TOP 4O
KATE BUSH TRACKS
GREATEST
A TIME, A PLACE, A SPECIAL MEANING… THERE ARE SURELY FEW THINGS MORE PERSONAL THAN THE SONGS WE HOLD MOST DEAR. SELECTING THE 40 FINEST KATE BUSH SONGS IS ONE OF THE TRICKIEST TASKS TO HAVE FACED THE CLASSIC POP TEAM – BUT WE’VE TRIED OUR VERY BEST. DO YOU AGREE?
IAN WADE
4O
KEN
RECORD LABEL EMI RELEASED 1990
Few people would expect to find a Kate Bush deep cut on the soundtrack to GLC: The Carnage Continues, a 1990 Comic Strip Presents… TV episode about Ken Livingstone and the Greater London Council, but Kate had a long history of working with comedians. The Shaftreferencing Ken was released with other tracks from the soundtrack as the B-side to Love And Anger. You’ll find it on YouTube.
39
HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
RECORD LABEL EMI RELEASED 1992
This was Kate’s contribution to another Comic Strip Presents… concoction, a tale of avian revenge entitled Wild Turkey. The first of two festive offerings in this list, Home For Christmas is often overlooked due to its relative unavailability in comparison to December Will Be Magic Again. It was released as the B-side to Moments Of Pleasure, and Kate’s kindly now popped it on Spotify too.
38
SUSPENDED IN GAFFA
RECORD LABEL EMI RELEASED 1982
Gaffa/gaffer is, of course, the infamously tough and sticky black tape widely brandished in the theatre and rock industries. Mysterious and yet deeply autobiographical, Suspended In Gaffa seems to touch upon the subjects of God, of feelings of powerlessness and of the difficulty of proving one’s own worth. It was released as single across Europe and Australia, but not in the UK.
“Ne T’enfuis Pas sees Bush envisioning herself as a slowly stalking cat and her lover as a bird; whatever is about to happen, it seems highly likely that feathers will fly“
37
NE T’ENFUIS PAS
RECORD LABEL EMI RELEASED 1982
With French lyrics by Patrick Jeaneau and Vivienne Chandler, Ne T’enfuis Pas (Don’t Run Away) sees Bush envisioning herself as a slowly stalking cat and her lover as a bird; whatever is about to happen, it seems highly likely that feathers will fly. Released as the B-side to There Goes A Tenner, the song’s title was misspelt on the label as Ne T’en Fuis Pas, which means nothing at all. The clots.
36
NIGHT OF THE SWALLOW
RECORD LABEL EMI RELEASED 1982
Released as a single from The Dreaming only in Ireland due mainly to the musical presence of members from the popular traditional-based Irish acts Planxty and The Chieftains, Night Of The Swallow tells the tale of a lover pleading with her smuggler boyfriend for him not to go out on another job; however, he gets a bit uppity and tells her not to tie him down. It became an Irish No.12 in 1983.
35
MOVING
RECORD LABEL EMI RELEASED 1978
A tribute to her dance teacher Lindsay Kemp, The Kick Inside’s opener Moving was only released as a single in Japan – and Wuthering Heights, rather incredibly, was relegated to the B-side. Sadly, in that country it did only modest business despite Kate having performed the song at the Tokyo Music Festival in front of a TV audience of 35 million. Maybe the whale sound at the start put them off.
34
LOVE AND ANGER
RECORD LABEL EMI RELEASED 1989
The first song written but the last one completed two years later for The Sensual World, Kate struggled with Love And Anger’s subject: “This is about who you can or cannot confide in when there’s something you can’t talk about. Who did I have in the lyrics? Was it sister or mother? I can’t remember.” David Gilmour’s solo apparently helped, and it made the album – and also reached No.38 in 1990.