Kate Bush Running up that hill

[SpookyFrank]

Just realised I've never heard her talking before.

Interviewer is a patronising dick mind you.

 

[Knotted]

Musically it's wuthering heights I find dull. Apart from the ridiculous register it's sung in it's just a straightforward piano ballad.

Not a direct reply but I can't locate it in any tradition. Looking at just the first vocal line it oscillates between two keys and then throws a polytonal cadence finding a third key while jumping considerable vocal distances exploring different qualities to her voice all the while singing this hypnotic pulse and in a way that just works. Melodically, harmonically, rhythmically and tonally very special and that's just four bars. There are various artists who would use such sophisticated melodic/harmonic language but they were building on existing traditions - the Beatles would be an obvious example. I don't know where this came from, though. It's its own musical world in one song. I can hear a bit of adventurousness on something like This Woman's Work, but in comparison it's still very tame. It was like it was a moment of unique creation that only happens once in a life time and maybe she knew it was a once off and never tried again.

 

[8ball]

You had a temper.
Like my jealous eel.

 

[Aladdin]

As gaeilge

She could have been an extra Clannad member.

 

[Aladdin]

I loved Wuthering Heights.
She was absolutely fantastic singing and dancing to it.
Really was brilliant...

Here on The Late Late Show...78?

 

[Elpenor]

Wuthering Heights has a glorious guitar solo which is underused IMO and faded out

 

[Aladdin]

And I think she wrote this when she was only a kid..


Another fantastic song.

 

[spirals]

I have spent the last 37 yrs thinking the lyrics for Running up that hill by Kate Bush were 'I'd make a deal with God and I'd get into small hard places' Oops!

 

[danny la rouge]

We’re running out of pot
We’re running out of pills
We’re gonna have to drink the Baileys.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Not a direct reply but I can't locate it in any tradition. Looking at just the first vocal line it oscillates between two keys and then throws a polytonal cadence finding a third key while jumping considerable vocal distances exploring different qualities to her voice all the while singing this hypnotic pulse and in a way that just works. Melodically, harmonically, rhythmically and tonally very special and that's just four bars. There are various artists who would use such sophisticated melodic/harmonic language but they were building on existing traditions - the Beatles would be an obvious example. I don't know where this came from, though. It's its own musical world in one song. I can hear a bit of adventurousness on something like This Woman's Work, but in comparison it's still very tame. It was like it was a moment of unique creation that only happens once in a life time and maybe she knew it was a once off and never tried again.

I agree. Its hardly a straightforward piano Ballard. The only thing I can compare it to from the time is Japanese artist Yakiko Yano, and I very much doubt 14 year old bush was listening to her.
Yano is great by the way. She always gets compared to Bush (especially 70s/80s bush) which must be a tad annoying for her, as technically she came first.

This is not the 'most' Bush sounding, but it's my favourite Akiko Yano album.

 

[killer b]

I have spent the last 37 yrs thinking the lyrics for Running up that hill by Kate Bush were 'I'd make a deal with God and I'd get into small hard places' Oops!

Me too, I think it's one of the classic mishearings

 

[Knotted]

I agree. Its hardly a straightforward piano Ballard. The only thing I can compare it to from the time is Japanese artist Yakiko Yano, and I very much doubt 14 year old bush was listening to her.
Yano is great by the way. She always gets compared to Bush (especially 70s/80s bush) which must be a tad annoying for her, as technically she came first.

This is not the 'most' Bush sounding, but it's my favourite Akiko Yano album.

There are various things I can compare it to. But in a very lose comparison sort of way. Not as precedents. Art Bears from the same year:

 

[Magnus McGinty]

I generally find her a bit meh but nice use of a Fairlight for the riffs on this track.

I’ll revise this given I’ve just listened to Hounds of Love for the first time. Not too shabby and reckon it’d grow on me. Undeniably 80s in parts but I don’t mind undeniably 80s.

 

[planetgeli]

This is on Hounds of Love. Far more than not too shabby but this mix is longer and better.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

That’s brilliant, video and all. Seems more Bjork than Bush.

 

[editor]

The more I watch videos from the time, the more I realise what a fucking incredibly brave genius Kate Bush was.

And just look at the shit she had to put up with

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

The more I watch videos from the time, the more I realise what a fucking incredibly brave genius Kate Bush was.

And just look at the shit she had to put up with

Well that really was quite something.

 

[Petcha]

For the music geeks. This guy is absolutely wonderful at deconstructing and explaining songs from bass to drums, to vocals and of course guitar.



From stranger things too - master of puppets beautifully explained

 

[cesare]

For the music geeks. This guy is absolutely wonderful at deconstructing and explaining songs from bass to drums, to vocals and of course guitar.



From stranger things too - master of puppets beautifully explained

I wouldn't describe myself as a music geek but Rick Beato is fantastic, have been subscribed for a while.

 

[Petcha]

I wouldn't describe myself as a music geek but Rick Beato is fantastic, have been subscribed for a while.

yeh, he really is. im a (very much part time) musician but the way he explains shit in such an unpatronising way is incredible. not losing sight of why you might like the piece in the first place, ie, its emotional impact.

 

[Petcha]

the master of puppets one probably deserves its own thread. truly superb.

 

[cesare]

yeh, he really is. im a (very much part time) musician but the way he explains shit in such an unpatronising way is incredible. not losing sight of why you might like the piece in the first place, ie, its emotional impact

The "what makes this song great" is a brilliant playlist, but I also love his tutorials.

 

[editor]

This looks fun!

 

[editor]

For the music geeks. This guy is absolutely wonderful at deconstructing and explaining songs from bass to drums, to vocals and of course guitar.



From stranger things too - master of puppets beautifully explained

Love this guy. His enthusiasm and musical knowledge is wonderful to watch.
The more I listen back to Kate Bush the more I realise what a fucking incredible and unique talent she is. Her live show back in 2014 was absolutely stunning.

Here's a fan video giving you an idea of how good it was:



Love this comment: "I remember actually feeling the sound waves of this track hitting me in the chest. One of the most amazing experiences of my entire life."

 

[editor]

Oh here's some more. I wish she'd release a proper DVD as I'd love to watch it again. It was literally one of the best shows I've ever seen.

 

[Petcha]

Love this guy. His enthusiasm and musical knowledge is wonderful to watch.
The more I listen back to Kate Bush the more I realise what a fucking incredible and unique talent she is. Her live show back in 2014 was absolutely stunning.

Here's a fan video giving you an idea of how good it was:



Love this comment: "I remember actually feeling the sound waves of this track hitting me in the chest. One of the most amazing experiences of my entire life."

That metallica one - i assume if the band watched that they'd be amazed they were apparently such technical geniuses

I love them. But i think, particularly at that young age, they had no idea what all those random time signatures and suspended chords were all about. could be wrong.

 

[killer b]

They knew what they were doing for sure.

 

[Petcha]

They knew what they were doing for sure.

I'm not so sure. I think a lot of music (and i know this is a tangent from this thread) is done purely on instinct and then reverse engineered to explain it.

I'm sure now they sit around studying their stuff analytically but at master of puppets stage I'd be surprised if they did. I don't know terribly much about metallica so could be wrong. But the bands I do know a lot about had no idea what they were doing by 'classic' standards most of the time which is why the music is so wonderful (pixies, sonic youth, pearl jam for example). Kim Thayill from soundgarden definitely did as he treated music as a science (which he he actually was) but stone gossard, thurston moore etc had no idea. not sure Lars ulrich would have had any idea at that stage in his career. regardless, fantastic music.

master of puppets entered the charts again after stranger things too... kids are starved of good music these days clearly.

 

[surreybrowncap]

She won't be running up any hills in the heatwave...

 

[killer b]

I'm not so sure. I think a lot of music (and i know this is a tangent from this thread) is done purely on instinct and then reverse engineered to explain it.

I'm sure now they sit around studying their stuff analytically but at master of puppets stage I'd be surprised if they did. I don't know terribly much about metallica so could be wrong. But the bands I do know a lot about had no idea what they were doing by 'classic' standards most of the time which is why the music is so wonderful (pixies, sonic youth, pearl jam for example). Kim Thayill from soundgarden definitely did as he treated music as a science (which he he actually was) but stone gossard, thurston moore etc had no idea. not sure Lars ulrich would have had any idea at that stage in his career. regardless, fantastic music.

master of puppets entered the charts again after stranger things too... kids are starved of good music these days clearly.

Cliff Burton had a musical education in jazz & classical though, sure all the odd time signatures and the like was probably down to him