The “greatest response” Kate Bush ever received to one of her songs
Kate Bush is an artist that is incredibly difficult to define. She is completely one of her own, unique in everything she has ever done and prolific in the stamp she has made on music. Her work is laced with literary references, enchanting instrumentation and passionate delivery, to the point that she has inspired countless musicians who have come after her.
Arguably, one of the things that contributes towards the artist’s consistent brilliance is Bush’s unwaveringness in her approach to music. Despite being offered ample opportunity to sell out, she is adamant about only making music she likes and feels connected with. The result is millions of fans worldwide who share that connection with her as they revel in songs layered in their dynamic backdrop and overall sound.
In conducting herself throughout such an inspired career, Kate Bush has created several hits, each of which deserves merit. However, she remembers one song in particular as having one of the best responses she ever felt in music. Interestingly, it was initially intended to be the backdrop of the silver screen. Her 1988 track, ‘This Woman’s Work’.
“There’s a film called She’s Having a Baby, and John Hughes, the director, rung up and said that he had a sequence in the film that he really wanted a song written to be with,” said Bush, reflecting on how the track initially came about. “I’d only worked the once before on the Castaway film – where I’d really enjoyed that – so I was extremely tempted by the offer. And when he sent the piece of film that the song would be part of, I just thought it was wonderful, it was so moving, a very moving piece of film. And in a way, there was a sense that the whole film built up to this moment.”
Bush continued, “It was a very easy song to write. It was very quick and just kind of came, like a lot of songs do. Even if you struggle for months, in the end, they just kind of go – BLAH! – you know?”
The track was the first one that found its way on her album The Sensual World; however, it almost didn’t make the cut for the record’s tracklist. “That was the first song that I wrote for The Sensual World album. In fact, at the time, we weren’t even sure whether to put it on the album or not. I must say that Del [Palmer] was very instrumental in saying that I should put it on the album, and I’m very glad I did because I had the most fantastic response – in some ways, maybe the greatest response – to this song… I was absolutely thrilled.”
Interestingly, one of Bush’s most well-received songs initially found its way on the screen, especially given the revitalised success of her hit ‘Running Up That Hill’, which was given a second wind following its appearance on the Netflix drama Stranger Things. The passionate way that Bush can deliver her songs means that she accompanies a scene incredibly well and that moving element to her music is one of her defining factors as a musician.
