Kate...Maturing AND Icing (on the cake!)

[gatech!chinet.chi.il.us!katefans@EDDIE.MIT.EDU (Chris n Vickie)]

Vickie here. I posted this but never saw it appear. Re-worked and
re-posted, I'll try again...

Jon W. says this:

> Waking the Witch?  Noise.  Studio effects.  Horrendous lyrics.  
> Sure, her fans will eat this stuff up, but it won't help to expand
> her audience.  

I don't get it. Why do you like The Dreaming so much and yet can't take
this song for what it is and what it represents and what it's about?
It is a *nightmare* and nightmares are usually very messy and noisy. 
I think she did a fine job conveying the horror of one. "Get Out Of
My House" is also a nightmare and I take it you like that song.

I met a fellow who was into Kate and when I asked him for his Katestory
he told me the following:

"I was at someone's house and there was a party going on. I saw a woman in
a corner listening to something very intently on headphones. Curious as to
what she was listening to I walked toward her. The party music had stopped
for a few moments and as I got closer I could hear all these strange noises
coming out of her headphones. The sound was tinny but I was intrigued. I
asked her what it was and she handed me the phones. I put them on and was
assulted by the strangest "music" I'd ever heard in my life! I asked her
again what it was and she said Kate Bush...Waking The Witch...Hounds of Love.
The next day I went out and bought the album. After hearing it I went and
bought everything else I could find. I'd never heard of Kate or any of her
music before hearing that 30 second snippet of Waking The Witch. Now I'm
hooked."

Back to Jon W.:

You say you like The Dreaming. That is the one thing that truly puzzles
me in all this. Do you think "Get Out Of My House" or "Leave It Open"
would sound as good if all the electronic gizmos were stripped from
the songs? What about the song "The Dreaming?" By the way, did you 
understand what those songs were about right away? For that matter,
*all* of the songs on that album (with the possible exception of
"There Goes A Tenner" which is fairly straightforward) are somewhat
or very obscure, lyrically. 

> It's like going to a party where you don't know anyone.  The private
> jokes have no meaning to you.  Does Bush really expect us to go out
> and read a book just so we can appreciate her song?  I don't expect
> to pick up every reference, but when a whole song is based on one
> specific piece of generally unknown fiction, I don't buy it.  A
> reference to "Wuthering Heights" will be more generally recognized.

Hmmmm, I really am at a loss here. You were referring to "Cloudbusting."
Don't like the song musically? Fine, I understand. But if it's because the
song is about a topic you're not familiar with? Jeez. Some people (including
me) like the fact that Kate points them into different directions and
encourages them to learn about things they ordinarily wouldn't have
ever heard about or taken an interest in? I'd never even *heard* of Wilhelm
Reich before "Cloudbusting" came out. Now I've read _Fury On Earth_ & _A
Book Of Dreams_ and they have become part of my "knowledge bank" along
with Molly's speil, Lucy Wan, Wake Of The Red Witch, lots of Irish music,
and dozens of other things. Listen to "Sat In Your Lap" again, loud and
with the lyric sheet in front of you. The song is about "the more you know,
the more there is to know" and Kate inspires us to learn about things.
I have no interest in becoming a Reich freak, but his story is interesting
and I'm glad I learned about him and what happened to him. I liked the
song (well, I really liked the extended mix better) before I knew what
the story was, and I liked it even more when I learned the background.
Again, if you don't like the song musically, I can understand. But putting 
it down because it's about something you've never heard of is unreasonable.

Fans who have no way of learning the background of songs *are* at a
disadvantage, very true. There are probably people who bought the album
in 1985 who *still* don't know what it's about. That's why Love-Hounds,
Homeground and even the KBC, are so great. You can learn lots of interesting
tidbits that help to make the songs even more meaningful. 

Jeffy LeWhoosh says:

>">Yo! whitcombaurxc3.UUCP (Jonathan Whitcomb) raps:" was the opening
> line of a positively brilliant post from Drukman, which I simply wanted
> to commend. 

Ditto, for the most part.

> There's nothing I can really comment on in it....

I can. If, by Druker's standards, I'm "drippy" then bring on the towels.
Jon D. argues for technology. Jon W. argues for emotion. I say there's
room for both. Personally, I'm satisfied with the way she's handled
both emotion and technology in nearly all her songs. I don't like every
single song she's ever done, just most of them. 

Jon D. also said this:
> When Kate did "Breathing" for the Comic Relief special it was nice,
> but not orgasmic the way the album version is.  I *like* layers of
> synths, bass, John Carder explaining how to tell the size of a nuclear
> blast, all that stuff. 

I'm with you on this one too JD. The live version is nice, the album
version *is* orgasmic. Yes, indeedy! 

The entire discussion between the Jons has been fascinating and
interesting. 


Vickie (one of Vickie'n'Chris)
katefans@chinet.chi.il.us


    "You made your choice/ Now go to the end/ You will find your peace
       And when it comes/ Greet it/ Welcome it/ Make it stay"    HTR