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Rating: I could describe the sensations you evoke within me as I melt in your impossible voice, but Francis has already been commendable in doing so for your extraordinary debut. I could talk about your angelic nature that over time has darkened into screams and grave tones of a dark demon, but even that has been well told already, and NotMeAgain.
I could also take a more critical stance and talk about you as a brilliant and versatile artist, yet human. Sure, I could. But a tender-hearted punisher has already accomplished all of this in an impeccable manner. I cannot be original, Kate, and something of all three will resonate in what I will say; but let it be considered a tribute to how well they adore you and how skillfully they have described it.
How many things I would like to do, Kate, and how many things I cannot do. I wish to be like your voice, eternal and always able to surpass its own limits. I wish to be like that voice that lulls me to sleep at night, soaring and romantic, climbing over the steep snowy expanses while it screams its love to the wild nature; that voice which echoes shrill and impossible in the head and then penetrates hard into the heart, dark and deep, making it tremble with ice; that voice which creates clouds in the soul at first, only to dissolve them with a desperate violin cry.
But all that is mere words, and it's not enough: you, Kate, must be explored, savored; you must be lived, Kate, sublime creature, delicate as the dew in your wonderful videos. I see you, still and yet so alive and penetrating, in your leonine fur on that bare wooden chest, the wallpaper illuminated by the sun and by your presence. And if what you enclose in the chest may not be immortal like the soccer that once shook me inside, your voice will still make it wonderful.
"Symphony In Blue" is delightful, in its parsonian cadence (Powell in production, Elliott on drums and Bairnson - unless I've erred - on the brilliant guitars are the emblem) and in its enveloping vocality. "In Search Of Peter Pan" seduces instead in fairy tale tones, Kate's fingers play on the ivory that she knows in every facet. But how can you be so sweet, Kate? "Wow", I exclaim with open mouth, wonder for your incredible art; and it is the perfect exclamation, immortal in its simplicity. It takes a more aggressive and determined turn in the beautiful "Don’t Push Your Foot On The Heartbrake": the nightingale in its impossible melodies is anchored to the ground by an effective bass and a cheerful arrangement. But it's already time for legend; "Oh England My Lionheart": in a fluted atmosphere, an angelic voice distant from past eras and its piano torn in gentle chords creating magic.
The return to the present (but not on Earth) happens in "Fullhouse", where the rarefied rhythm accompanies Kate's hands in nonsensical and hallucinated chords like the voice accompanying them. We move to the warm room (echoes in the title of that masterpiece which was a few months before "Room For The Life"): intense voice and piano duet in "In The Warm Room". It’s followed by another famous track, that "Kashka From Baghdad" marked by a melancholic bass (played, if I’m not mistaken, by Del Palmer) and adorned by a theatrical and expressive voice like few others: a track of great atmosphere. But here ladies and gentlemen in a circus troupe jubilation now brass now pointed the sound evolutions of our acrobat: "Coffee Homeground" is tonight's number; step right up, step right up. Applause, of course, but now close your eyes. The mind is shaken by a "Hammer Horror", a showcase of Kate Bush's potentials: vocalizations, overdubs, whispers, roars. The electric guitar can only keep up with it, nothing more. Enchanting.
The LP is beautiful, undoubtedly. But let’s be clear about one point: it’s not "The Kick Inside"; the gestation of this work (still in nineteen seventy-eight) was too short by comparison. Excellent songs, a great fresh voice, but a little less magic: there are no Wuthering Heights and men with the child in their eyes. But Kate Bush was growing, beginning to shed the clothes of the celestial muse and increasingly delving into the depths of the human psyche and the darker recesses of her potentials. Nothing is forever, after all, as she will wonderfully make us understand some time later making us dream and moan while caressing a double bass.
You are unique, Kate.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Symphony in Blue (03:37)
I spent a lot of my time looking at blue,
The colour of my room and my mood:
Blue on the walls, blue out of my mouth;
The sort of blue between clouds, when the sun comes out,
The sort of blue in those eyes you get hung up about.
When that feeling of meaninglessness sets in,
Go blowing my mind on God:
The light in the dark, with the neon arms,
The meek He seeks, the beast He calms,
The head of the good soul department.
I see myself suddenly
On the piano, as a melody.
My terrible fear of dying
No longer plays with me,
for now I know that I'm needed
For the symphony.
I associate love with red,
The colour of my heart when she's dead;
Red in my mind when the jealousy flies,
Red in my eyes from emotional ties,
Manipulation, the danger signs.
The more I think about sex, the better it gets.
Here we have a purpose in life:
Good for the blood circulation,
Good for releasing the tension,
The root of our reincarnations.
I see myself suddenly
On the piano, as a melody.
My terrible fear of dying
No longer plays with me,
for now I know that I'm needed
For the symphony.
I spent a lot of my time looking at blue--
No wonder that I blew it!
02 In Search of Peter Pan (03:47)
It's been such a long week.
So much crying.
I no longer see a future.
I've been told when I get older
That I'll understand
It all.
But I'm not sure if I want to.
Running into her arms
At the school gates--
She whispers that I'm a poor kid.
And Granny takes me on her knee.
She tells me I'm too sensitive.
She makes me sad.
She makes me feel like an old man.
She makes me feel like an old man.
They took the game right out of it.
They took the game right out of it.
When I am a man
I will be an astronaut,
And find Peter Pan.
Second star on the right,
Straight on 'til morning.
Second star on the right,
Straight on 'til morning.
Dennis loves to look
In the mirror.
He tells me that he is beautiful.
So I look too, and what do I see?
My eyes are full,
But my face is empty.
He's got a photo
Of his hero.
He keeps it under his pillow.
But I've got a pin-up
From a newspaper
Of Peter Pan.
I found it in a locket.
I hide it in my pocket.
They took the game right out of it.
They took the game right out of it.
When I am a man
I will be an astronaut,
And find Peter Pan.
Second star on the right,
Straight on 'til morning.
Second star on the right,
Straight on 'til morning.
Second star on the right,
Straight on 'til morning.
"When you wish upon a star,*
Makes no difference who you are.
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true."*
03 Wow (04:01)
We're all alone on the stage tonight
We've been told we're not afraid of you
We know all our lines so well, ah-ha
We've said them so many times
Time and time again
Line and line again
Ooh yeah you're amazing
We think you're incredible
You say we're fantastic
But still we don't head the bill
Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow
Unbelievable
When the actor reaches his death
You know it's not for real
He just holds his breath
But he always dives too soon
Too fast to save himself
He'll never make the screen
He'll never make "The Sweeney"
Be that movie queen
He's too busy hitting the vaseline
Ooh yeah you're amazing
We think you are really cool
We'd give you a part my love
But you'd have to play the fool
Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow
Unbelievable
04 Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake (03:16)
Emma's come down.
She's stopped the light
Shining out of her eyes.
Emma's been run out on.
She's breaking down
In so many places,
Stuck in low gear
Because of her fears
Of the skidding wheels,
(The skid of her wheels she feels.)
Skidding wheels,
(The skid of her wheels she feels.)
Spinning wheels.
(Wheel-skidding feeling.)
Her heart is there,
But they've greased the road.
Her heart is out there,
But she's no control.
Oh, come on, you've got to use your flow.
You know what it's like, and you know you want to go.
Don't drive too slowly.
Don't put your blues where your shoes should be.
Don't put your foot on the heartbrake.
(She's losing, she's losing, she's losing, she's losing...)
She's losing that inner flame.
It was burning bright,
But she's losing the light fast.
She's only herself to blame.
Well, take care of yourself,
And remember Georgie.
But she's so O.D.'d on weeping
She can harDLy see
That she's dropping beads.
(Red, red glass is bleeding.)
Dropping beads.
(Red, red glass is bleeding.)
Dropping beads.
(Red, red on the parquet.)
Her heart is there,
But they've greased the road.
Her heart is out there,
But she's no control.
Oh, come on, you've got to use your flow.
You know what it's like, and you know you want to go.
Don't drive too slowly.
Don't put your blues where your shoes should be.
Don't put your foot on the heartbrake
08 Kashka From Baghdad (03:56)
Kashka from Baghdad
Lives in sin, they say,
With another man,
But no one knows who.
Old friends never call there.
Some wonder if life's
Inside at all--
If there's life inside at all.
But we know the lady who rents the room.
She catches them calling a la lune.
At night
They're seen
Laughing,
Loving.
They know
The way
To be
Happy.
They never go for walks.
Maybe it's because
The moon's not bright enough.
There's light in love, you see.
I watch their shadows,
Tall and slim,
In the window opposite.
I long to be with them.
'Cause when all the alley-cats come out,
You can hear music from Kashka's house.
At night
They're seen
Laughing,
Loving.
They know
The way
To be
Happy.
"Watching every night.*
Don't you know they're seen?
Won't you let me laugh?
Let me in your love.
"Watching every night.
Don't you know they're seen?
Won't you let me laugh?
Let me in your love.
"Watching every night.
Don't you know they're seen?
Won't you let me laugh?
Let me in your love.
"Watching every night.
Don't you know they're seen?
Won't you let me laugh?"
09 Coffee Homeground (03:39)
Down in the cellar
You're getting into making poison.
You slipped some on the side,
Into my glass of wine,
And I don't want any coffee--homeground.
Offer me a chocolate,
No thank you, spoil my diet, know your game!
But tell me just how come
They smell of bitter almonds?
It's a no-no to your coffee homeground.
Pictures of Crippin
Lipstick-smeared.
Torn wallpaper.
Have the walls got ears here?
Well, you won't get me with your Belladonna--in the coffee,
And you won't get me with your aresenic--in the pot of tea,
And you won't get me in a hole to rot--with your hemlock
On the rocks.
Where are the plumbers
Who went a-missing here on Monday?
There was a tall man
With his companion,
And I bet you gave them coffee--homeground.
Maybe you're lonely,
And only want a little company,
But keep your recipes
For the rats to eat,
And may they rest in peace with coffee homeground.
Well, you won't get me with your Belladonna--in the coffee,
And you won't get me with your aresenic--in the pot of tea,
And you won't put me in a six-foot plot--with your hemlock
On the rocks.
You won't get me with your Belladonna--in the coffee,
And you won't get me with your aresenic--in the pot of tea,
And you won't get me in a hole to rot--with your hemlock
On the rocks.
With your hemlock on the rocks.
"Noch ein Glas, mein Liebchen?"*
With your hemlock on the rocks.
"Es schmeckt wunderbahr!"*
With your hemlock on the rocks.
"Und ???"
10 Hammer Horror (04:39)
You stood in the belltower,
But now you're gone.
So who knows all the sights
Of Notre Dame?
They've got the stars for the gallant hearts.
I'm the replacement for your part.
But all I want to do is forget
You, friend.
Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror,
Won't leave me alone.
The first time in my life,
I leave the lights on
To ease my soul.
Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror,
Won't leave it alone.
I don't know,
Is this the right thing to do?
Rehearsing in your things,
I feel guilty.
And retracing all the scenes,
Of your big hit,
Oh, God, you needed the leading role.
It wasn't me who made you go, though.
Now all I want to do is forget
You, friend.
Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror,
Won't leave me alone.
The first time in my life,
I leave the lights on
To ease my soul.
Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror,
Won't leave it alone.
I don't know,
Is this the right thing to do?
Who calls me from the other side
Of the street?
And who taps me on the shoulder?
I turn around, but you're gone.
I've got a hunch that you're following,
To get your own back on me.
So all I want to do is forget
You, friend.
Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror,
Won't leave me alone.
The first time in my life,
I leave the lights on
To ease my soul.
Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror,
Won't leave it alone.
I don't know,
Is this the right thing to do?
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