Emptying out the Love-Hounds Mailbag

[IED0DXM@OAC.UCLA.EDU]

>  From: Marq Laube <marq%apple.apple.com@RELAY.CS.NET>

> Thirdly, whoever included lyrics to "December": thank you very much!
> I can't tell you how appreciated that was!  Anyone have complete
> lyrics to "Empty Bullring", "Burning Bridge", "Ran Tan Waltz", or
> "Warm and Soothing", or a translation of "Ne t'enfuis pas"?  Any or
> all would be SO appreciated.

     You're very welcome, Marq. Take heed, though: the lyrics to
"December Will Be Magic Again", as posted for the sake of the
Christmas Spirit by IED a few days back, were not reproduced in their
original form. The words were exactly the same, but the punctuation
was entirely different, to try to emphasize the conversational style
of the original words. IED is firmly of the opinion that most of
Kate's lyrics are not meant to be viewed as poetry, but as
conversations or narrative stories that have been _adapted_ for song
form. Here are the rest of the songs you requested (this time not
significantly altered from their published form):

"The Empty Bullring"

Disappears through a window.
Out of my mind
Trying to keep him at home.
Out into Rome
In the early hours,
Leaving me here
Like Tamlaine in her Tower.
You are going
To the empty bullring,
Taking your red cloak
To regain something.

Oh, you rolling matador,
Kill in your eyes
For the toro
That shut the door
To glory and gore.
The throw of the rose --
It's all you lived for,
But you've lost it all.

Your red streak
On the plot where many feet
Left it incomplete.
But you kept the meaning.
You feel him charge again,
And you feel him cut you down
Right on the spot
Where you thought
You were ground for good.
These flights of fantasy
Make your wounds more sore,
But you've every right
To even grab at the last straw.
Oh, Lord...

Oh, you rolling matador,
Kill in your eyes
For the toro
That shut the door
To glory and gore.
The throw of the rose --
It's all you lived for,
But you've lost it all.

"Burning Bridge"

Come close to me.
Come across the bridge.
I need to know
What you have to say to me.
     (We've been waiting all night long.)
What have you got to say to me?
     (We've been waiting all night long.)
Tell me all about it.
     (We've been waiting.)
Tell me, please.
     (We've been waiting.)
Oh, I know.

I know it works for me,
As we cross the bridge --
The burning bridge.
With flames behind us
We front the line.
It's you and me, baby,
Against the world!
     (We've been waiting.)
I've got to know
What you have to say.
     (We've been waiting.)
What have you got to say?
     (We've been waiting.)
Oh...
     (We've been waiting.)
I've got to get closer now!
     (We've been waiting.)
Tell me all about it,
     (We've been...)
All night long.
     (We've been...)
All night long.
     (We've been...)

It works for me.
It's you and me, babe,
Against the world!
All night long.
It works for me.
Let's cross the bridge.
Oh, I know.
     (We've been waiting.)
I know, I know.
     (We've been...)
It's you and me, babe.
When you stand next to me, babe,
It's all right.
It's you and me, babe,
Against the world.

"Ran Tan Waltz" (original title, "The Ran Tan")

Where is she
When the little thing cries?
She lies in a bed
With a friend of mine.
But some nights
She'll run back in fright
If she picks on a dick
That's too big for her pride.

Oh! Oh!
Why did I ever go marry her?
I was a child!
I'm holding the baby,
She's ran-tanning constantly.
She saw me coming for miles.
She saw me open wide.

Four o'clock
And the key's in the lock.
And she's been on the win    (N.B.: IED thinks this might be "wing".)
And she's stinking of drink.
Wakes the kid,
So I put him to sleep,
And she's in there all night,
Doubled over the sink.

Oh! Oh!
Why did I ever go marry her?
I was a child!
I'm holding the baby,
She's ran-tanning constantly.
She saw me coming for miles.
She saw me open wide.
Open wide.
Open wide.

"Warm and Soothing"

Warm and soothing,
That's how I remember home.
Walking into arms
Through the back door.
Hearing voices I know well,
And long for.

Cold and boozy,
Our holiday in the Alps.
Sitting in the lobby,
Mostly smoking.
Choking on the woozy afternoon.

I'm reeling in the music
And I've only had a few.
And I'm afraid
By the way we grow old,
My darling.

Abrupt, too moody,
You making our party list.
I remember sulking
On the sofa.
For most of the winter
We were strangers.

Just one more
To ease the ache,
Before the night takes me.
When you stay asleep
On your side of the bed,
Don't look at me,
Don't look at you...

I'm reeling in the music
And I've only had a few.
And I'm afraid
By the way we grow old,
My darling.

  (Jesus fucking christ popular song lyrics have
   never gotten better than that, oops, sorry...)

"Ne T'enfuis pas"                    "Don't Fly Away" ("Don't Flee")

Je viens                             I am coming
Comme un chat                        Like a cat
Par la nuit si noire.                Through the night so black.
Tu attends,                          You are waiting,
Et je tombe                          And I fall
Dans tes ailes blanches, la-la-la... Into your white wings, la-la-la...
Et je vole,                          And I fly,
Et je coule                          And I sink
Comme une plume.                     Like a feather.

Si les grands yeux de mon Dieu       If the great eyes of my God
Ne me gardaient pas,                 Were not watching (over) me,
Je te volerais                       I would steal you away.

Ne t'enfuis pas!                     Don't fly away!
Tu as des ailes,                     You have wings,
Le pouvoir de me quitter.            The power to leave me.
Tu es tombe'                         You fell
Du ciel comme un ange, la-la-la...   From the sky like an angel, la-la-la...
Et j'ai peur                         And I'm afraid
Que le ciel                          That the sky
Te reprenne.                         Will take you back.

Si les grands yeux de mon Dieu       If the great eyes of my God
Ne me gardaient pas,                 Weren't watching (over) me,
Je te volerais.                      I would steal you away.

Je viens                             I am coming
Comme un chat                        Like a cat
Par la nuit si noire.                Through the night so black.
Je t'en prie,                        I beg you,
Je t'en prie,                        I beg you,
Je t'en prie,                        I beg you,
Je t'en prie,                        I beg you,
Je t'en prie,                        I beg you,
Je t'en prie --                      I beg you --
Ne t'enfuis                          Don't fly
Pas!                                 Away!

>     Fourthly, I discovered an incredible bit in "Hello, Earth" the
> other night.  Right as Kate is singing the initial "Hello, Earth!
> Hello, Earth", during each of the "th" sounds, a very quiet male
> voice comes on (sounding like its being projected from space) and
> says something.  Anyone have any clues as to what it is.  (If you
> want to hear this, you will have to crank it up!)

Good listening, Marq. The words are simply those of an astronaut,
trying to contact Earth. He is echoing Kate's words, "Hello Earth,
Hello Earth." Keep it up. If you think _that's_ hard to hear...

>>     Finally, any suggestions from this group (sorry I'm new) about what
>> specifically is meant by "Gaffa"?

>> --- Marq

>   "Gaffa" is a European slang term for gaffer's tape, which is
>   identical to duct tape. -- |>oug

    IED, while at this point humbly agreeing with |>oug that Kate must
have had that meaning of the word in mind, still feels it's worthwhile
to caution new listeners that there could be more to it than that.
And by the way, welcome to Love-Hounds, Marq.

> From: avalon%ucsck.UCSC.EDU@ucscc.ucsc.edu (Scott A. McIntyre)

>   Well, I just wanted to drop a line telling you all that I am now a
> convert to Kate Bush.  I heard her voice with Peter Gabriel in their
> duet, and I have been hooked ever since.

>    I sent a message to rec.music.misc asking for recommendations as
> to what to purchase next in the way of Kate Bush's music, and have
> received SEVERAL replies for me to join this conference...so I
> did...at any rate, just wanted to say hi, and ask, what should I get
> next?

> P.S.: Is Kate married?

     Welcome, Scott. You've found the right place, all right. Kate is
not married (as far as anyone has ever been told). She has, however,
been living with one man for many years now -- at least since 1980,
possibly since as long ago as 1977. He is Del Palmer, and frequently
plays bass on Kate's records, as well as operating as her "demo"
engineer (which means he works more closely with Kate on her music
than anyone else), and developing electronic rhythms (according to
Kate's specifications, of course) for works-in-progress.
     As for which record you should get next (assuming by "next" you
mean "after _So_?"), it's really a matter of taste. Some Kate fans
prefer the "earlier" style of her first three albums. Most, however,
find the last two studio LPs to be a bit more challenging, complex and
ultimately, perhaps, more satisfying. Also, it may depend upon your
taste in female vocal styles, since Kate's first three albums featured
a highly distinctive falsetto soprano range which can be difficult for
some people to reconcile themselves to. This is not the case with the
last two albums. Some people in this group swear by _The Dreaming_
(1982, LP #4) which was Kate's first real artistic "breakthrough", and
others here will maintain with their dying breath that _Hounds of
Love_ (1985, LP #5) is equal in most ways to _The Dreaming_ and
superior in others. It's a hard call to make.

     Oh, hell, get _The Dreaming_. It's the greatest album ever made.
     There! I admit it! Happy, |>oug?

[ Yes.  What makes you finally agree with me?  -- |>oug ]

> From: rutgers!uiucdcs!bradley!bucc2!frodo@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Pete Hartman)

>     This sounds like the new movie with Molly Ringwald...the name
> has changed from "She's Having A Baby" (I don't recall what it is
> now) but it's the first time I've seen her actually looking very
> good.  From what I've seen of the adverts for it, it doesn't look
> too great, but then again, if it's got a song by Kate in it......

No, no, no, no, no! It's _not_ the same movie. Sorry, but IED had
these visions of all the Love-Hounds piling in to see "For Keeps?"
only to find that there's no Kate song in it after all, and then
traveling to your house en masse, Pete, lynching-ropes in hand...
     IED, too, thought it might be the same movie under a different
title. After all, Molly Ringwald _has_ starred in about five or six
dozen of John Hughes's movies, and she _is_ still playing a teen-ager
(even though she's now about thirty-nine years old, or something), and
it _does_ seem to have the _identical_ premise as "She's Having a
Baby". But hey! That's nothing new, right? (Remember that movie with
Dudley Moore about a man who trades bodies with his pubescent son?
Came out about three or four months ago? Sank like a bomb? Well, IED
just saw a preview for a new movie starring Judge Reinholdt that is
_exactly_ the same idea.)
     Anyway, "For Keeps?" was directed by Richard (?) Avildson.
"She's Having a Baby", also due out pretty soon, was directed by John
Hughes and stars Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern, not Molly R.

> As for Kate Stuff.....Thanks to all the people posting subsription
> info on the fanzines in the last two issues.

All-the-people-posting-subscription-info-on-the-fanzines says you're
welcome.

> I intend to subscribe to a couple (soons I get the
> $$).....also.....what was that I read about 6 issues ago about tapes
> circulating.....is there some sort of Music Share thing going on
> here?  If so, how does one get involved???

Uh-oh...

Finally, thanks very much to Victor O'R. for the fascinating
low-down on U.S. sound-as-weapons experimentation.  What is
a square wave?

      [	A square wave is a wave that's really out of it -- a wave that
	doesn't listen to Kate.  Furthermore, instead of being nice
        and curvy and sinuous, it goes straight up, and straight
	across, and straight down.  Like so:
		 ------        ------
		|      |      |      |
		       |      |      |      |
	                ------        ------

	To the refined ear, a square wave doesn't sound very
	harmonious.  -- |>oug ]

-- Andrew Marvick