal favorite) with a strong Celtic flavor, especially in the instrumental passage played by Irish musicians recorded in Ireland, during an all-night recording session with Kate. The somewhat mysterious narrative involves a secret, night-time escape by plane, possibly by a smuggler on his way to his next rendezvous, with Kate pleading, “I won’t let you do it/If you go, I’ll let the law know…” The dramatic final chorus is as gorgeous as it is spine-tingling”) or Prog (“This is a surprising single when the nature of the songs is considered. But very pleasantly surprising, and extremely satisfying for those listeners who prefer artistic values and uncoventional details over catchiness and hit potential! Both tracks are taken from Kate Bush's fourth album The Dreaming (1982), which was her most adventurous and innovative work to date at that point. In fact all singles from that album are far from typical in the single market, whereas Never For Ever clearly had songs such as 'Babooshka' that are quite obvious choices for 7" releases. 'Night of the Swallow' is actually very representative of the album's deep and mysterious spirit. Kate's magnificent vocal performance carries the song that has almost cinematic power in its scenery. Apart from the strong chorus ("with a hired plane, with no names mentioned...") which is spiced up with folk instruments - there are Uillean pipes if I remember right, and isn't that instrument in her lap on the rather unclear cover picture? - the playing remains very delicate, making the vocals and lyrics the centre of all attention. The spellbinding atmosphere of this song is very English and "old" in a way. The arrangement is highly original and full of interesting details, such as the fast tap-tap-tap percussion pattern on the chorus”).
I do hope that more is written about this gorgeous song in years to come. I do worry that there are tracks from Kate Bush’s albums that get passed over. The Dreaming is equally vulnerable to people maybe listening to obvious standouts - such as Sat in Your Lap (the first single) - and maybe one or two other cuts. Such a rich album, Night of the Swallow is one of the gems. It is a shame it didn’t do anything in Ireland. Even if Bush is moving away from retrospection and clearing the way for new music, there are songs that warrant a new video. Maybe an animation that is stunning and stylish, it would bring Night of the Swallow to new people. Perhaps not a song one would instantly think to cover, there is scope to do something new with the track. As there are rising artists covering Kate Bush and making new audiences aware of her work, I would urge a band or artist to take on Night of the Swallow again. It is a fantastic track that you don’t hear played or talked about much. If you have not heard Night of the Swallow then make sure that you do. The seventh track on The Dreaming, it then leads to All the Love and the wonderful closing two tracks of Houdini and Get Out of My House. Such range over the course of four songs! Maybe Kate Bush knew that Night of the Swallow would not be a big single. I have said before how it was common but a bit unusual releasing different singles in different countries. Often it did not provide a successful gambit. I do feel Night of the Swallow would have done well as a U.K. single. We will never know. A wonderfully oriignal and distinct song that should get more discussion and airplay, Night of the Swallow turns forty-one on 21st November. Rather than it being this album track that was a failed single, I think we need to be a lot more positive about this stunning song. Discuss it as much as we can and, in the process, ensure that we provide it…
A whole new lease of life.