EEGAAH! ("Candle in the Wind" Returns)

[nrc@bsbbs.columbus.oh.us (N. Richard Caldwell)]

I hope that it was Columbia's idea to throw in "Candle in the Wind" as 
a bonus track on the CD single.  I think it's safe to say that this is
least impressive track that Kate has ever done.  I doubt that it 
represents the new album well at all.  At least I hope not.

Checking back through Jef Kolodziej's "All-Out Kate Poll" it turns out 
that "Candle in the Wind," was the lowest ranked of all the songs listed,
98th out of 98 songs.   I also found a pointless bit of mathematics that 
I did back when Jef did his poll.

Here are the songs that I liked significantly less than the average gaffan,
and how my ranking compared:

-2.4828 Candle In the Wind
-2.1276 Reaching Out
-1.6061 Rocket Man
-.8636  Passing Thru Air
-.6471  The Sensual World
-.28    Be Kind To My Mistakes
.0588   Deeper Understanding
.2059   And Dream Of Sheep
.2727   The Man with the Child in his Eyes
.2941   The Fog
0.303   Don't Give Up
.4242   Saxophone Song
.4848   Sat In Your Lap

My actual ranking for some of these songs was higher than the average
Gaffan's but my rankings where higher on the average.  "And Dream of 
Sheep" probably doesn't belong here.  I love it, but many Gaffans 
love it more.  

Here are the things I ranked significantly higher than the average
Gaffan:

2       Never ForEver (Album)
2.0312  Night Scented Stock
2.0323  Symphony in Blue
2.129   FullHouse
2.1562  Don't Push Your Foot on the HeartBreak
2.1875  Oh England, My LionHeart
2.2812  Oh To Be In Love
2.3235  Never Be Mine
2.375   James and the Cold Gun
2.4375  Feel It
2.48    L'amour Looks Some... (Live)
2.6562  All We Ever Look For
2.6562  Delius (Song of Summer)
2.6562  L'amour Looks Something Like You
2.7619  The Empty Bullring
2.8077  Don't Push Your Foot... (Live)
2.875   Kate Bush Vol. 2 (Album)

There's no question (in my mind :) that I'm right about these tracks and 
you (the average Gaffan) are wrong.   The live tracks, for instance are 
without question the definitive versions of these songs.  The album tracks
are wonderful, but they're Andrew Powell's production, not Kate's.

So what does it all mean?  Not much, I just found it interesting.   I'm 
sure that some of you are in quivering fits at the notion of grading Kate's 
brilliance like slabs of meat.  Just remember the next time you're feeling 
smug because you like Rocket Man more than me, that I like "The Empty Bull 
Ring" more than you.  So nyah!  :-)  



"Don't drive too slowly."         Richard Caldwell
                                  The Big Sky BBS (+1 614 864 1198)
                                  nrc@bsbbs.Columbus.OH.US