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Date: Sun, 16 Nov 86 11:41:30 EST
From: nessus (Doug Alan)
Subject: Castaway
Other random news: Kate is doing the title song for a movie called "Castaways", which will be released early next year.
From: Neil Calton <nbc@vd.rl.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 86 14:39:10 GMT
Subject: Castaway
Actually, 'Castaway', which opened this year's London Film Festival, was directed by NICHOLAS ROEG ( Man Who Fell to Earth, Insignificance, Bad Timing etc.) and NOT Ken Russell! However, Russell did direct the film 'Gothic' which closed the London Film Festival!
Anyway, 'Castaway' does star Ollie Reed (as Gerald Kingsland) and Amanda Donohoe (as Lucy Irving). I have only seen clips so I cannot comment on the Kate connection but can confirm that the aforementioned Ms Donohoe seems to have forgotten to pack a suitcase when she went to the island!
Gothic stars Gabriel Byrne (Defence of the Realm) as Byron, Julian Sands (Room with a View) as Shelley and Natasha Richardson (daughter of Vanessa Redgrave) as Mary Shelley - in addition to some baboons (sounds like a fairly typical Russell movie)! The music is by Thomas Dolby.
Date: Sat, 07 Mar 87 14:46 PST
From: IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: Castaway
KT news:
According to the brand new issue of the official Kate Bush Club Newsletter, Kate not only sang but WROTE the theme song for Nicholas Roeg's film "Castaway".
Date: Sun, 15 Mar 87 16:20 PST
From: IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: Castaway
KT News:
According to an Australian fan with whom a friend of IED's is in contaKT, Kate's recording of a song for Nicolas Roeg's film "Castaway" is included in the actual movie; sounds good; and is called "Be Kind to My Mistakes".
-- Andrew Marvick
From: Neil Calton <nbc@vd.rl.ac.uk>
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 87 11:09:10 -0100
Subject: Castaway
I saw 'Castaway' at the weekend and can confirm IED's information about Kate's contribution. She sings the song 'Be kind to my mistakes' over the opening credits to the film - so don't be late if you go to see it. The title refers to the last words Gerald Kingsland says to Lucy Irvine in the film. Owing to the fact that people were still groping towards their seats, rustling sweet papers etc. I was unable to pick up much of the lyrical content of the song. However, on this one cursory hearing the rhythm and vocal style of the song reminded me of 'Experiment IV' suggesting Kate was maybe working on both pieces around the same time. Still, what I heard I liked.
The film itself is probably the least interesting of Roeg's work. While it is always pretty to look at - both the island and Ms Donahoe are extremely photogenic - the film lacks the sense of mystery usually present in Roeg's movies. Perhaps this is inevitable given that the story is so familiar by now. There are a few touches of Roeg magic but the psychological drama never develops enough to make you actually care about the characters. While the film just manages to avoid becoming boring it rarely rises above being a slightly superior drama/documentary.
From: Neil Calton <nbc@vd.rl.ac.uk>
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 87 16:30:22 -0100
Subject: News on Castaway
Latest news on Kate:
The soundtrack album of "Castaway" is in the shops in GB on EMI records. Kate's song is track 1 side 1.
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 87 15:16 PDT
From: IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: Be Kind to My Mistakes
Well, IED finally got ahold of the Castaway soundtrack LP. "Be Kind to My Mistakes" is 3:39, and there's also one Eno/Lanois track on the LP; plus a bunch of Stanley Meyers filmscoring.
Date: Mon, 27 Apr 87 16:49 PDT
From: IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: Be Kind to My Mistakes
Having spent the better part of a week listening to "Be Kind to My Mistakes" now, IED would like to make some alterations to his original judgment. There is a hell of a lot going on in this track.
The most confusing and fascinating thing about it, to this listener, is its structure and melody. On close inspection, it seems that this song, which originally struck IED as being very simple and filled with repeats, is actually made up of at least eleven separate sections, which are themselves made up of no fewer than twenty smaller units. Furthermore, the sections are not all of regular length (i.e., four or eight bars each), but run into each other prematurely, so to speak, especially as the track progresses. Roughly analyzed, it proceeds something like this:
I. Introduction
a. four bars, rhythm only;
b. four bars, chorus added;
c. four bars, rhythm only;
d. four bars, different, crescendo chorus;
II. Refrain motif ("It is this which brings us together"), four bars 2x;
III. First verse ("It's all right, darling...")
a. 9-bar first section (four-bar figure stated once, repeated with
an extra bar);
b. 4-bar second section ("You don't know me...");
c. 4-bar third section ("It is this that...");
IV. Refrain repeat, 8 bars ("It is this that..." 2x);
V. Second "verse" (chord progression changed from III. so as
to accomodate simultaneous superimposition of the refrain (IV.)
"I don't know what you are...", 8 bars;
VI. Vocal bridge ("In your life, in my life, there are secrets..."), 12 bars;
VII. Instrumental bridge (rhythm guitar replaced by minimal "solo" guitar fills), 12 bars;
VIII. Restatement of II.a. ("It's all right..."), with slight changes, figure stated three times (total of 10 bars);
IX. Vocal "climax" ("Please..." with background "Ooh-ay-ooh") stated four times (3 bars, 3 bars, 3 bars, 2 bars);
X. Extended vocal coda ("Be kind...be kind...") with new unresolved chord progression, 4x4 bars;
XI. Fade-out ("lum....lum...lum..."), 6 to 8 bars (ending obscured by LP producer's ill-advised retention of film soundtrack's super-imposed fade-in of Stanley Meyers's music over Kate's extremely unusual fade-out).
Finally, IED's earlier suspicion that Kate sang a note off-key (though in a mellifluous way) has been dispelled by the realization that the same note is repeated very deliberately twice more in the same section (VI.). It is definitely a part of the intended melody.
-- Andrew
Date: Fri, 1 May 87 23:07:10 PDT
From: ganzer%trout@nosc.mil (Mark T. Ganzer)
Subject: Be Kind to My Mistakes
For something that was written fairly quickly, "Be Kind to My Mistakes" is GREAT! It has elements of structure quite similar to X4 but with the energy of "The Big Sky". In fact the structure is so similar to X4 that I would have to speculate that they were both written at approximately the same time. The tempo (140 beats/min) is the same, the rhythm patterns are not the same but similar in effect, and the use of single bar guitar "loops" is the same. But BKtMM has a much stronger base rhythm, and adds single bar bass "loops" ( a beautiful effect by Del on the fretless bass). There is definitly a lot of music there. IED gave a good breakdown of the song, but I have some additional comments:
a) The 16 bar intro builds the layers of the music, starting with a basic percussion, bass, and keyboard rhythm in the first 4 bars, then adding background chorus in the next 4 bars. The 3rd 4 bar segment adds the guitar, and the 4th segment combines them all.
b) In the vocal climax, when the 4 bar pattern is cut to 3 bars, to heighten the climax, the basic 2-4-and rhythm is changed twice to a strong 3-and-4 pattern twice and then to a 2-and and-4-and pattern once two bars later. A very nice effect to heighten the climax.
c) During the extended vocal coda, layers of the music are being lifted as the chord progression breaks down.
d) During the fade-out, it almost sounds as if the the rhythm of the right and left channels looses synch (this is very apparent with headphones). It almost sounds as if everything is coming apart, yet when listening to each individual channel, the rhythm stays together to the end!
Date: Wed, 6 May 87 22:10:59 PDT
From: ganzer%trout@nosc.mil (Mark T. Ganzer)
Subject: Be Kind to My Mistakes
("No shit, Sherlock...")
Here is a transcription of the lyrics to "Be Kind to My Mistakes" as best as my aching ears will allow....
"Be Kind to My Mistakes"
(It is this that brings us together)
(It is this that brings us together)
It's all right, darling
We can do this together
It's all right, darling
I can think of nothing better
I don't know you, and you don't know me
It is this that brings us together (It is this that brings us
together)
(It is this that brings us together)
I don't know what you are lookin' for in me
I don't know what I want, but my heart is needy
In [my or your eyes], in your mind
We'll find all we're meant to find
In your life, in my life
There are secrets too dark to let out,
To let go out, to get over
That's all right, baby
Oh, that's all right by me
Cause, it's all right now
Just let me say pleee-ease, pleee-ease,
pleee-ease, pleee-ease
Be kind, be kind to my mistakes
Be kind, be kind to me
The phrase in the brackets [] is very run together and impossible to separate even at greatly reduced playback speeds. Probably Kate's way of allowing multiple interpretations of the song by filling in the blank yourself. Still, this song was much easier to transcribe than "Not This Time".
MarK T. Ganzer
Date: Thu, 07 May 87 17:01 PDT
From: IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: Tricky lyriKs
Mark: About the lyrics to BKtmM, IED hears the line as, "But my heart is needing," not "needy." And the line which you first heard as possibly "lowered eyes," IED hears very differently, although he still doesn't know what the words are. Something that sounds like: "Am I yours, and you're mine/We'll find all we're meant to find." But of course that makes no sense, so it's got to be something else. But you're absolutely right about "I can think of nothing better." IED feels like a fool for having missed this for so long.
Date: Thu, 21 May 87 14:54 PDT
From: IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: Castaway
Paul, "Castaway" is about a middle-aged Englishman, bored with his city lifestyle, who puts an ad in a paper about going off to live on a desert isle for a year with some young woman. As it happens, a very pretty young woman answers, and the two strangers do go off and spend a long time together alone on the island. Oliver Reed is the man, Amanda Donahue (Donahoe?) the woman. It's directed by Nicholas Roeg, one of Kate's favourite directors (Don't Look Now, The Man Who Fell to Earth, etc.). Reportedly, the last words said by the woman in the movie are "Be kind to my mistakes."
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 87 22:55:03 PDT
From: ganzer@TROUT.NOSC.MIL (Mark T. Ganzer)
Subject: KTKTKTKTKTKTKT....
> --Jon Drukman
> "Am I yours? Are you mine?
> We'll find what we're meant to find..."
ARRRGGH!!! Jon has come up with the solution to the line of "Be Kind to My Mistakes" that has puzzled me for months! Listening to it again, it's obvious that what's the line was. My mind got fixed on one idea, and I couldn't hear the obvious. NOW it makes sense....
Date: Sat, 05 Sep 87 21:08 PDT
From: IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: Man gets and forgets; Kate gives and forgives. -- H. W.
Thompson
"Castaway" is out, and IED gives it thumbs up. Kate's song is edited in three places and is faded out early so that it can be fit into the title sequence, but at least it's there.
IED doesn't remember where he got the info from (someone in L-Hs, he thinks), but anyway his previous notice that "Be kind to my mistakes" is the last remark made by Lucy, the heroine in the movie, is wrong. It's the second to the last line that the MAN, Oliver Reed's character, says to her, anticipating the future publication of her memoirs about the year she had just completed alone with him on a desert island. Which of course changes the whole meaning of Kate's song sufficiently to warrant renewed study.
Not for the first time has Kate chosen to write from or for the man's point of view. So "BKTMM", "Cloudbusting", "In the Warm Room" (which she has said was written for men), "Pull Out the Pin", "Ran Tan Waltz", "In Search of Peter Pan", parts of "RUTH", "Waking the Witch", "Night of the Swallow" and "Delius" all include attempts by Kate to see life from the other side of the chromosomes, so to speak. Other songs which represent the same kind of fascination with (and, it should be added, sympathy for) male gender roles and male psychology in general, although possibly told from a neutral or female point of view, include "The Handsome Cabin Boy"; "Kashka From Baghdad" and "Wow" (both about male homosexuality); "James and the Cold Gun"; and "The Empty Bullring". Has any other female artist ever made quite so far-ranging an exploration of gender projection?
-- Andrew Martian
Date: Wed, 5 Jul 89 11:32:27 EDT
Really-From: turney@phecda.crd.ge.com (jennifer s turney)
Subject: Be Kind to My Mistakes
I think I grabbed the copy of the lyrics for this from the archives (I can't recall). Anyway, there's one line of the lyrics that the transcriber was in doubt about, and is indeed mistaken on. Transcriber's line went something like "In my eyes, or your mind" (I don't have it in front of me). Correct line is "Am I yours, are you mine?" (continues "we'll find all we're meant to find").
Another minor correction for the transcription: "to let out, to let go OF, to get over".
There, now I can sleep well at night.
Jenn
Date: Tue, 05 Dec 89 13:00 PST
From: IED0DXM%OAC.UCLA.EDU@mitvma.mit.edu
Subject: Be Kind To My Mistakes
Once again Drukman is late and wrong. IED pointed out these differences over a week ago. To be specific, there are three abridgements of the recording (in addition to the changes to the mix itself). The first is in the introduction: the Castaway soundtrack-album version (as opposed to the version heard in the film itself--that version was also radically abridged) begins with eight bars of instrumental introduction, which precede the point where the new mix begins.
Then, after the first verse, and the return of the choral backing phrase "It is this...", another eight bars have been removed.
Finally, after the central refrain the original version contains a full sixteen measures of instrumental interlude, and all of these have been removed in the new mix.
In total, slightly over a minute of music has been deleted. These changes, however, you will all see, do not remove any of the song itself; rather, they have the effect of streamlining the recording and increasing the forward momentum of the narrative. Kate probably did this edit after she shortened the original mix for the opening-credits sequence of the film itself, deciding that the song actually benefited from the cuts. There are virtues to both versions, and the cuts are no reason for the kind of knee-jerk complaining we have seen from Drukman.
Contrary to Drukman's claim, the fadeout of the new version is actually longer than that one hears on the Castaway LP. The discrepancy in the coda of the song which Drukman (again) so carelessly listened to consists of changes to the final "lum-lum-lum" (or whatever) notes which Kate sings at that point. In the original mix (in addition to the other changes in the balance and timbre of the various instrumental and backup vocal tracks) this lead-vocal motif receives an interesting echo treatment that floats above the instrumental fadeout.
In the new version, Kate's vocal is left nearly untreated, and both the timbre of the vocal and the rhythmic/harmonic line of the fadeout are changed thereby. On the other hand, in the new version one can hear a new intricacy in the rhythm tracks toward the end, which were rendered virtually inaudible in both the film mix and the soundtrack album mix.
From: rhill@netlink.cts.com (Ron Hill)
Date: Fri, 1 May 1992 01:37:11 -0700
Subject: The answer to the Be Kind To My Mistakes question!?
I talked to Andrew Marvick today and he says he had an answer to the question, which he had originally heard from someone else. The question I had posed was what did Kate mean by "this" in the line:
"It is this that brings us together."
in the song Be Kind To My Mistakes. Andrew's theory is that at the begining and at the end of the song the background vocals say "love", which is what the line refers to. Also, near the end of the song, it seems that maybe they spell out L-O-L-O-, which could be them "spelling out" love.
Ron Hill
[Note: Not clearly reflected in this section is the fact that the version of "Be Kind To My Mistakes" on the USA CDEP Aspects Of The Sensual World and in the This Woman's Work Box Set is severly edited, and is *NOT* the same version as on the Castaway soundtrack. Any Kate fan who happens across a Castaway soundtrack in any form (LP or cassette) is highly urged to pick it up, no matter what kind of shape it's in. It's the only way you'll be able to hear this glorious song in its entirety. VM]
On to "Rocket Man"
written by Love-Hounds
compiled and edited
by
Wieland Willker
Sept 1995 June 1996