‘All the Love’: the underrated genius of Kate Bush’s most overlooked track
Whether a Kate Bush song can be truly called “underrated” is a fine question. Bexleyheath’s finest is one of the most respected singer-songwriters to have ever cut to tape and has been since she was about 19. There may be artists with more commercial success across the world, but the Stranger Things-assisted dominance of ‘Running Up That Hill’ in 2022 showed that she could have been a Madonna-level pop star if she’d so wished.
However, she was content to be one of music’s biggest names in her home country. Probably because she could be so while also being a big ol’ weirdo to boot. Seriously, I’d love to see the look on the faces of some of the people who checked out Hounds of Love on the strength of ‘that’ scene from Stranger Things. Especially when ‘Waking The Witch’ descends into a choir of death-growling demons chanting “Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!”
The truth is, those magnificent pop singles like ‘Cloudbursting’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’ were the outliers. The vast majority of her work takes those delectable melodies and combines them with experimental techniques that border on the avant-garde. It means those that get her work really get her work. Thus, there will always be people who think that by picking this song as an underrated classic, I’ve outed myself as a filthy casual.
However, if I cared that much about what random people think, I wouldn’t be writing my opinions about music on the internet. So, I’ll say ‘All the Love’ from 1982’s The Dreaming is an underrated gem all I want. What’s more, I think it’s precisely because of how well it combines those two core aspects of what makes Bush so incredible as a pop star. It’s got some of the most soaring, gorgeous melodies in the whole album, and also bits that make you think your headphones are broken.
What makes ‘All the Love’ by Kate Bush so amazing?
Beginning with an audible sigh from Bush and a tumbling piano hook, the track’s secret melodic weapon sets out its stall early. Del Palmers’ snake-charming fretless bass almost works as the track’s lead instrument, decorating the song with enchanting melodic phrases as Bush mourns the fact that we often don’t express our love for others until they’re gone. It’s an all-timer vocal performance from Kate as well, demonstrating her astonishing control without ascending to the histrionics she can sometimes be guilty of.
Then, from time to time, everything drops out, and the first of two avant-garde masterstrokes make themselves known. A choirboy with a soprano purer than driven snow vocalises those who’ve been lost, singing “We needed you to love us too” in a manner just as haunting as Cathy’s ghostly pleading on the Yorkshire moors. The second takes up the last third of the song in a slightly more conventional way but leaves you just as shaken.
Bush herself put it better than I ever could in a 1982 essay she wrote for her fan club’s newsletter. She said, “I was using an answering machine to take the day’s messages and it had been going wrong a lot, gradually growing worse with time. This particular night, I started to play back the tape, and the machine had neatly edited half a dozen messages together to leave ‘Goodbye’, ‘See you!’, ‘Cheers’, ‘See you soon’.”
She had the bones of ‘All the Love’ written, but suddenly, she had the perfect ending to a song about missing loved ones. She went on to say, “It was a strange thing to sit and listen to your friends ringing up apparently just to say goodbye. I had several cassettes of peoples’ messages all ending with authentic farewells, and by copying them onto 1/4” tape and re-arranging the order, we managed to synchronize the ‘callers’ with the last verse of the song.”
What a song it leaves. One that has since been overshadowed by the majesty of The Dreaming as a whole, but in my opinion, deserves a place right at the top of the charts.
