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The Kate Bush Songs You May Have Missed

Kate Bush Has So Many Hidden Treasures

By Mike Singleton - MikeydredPublished 2 years ago Updated 9 months ago 4 min read
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I often don’t fall in with the mainstream and so this is a trawl through Kate'scatalogue to find ten songs that you may be unaware of. I was also alerted to "Mná na hÉireann" by a comment on a Youtube video so I have also included that, making eleven songs.

Before I start this my favourite Kate Bush album is “The Hounds Of Love” and my favourite song is “Cloudbusting” (which for years I thought was “Cloudbursting” and I love the Heath Robinson style cloud machine in the video)

But the point of this is to find some Kate Bush songs that you may have missed or be unaware of.

1: Them Heavy People from "The Kick Inside"

Rolling the Ball to you, love this reggae-tinged song from her debut album.

2: Brazil from the Terry Gilliam Film

Kate sang the theme song chosen by Terry Gilliam for his nightmarish dystopian fantasy ”Brazil”, with orchestration by Michale Kamen, This is an absolute beauty completely unpreparing you for the horrors that unfold in the brilliant film. The song and film are both favourites of mine, and it has Robert De Niro as a guerilla gas repair mrepairman

2: Lyra from "The Golden Compass"

From the film “The Golden Compass”, this beautiful and heavenly. I thought the film was excellent, but the franchise was canned by the influence of the American Religious Right. Philip Pulman's "His Dark Materials does not treat religion kindly and is one of my favourite series of books.

Waking The Witch from "The Hounds of Love"

This and the following song are from "The Ninth Wave" suite on the album. I love every song from this album , but love all Kate's music. These two are pure atmosphere.

Under Ice from "The Hounds of Love"

The driving strings make me think of icicles and frozen ponds.

The Big Sky from "The Hounds of Love"

From "The Hounds of Love" suite, when I see huge clouds I see The Big Sky in real life. Some of Kate's notes on the song.

Someone sitting looking at the sky, watching the clouds change. I used to do this a lot as a child, just watching the clouds go into different shapes. I think we forget these pleasures as adults. We don't get as much time to enjoy those kinds of things, or think about them; we feel silly about what we used to do naturally. The song is also suggesting the coming of the next flood - how perhaps the "fools on the hills" will be the wise ones. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, Issue 18, 1985)

King Of The Mountain from Aerial

This is so other worldly and has an amazing video too. The only single released from the album.

Sexual Healing - "B" Side of King Of The Mountain

A cover of the Marvin Gaye song which I was unaware of, but like all her covers absolutely gorgeous. This is not a fan favourite but I like it.

The Red Shoes from the eponymous album

I love the driving acoustic sound of this wonderful piece, that just steamrollers you into glorious submission.

Flower of the Mountain from Directors Cut

You will know the music of this beauty.

With text from James Joyce's 'Ulysses', used by kind permission of the Trustrees of James Joyce Estate.

Kate originally asked for permission in the Eighties, when she'd made this song. The Joyce estate refused to release the words. She spent over a year trying to gain permission before accepting defeat. She kept the backing track but 're-approached the words' for a track that would become The Sensual World, released in 1989.

On the 2011 album Director's Cut Kate wanted to include the original version of the song, and so she approached the James Joyce Estate again, and this time, they gave permission.

Mná na hÉireann

A beautiful song that Kate recorded for the album "Common Ground" by Donal Lunny in 1996. The title means "Women Of Ireland". The lyrics are by Peadar O'Doirnin and the music by Sean O'Riada.

Concluding Kate Bush

These are ten of my suggestions for you, and you can hear my own take on Kate's "Wuthering Heights".

From 2006 Spoon play "Wuthering Heights" at the Tyneside Irish Centre with me on vocals.

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About the Creator

Mike Singleton - Mikeydred

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Comments (2)

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  • Dharrsheena Raja Segarran2 years ago

    Really enjoyed Under Ice! Excellent playlist!

  • Interesting read. Not a big KB fan but love almost all music regardless. Bravo

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