The song that forced Kate Bush to write music: “My whole routine was just blown apart”
It would be torturous for any songwriter if condemned to write song after song for eternity. Even though there’s beauty in hearing a track come together and blow everyone away, there are many times when people need some breathing room before they start making some of their classics. While Kate Bush was always going to quote her heart whenever she made one of her masterpieces, she did admit that the music business could get more than a little bit needy when asking for her songs.
Then again, anyone who has ever heard Bush’s music will be aching to hear more by the time any of her albums are finished. There might be some fantastic moments on tracks like Hounds of Love, but the minute the record transitions to The Ninth Wave halfway through, most people would give anything to be back in that world as they watch Bush slowly try not to lose her mind as she is lost at sea.
Even when she wasn’t making some episodic musical odyssey, every one of her songs felt like individual moments that could last for an entire lifetime. ‘This Woman’s Work’ is still one of the biggest gut punches of her entire career, and despite her not writing a note of music for the tune, what she brought to Peter Gabriel’s ‘Don’t Give Up’ could practically be prescribed to anyone who has ever gone through a bout of depression or is in some dire life situation.
Bush had no idea that her music would have that kind of effect on people. She was still learning the ropes when she released her first album, but as soon as her music reached David Gilmour’s ears, he knew this was about something more than pop music. This was the kind of progressive music that pop artists wished they could make.
And listening to ‘Wuthering Heights’, it’s not like she didn’t hit the ground running, either. Outside of the chorus hook, hearing Bush go through several key changes without really thinking about it feels like the work of someone twice her age, especially with how sophisticated the melody is behind her. But as much as Bush liked getting recognition for her work, fame turned into a double-edged sword too fast.
Despite having a massive hit single, Bush remembered the recording process becoming a chore at some points once she hit it big, saying, “I have to be forced to write for an album. I used to write every day, and if it wasn’t very good, keep a little bit and maybe use it in something else. As soon as ‘Wuthering Heights’ became a hit, though, my whole routine was just blown apart. It was extraordinary how suddenly everything changed.”
Whereas most people would find it fun trying to outdo what they had already put out, there are moments when things go sideways. Even though Bush is one of those rare artists who have never released a bad album, Lionheart does suffer from sounding more like a collection of odds and ends from The Kick Inside rather than a fully fleshed-out project.
That didn’t seem to matter much to the fans, though. If anything, Bush’s first two albums are a proof of concept for what she could accomplish, and as the years went on, she would go on to prove that she was only beginning to show us her true colours when she stepped behind the studio glass.
