Cloudbusting -- Kate Bush In Her Own Words

Backwards Vocals

What is really strange about the singing at the end of `` leave it open,'' is that if you play it backwards, it also sounds like intelligible singing. In fact, it sounds to me like, ``and they said they wouldn't let me in", which is wonderful because then it has the opposite meaning backwards as it does forwards. [Except that it does not sound like ``and they said they wouldn't let me in'' when played backwards. -ied]

There is also something like this on hounds of love, in the song `` watching you without me,'' there is one part where you sing what to me sounds like ``really see'' repeated several times. And if you play this backwards, it sounds exactly the same. Still like ``really see", though I'm not sure it's ``really see'' - it just sounds like that to me. But whatever it sounds like, it sounds exactly the same backwards. [This is false. The phrase, when played backwards, quite clearly says, ``we see you here.'' -ied] well, the question is, I'd be really interested in knowing how you did this sort of manipulation.

Well, that's something I've been experimenting with for a while, and would like to continue experimenting with. It's just a way of using backwards ideas, but actually saying something cohesively.

But how do you actually get a message or singing which sounds like something both forwards and backwards. And what are the technical issues involved. I mean, it seems like it would be really hard to do.

It is. It's very difficult- it takes a lot of time and an awful lot of patience.

Kate is saved by the bell, as her brother is at the door, and my half hour is up. I talked to both of kate's brothers some time later, however, and neither had any qualms about giving away the secret of the two-way messages. It involves listening to singing played backwards on a tape deck, learning to sing the backwards sounds, and then recording that strange singing backwards. [This is apparently a reference to the explanation given by paddy and john to the entire audience of the 1985 kate bush convention in romford, england. In fact, however, their description of the process does nothing to explain the apparent presence of two simultaneous messages, only the basic method of creating the first, ``backwards'' message.] (1985, love-hounds)

On the album [??? Inaudible] I'd love to hear what you did. It sounds like [??? Inaudible]. Is that right?

Paddy:. [??? Inaudible] they're singing a phrase. You take a phrase and you record it. Then you play that backwards so it comes [Sings backwards. Laughter]. Then you learn how to sing that, like you learn how to [Sings backwards. Lots of laughter and applause] then when you record that... Then when you play that back the other way [Talks like reversed tape] it all comes out in a very strange way. Like you've heard this technique used before, and it's something that we all [??? Inaudible. Laughter] thank you very much for giving us this opportunity to being [??? Inaudible and applause] (1985, kate bush con. Paddy and jay interview)

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