“A sensuous shining man”: Was the Kate Bush classic ‘The Saxophone Song’ written about David Bowie?
Kate Bush might be the biggest David Bowie fan to ever exist. Though that might appear to be a broad statement, the singer didn’t just admire the ‘Starman’; she made it her mission to reinvent what it meant to stand confidently against the grain. As a result, Bush adopted a different, more visceral type of artistic expression, reminiscent of Bowie’s stark stand against the status quo.
In Bush’s mind, Bowie had “everything”. After all, The Rise and Fall Of Ziggy Stardust presented an entire reset to someone like Bush, who was only just getting into what it meant to be a meaningful artist—one that reestablished the parameters of musical artistry by shattering the glass ceiling beyond repair. In fact, discovering Bowie left such an impact on Bush that she remembers the first moment she ever heard his voice.
“I was sitting in my bath, submerged in bubbles, listening to Radio Luxembourg when I heard David Bowie for the first time,” she said, continuing, “‘There’s a starman waiting in the sky.’ I thought it was such an interesting song and that he had a really unusual voice. Soon, I was to hear that track everywhere, and Bowie’s music became a part of my life.”
Adorned with a new bedroom wall poster and a newfound theatrical attitude, Bush charged into the limelight, knowing the power of a strong visual identity, no matter how polarising it seemed. And that’s exactly what Bush represented during her rise to fame—the outsider artist whose music was accessible enough to fit into the mainstream but different enough to challenge everything else that existed in the same space.
Many of these Bowie-inspired cadences permeated the walls of Bush’s debut, The Kick Inside, not just aesthetically but in its sonic experimentalism and her ability to challenge the listening experience, offering melodic twists and turns when they’re least expected. One song that was rumoured to have been a Bowie parallel was ‘The Saxophone Song’, delivering a nod to the occasions when Bowie plays the instrument himself.
It’s no surprise that some thought the song was written about Bowie or at least inspired him, not only considering Bush’s appreciation but also her subtleties when it comes to repurposing several tropes he revolutionised himself. However, Bush claims the song was written about the instrument and “not the player,” dispelling any suspicions that it might have emerged alongside her love for the singer.
Still, it reflected the many Bowie parallels she held dear, paying homage to an instrument they both loved dearly. As she reflected in 1980 to Sounds: “I love saxophones so I wanted to write a song about them. I think of a beautiful sax like a human being, a sensuous shining man being taken over by the instrument. The perfect setting was this smoky bar in Berlin with nobody listening except me in the corner.”
Despite her clarification on the song’s origins, it’s likely she didn’t experience any bitterness at the comparisons, considering how she views Bowie as the ultimate star who made no wrong moves. In her eyes, anything he touched turned to gold, making any similarities a high complement rather than a source of irritation.
