Cloudbusting -- Kate Bush In Her Own Words

This Woman'S Work

John Hughes, the American film director, had just made this film called _She'sHaving a Baby, and he had a scene in the film that he wanted a song to go with. And the film's very light: it's a lovely comedy. His films are very human, and it's just about this young guy - falls in love with a girl, marries her. He's still very much a kid. She gets pregnant, and it's all still very light and child-like until she's just about to have the baby and the nurse comes up to him and says it's a in a breech position and they don't know what the situation will be. So, while she's in the operating room, he has so sit and wait in the waiting room and it's a very powerful piece of film where he's just sitting, thinking; and this is actually the moment in the film where he has to grow up. He has no choice. There he is, he's not a kid any more; you can see he's in a very grown-up situation. And he starts, in his head, going back to the times they were together. There are clips of film of them laughing together and doing up their flat and all this kind of thing. And it was such a powerful visual: it's one of the quickest songs I've ever written. It was so easy to write. We had the piece of footage on video, so we plugged it up so that I could actually watch the monitor while I was sitting at the piano and I just wrote the song to these visuals. It was almost a matter of telling the story, and it was a lovely thing to do: I really enjoyed doing it.

Has the film been out yet?

Yes. I don't think it was released here. It was released in America and did OK, but not really as well as his other films, which have been very successful. But it was a lovely thing to be asked to write for, because it was such a moving piece of film and I really like writing to visuals as well - I find that very exciting. (1989, Roger Scott)

That's the sequence I had to write the song about, and it's really very moving, him in the waiting room, having flashbacks of his wife and him going for walks, decorating... It's exploring his sadness and guilt: suddenly it's the point where he has to grow up. He'd been such a wally up to this point. (1989, NME)

I was thrilled to be asked to do it. It was very quick and very easy because you're just telling the story. (1989, Tracks)

What inspired you to write ``thiswoman'swork.''

There's a film called _She'sHaving a Baby. And John Hughes, the director, rung up and said that he had a sequence in the film that he really wanted a song written to be with. And I'd only worked the once before on the Castaway film - where I'd really enjoyed that - so I was extremely tempted by the offer. And when he sent the piece of film that the song was going to be [??? Part of], I just thought it was wonderful, it was so moving, a very moving piece of film. And in a way, there was a sense that the whole film built up to this moment. And it was a very easy song to write. It was very quick. And just kind of came, like a lot of songs do. Even if you struggle for months, in the end, they just kind of go - BLAH! - You know. [Laughs]. So that was the first song that I wrote for The Sensual World album. In fact at the time we weren't even sure whether to put it on the album or not. And I must say that Del was very instrumental in saying that I should put it on the album, and I'm very glad I did. Because I had the most fantastic response - in some ways, maybe the greatest response - to this song. And I was really - I was absolutely thrilled, that you felt that way about it. (1990 Kate Bush Con)

John Hughes, the American director, was doing a film called _She'sHaving a Baby - a great film, very nice and comic. And he had this scene which he wanted me to write a song for where it gets very heavy. The film's about this guy who gets married and he likes being a kid, really - very much up in the clouds - and she gets pregnant and they go into hospital, and she's rushed off becuase the baby's in the breach position.

And suddenly there he is, just left in the waiting room by himself. It's probably the first time in his life he's had to grow up. (1989, Melody Maker)

That was a really easy song to put together; all that was added to the piano was a bit of Fairlight, a bit of backing vocals, and a tiny amount of orchestra - about four or five bars. But the difference it makes is extraordinary. (1989, International Musician)

I think this is the big problem with song-writing - it's this blank page. You can start anywhere. There's too much to choose from, and I think technology in studios is doing the same to people. There's so much to choose from, so much information, that you're not working within restrictions that actually help you to form a direction. I'm sure that for me, doing this, it was quick and easy because the song had to be about that. It couldn't be about anything else. I think that helps tremendously. (1989, International Musician)

Really, the subject matter in the film laid down the grounds for what the song was about. It's the man waiting in a waiting room while his wife is in there having a baby, and there are complications. So it's the exploration of someone being left on their own in a big way, very suddenly. In this part of the film, the guy has to grow up, he's suddenly confronted with all these terrible things, that he could be a much better human being. It's moments like that that make you feel] these things.

And life's not all fun and games.

No, and that you should really try and make the most of it when you can, and not when it's too late. (1989, KFNX)

It's a light film, very a young guy whose wife gets pregnant, and everything remains light until they get to the hospital, and suddenly she's rushed away and he's left sitting there. You get the impression that this is the moment when he has to start growing up. Up until then he's been a kid, and very happily so. It's a lovely piece and in some ways it's an exploration of guilt, I guess. (1989, Music Express)

What about the obvious complications in making a video from a song thats already been paired with part of a movie, as was ``thiswoman'swork''

It was interesting because the song had originally been written to visuals, but the song has its own storyline as well, so then it was like making a film of the song. Obviously (in the movie) it's about a man waiting for wife having a baby. Now I didn't want to put myself in a situation where I have to be pregnant. KATE LAUGHS. It's all too complicated. So left it very ambiguous. And I think it looks like a little film in that it tells a story. So I guess rather than talking about it, it might be nice to let you see it. (1990, Option)

Tim is kind of sitting throughout the song, waiting for his girlfriend or whoever who's in [The] hospital. So most of the video is very distressed. You know, he's in a real distressed state and he sort of looks up, and then the light goes away from the window, this spot comes down. So he's just sitting in this spot and he's like he's suddenly conjuring up these memories. And then I sort of step in with a raincoat and put it 'round his shoulders. (1989, VH-1)

Gaffaweb / Cloudbusting / Music / This Woman'S Work