Some thoughts on a sensual world

[Doug Alan <nessus@athena.mit.edu>]

I've had *The Sensual World* LP for a little while now and I figure
that I've digested it enough to be able to say a few words about it.
I'll also might say a few word about my interpretation of some of the
songs.  (When I use the word "Kate" in describing the plot of a song,
let it be understood that I refer to the protaganist of the songm not
the real-life Kate, since each particular song may or may not be
autobiographical.)

I think the new album is wonderful (of course!).  However, I'd still
burn all of my albums (including all of Kate's other albums), rather
than lose *The Dreaming*.  This album is included.  I also don't like
it quite as much as *Hounds of Love*.  It has some incredible material
on it, but unlike *Hounds of Love* it has a couple of tunes I don't
really care for.  Also, there is nothing on *The Sensual World* that
hits me over the head with a two-by-four, the way that "Waking the
Witch" or "Jig of Life" does on "Hounds of Love".

I have a friend, Laura, who LOVED *The Dreaming*.  She didn't like
*Hounds of Love* as much, but she LOVES the new album.  She says that
her favorite song on *Hounds* is "Watching You Without Me" (my least
favorite song on the album), and that most of the new album reminds
her of this song.  It doesn't sound that way to me, though, or I
probably wouldn't like the new album too much.

The songs....

The Sensual World -- when I first heard this song, it sounded a bit
too etherial for my tastes, though I did really appreciate the
Indian-sounding music being played on Irish instruments.  After a
while, this songs really starts getting under your skin, however, and
sets in deep roots.  We all know what it is about by now, so I won't
say anymore about it.

Love and Anger --  I don't like this song too much.  It's okay, but
Kate can do much better.  The rhythm sounds like it was ripped off
from "The Big Sky" and the music doesn't strike me particularly.  I
don't hear many risks in this song.  The background vocals are nice
and Kate does some nice things with her voice.  I haven't spent too
much time contemplating the meaning of this song because the music
doesn't drag me in.  Jon's musings on the song seem apt to me.

The Fog -- An incredible song.  Songs like these are why I worship
Kate Bush and this one song is worth an least ten albums by almost
anyone else.  The most sensual and moody song ever written.  It's deep
and dark.  Get the idea?  The lyrics are clearly about being scared of
love -- a common theme of Kate's, but not one that can be said too
much about.

	"This love of yours was big enough to be frightened of.
         It's deep and dark like the water was,
         the day I learned to swim."

Does this give us any insight into "I'll be two steps on the water"?

Reaching Out -- I can't stand this song.  To me, it sounds cliched and
overdone.  It sounds to me like a bad Barbara Streisand movie
soundtrack song.  IED says I am pathetic for thinking so, but the
majority of the people I have talked to think this song sucks.  Laura,
who if you will remember, LOVES the album, says that this song is
"pathetic".  My girlfriend made me turn off the tape deck when this
song came on.  Joe Turner says it sounds like a bad Journey song --
even more so than "Not This Time".  Larry Deluca said that it was
indeed cliched, but that it works incredibly well anyway.

The lyrics are okay.  They are about how we strive to extend beyond
ourselves by wanting to explore the universe and other people.

Heads We're Dancing -- This song is pretty darned good.  But for Kate
it's nothing special.  Those who have been following the discussion
know that it's about some evil bastard who flips a coin.  If it comes
up heads, he dances with the woman.  The matter of what happens if it
comes up tails is still in the air.  Some people believe the bad dude
is Hitler.  [Errata: now that we have the official lyrics and Kate's
statements about the song, we know the dude *is* Hitler.]

Side two.  Here's where the album gets unrelentingly awesome.

Deeper Understanding -- A beautiful and sad song.  This is the first
song where Kate's exquisite weaving of Bulgarian folk music with her
own appears.  The song seems to be about someone who is lonely and
sad.  They acquire some sort of marvelous computer program that is
intelligent and becomes a good friend.  At the end, we hear a voice
that says "I hate to leave you".  I think that this indicates that the
program has decided that Kate no longer needs the program as a crutch
and can stand on her own feet now, and so the program must leave.
Another possibility is that Kate has grown up and has decided she no
longer needs the program as a crutch.  Jon Drunkbrain says that it
indicates that Kate has been forcibly separated from the computer by
her evil, nonunderstanding family.  I disagree.  Kate is not this
morbid.

The story of this song reminds me of "Puff the Magic Dragon" or "Peter
Pan", where a magical being helps children who have sad childhoods,
but must eventually watch them grow up and leave them.

Between a Man and a Woman -- Even better than the previous song.  One
of the very few songs where Kate is really mad at someone in
particular and lets it show.  Yes, indeed, a very unusual and powerful
song for Kate.  She's beautiful when she's angry!  The story is fairly
clear.  Someone is screwing up Kate's love life by taking sides and
offering unwanted advice.  This song is Kate telling that person off.
"Let the pendulum swing between a man and a woman."

Never Be Mine -- Incredible.  Even better than the previous song.
More haunting stuff with Trio Bulgarka -- another very sad song.
Before I read the official lyrics to this song, I thought that Kate
was having a vision of herself in an alternate world, living a
different life, and wishing it was really hers.  After seeing the
official lyrics, it seems more like Kate has had a romantic affair
with someone who leads a much different life than hers.  The idea is
still very similar.  As she thinks of him, she longs for life she
could have led with him -- a different life.  But she knows that this
life is not the one for which she is fated and she knows that she
can't run off with this man.

Rocket's Tail -- Quite bizarre and delicious!  The wildest
combination of rock and Bulgarian folk music possible.  It starts off
a capella with Trio Bulgarka doing a traditional sounding Bulgarian
piece, but Kate impossibly is adding a fourth, more Western melody
line.  Just amazing.  Then David Gilmour and the band come in and it
turns into a completely out-in-space Bulgarian Pink Floyd on X song!

I got most of the idea of this without the official lyrics.  Kate
meets someone who wants to be a rocket, but she thinks the dude is
crazy.  Eventually she sees the light and enjoys being a rocket too.
One part of the song confuses me though:

     I put on my pointed hat
     And my black and silver suit,
     And I check my gunpowder pack
     And I strap the stick on my back.
     And, dressed as a rocket on Waterloo Bridge--
     Nobody seems to see me.
     Then, with the fuse in my hand,
     And now shooting into the night
     And still as a rocket,
     I land in the river.

Who is saying this?  Is this Kate or the guy Kate thought was crazy.
Plotwise, it seems to make most sense if this is the crazy dude.
Because then in the next section, Kate joins in on the fun and says
"Was it me said you were crazy?"  But why is it in the first person as
if Kate is saying these words?  I think it is this way because it
sounds more dramatic that way.  I'm also confused about the line "And
still as a rocket, I land in the river".  This doesn't sound too
healthy.  Did the dude buy the big one trying to have too much fun?

Alternatively, the section spoken section could be Kate speaking.  She
survives the plunge into the river and liked the experience so much
that she goes gonzo in the next section.

This Woman's Work -- The song we already know and love from *She's
Having a Baby*.  Sung by anyone else, this song would be sappy and
sentimental.  Done by Kate is in great.  How she does it, I do not
know.  If you've seen the movie then you know what the song is about.
The song is rather strange in the sense that Kate is singing from a
man's point of view again.  The words are his thoughts of what a
schmuck he has been to his wife as he waits outside the operating room
where something is going wrong with the delivery of their baby.  He is
worried that she might die and wishes he could tell her all all the
things he never said to her and wishes they could do all the things
they never did together.

Notice the nice pun, "I know you've got a little life in you yet".
Most obviously, this is the man hoping that his wife will live.  But
the "little life in you" also refers to the baby that lives within his
wife.

Walk Straight Down the Middle -- Another great song by Kate.  Not
incredibly bizarre or anything, but this one really strikes home.
Slightly Gabrielesque.  Why this is a B-side/bonus track I cannot
fathom.  It is orders of magnitude better than "Reaching Out" or "Love
and Anger".  It seems to be about some of the problems with
relationships (surprise, surprise).  When you are involved with
someone, there is often a lot of fear that you are coming on too
strong and scaring the other person away.  Or that you are playing it
too cool and that the other person is losing interest in you.  A lot
of the time it feels like both of these at the same time.  You want to
find the right middle ground, but you don't know where it is.  The
mind games that you play on each other, causes both of you to become
stressed out and think that things aren't working.  Soon you've
confused each other so much that you don't know what you want anymore.

"He thought he was gonna die,
 But he didn't."

|>oug