Kate Bush

This week has been rough. Beyond rough really. I’ve needed to conjure up all the strength and music and coffee that I could to get up and get through it. Today was especially hard to get up and get through it. I woke up wanting to stay under the covers, to call in sick to everything, to hibernate. But, there is too much going on with everything, so I had to get up and get through it. As Tori Amos says in “Caught a Light Sneeze”, “I need a big loan from the girl zone”. So, today is going to be nothing but music from my favorite musical girl zone, starting with today’s Song of the Day, “Hounds of Love” by Kate Bush.

“Hounds of Love” by Kate Bush
from the album, Hounds of Love(1985)
Song of the Day

“Now hounds of love are hunting.
I’ve always been a coward.
And, I don’t know what’s good for me.
Here I go.
It’s coming for me through the trees.
Help me, someone.
Help me please.”

“Hounds of Love” is a song written, produced and performed by Kate Bush. It is the title track and the 3rd single released from her #1 1985 album Hounds of Love. The single was released in February of 1986 and reached #18 on the UK Singles Chart.

It was one of the first Kate Bush songs I heard, right after “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”. After I heard both I ran to my local record store and bought the album, becoming a fan almost instantly. I’ve never faltered in my love for Kate’s unique sound and songwriting and presentation. Though I sometimes forget my love for her, it is always there.

The song is about being afraid to fall in love; in the song, this feeling is compared to being chased by a pack of hounds. The music video (directed by Bush herself) was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s film The 39 Steps and Hitchcock also features in the video (a nod to the director’s famous cameo appearances in his movies). (from Wikipedia)

The song itself was inspired in part by an old black and white movie which was sort of a cult classic in Kate’s family titled Night Of The Demon. The movie was about demons who hid waiting in trees – the song’s opening line (in a male voice) “It’s coming! It’s in the trees!” is taken directly from the movie. (from Songfacts)

Fear is a big part of my anxiety right now. Fear of failure, of potential loss, of issues that may not be able to reconcile, and fear of vulnerability. So, this song is poignant and relevant, and I am turning it up FULL BLAST and singing-a-long in an attempt to get up, get through it, and throw my fears “into the lake”.

“Hounds of Love” (live) by Kate Bush

Thanks, Kate Bush. I need this song today.

Monday is moving quickly which I’m tremendously grateful for. I can’t wait to be heading home tonight. Mondays are hard to get through, and sometimes Monday nights are rough, but even if they are, there is nowhere I’d rather be than home with my love and my kids. To me, the fact that he’s who I want to be with, even when we have struggles and tough times in our lives, or with each other, is just another piece of proof how big and rare and true and immeasurable our love is. He is my favorite person, my person, the person I want to spend the rest of my life with.

All that said, I’m rooting for a good day and night, this Monday.

Today’s Top 5 Music Obsessions could have been Today’s Top 10, as I listened to at least 10 songs that I can’t get enough of already today. But, I narrowed them down and will save the others for later in the week.  Its a sign of a good day, and week, when there is so much music to obsess over.

Top 5 Music Obsessions – Monday, September 24, 2018

Listen via Spotify and YouTube

1. “Metal Heart” by Cat Power
from the album, Moon Pix (1998)

“Sew your fortunes on a string,
and hold them up to light.
Blue smoke will take,
a very violent flight,
and you will be changed.”

It was “Metal Heart”, and “Cross Bones Style”, that were my introduction to Cat Power and Chan Marshall’s music. Though it was the 4th Cat Power Album these songs were off of (Moon Pix), it was my first encounter with Chan/Cat Power’s haunting and beautiful sound. I was hooked from my first listen.

The album was primarily written in a single night, following a hallucinatory nightmare Marshall experienced while staying at a farmhouse in South Carolina.

Happy 20th birthday, Moon Pix.

2. “Take Yo’ Praise” by Camille Yarbrough
from the album, The Iron Pot Cooker (1975)

“You’re so rare.
You’re so fine.
I’m so glad your mine.”

The opening lyrics are more popularly-known from the Fatboy Slim hit single, “Praise You”. The 1975 track, “Take Yo’ Praise”, by Camille Yarbrough, is a delight – catchy, soulful, sexy. I want to hear this version over and over again. It reminds me of how I feel about the man I love – the love of my life.

I heard this track in the Netflix series, Sisters, a show that has a tremendously terrific soundtrack, as well as being a fun watch.

3. “Way To Be Loved” by TOPS
from the album, Picture You Staring (2014)

“Is that the way that you want to be loved?
I can picture you staring,
out the window,
not caring.
The nights go by.
Oh, the nights go by.”

Another Spotify Discover Weekly discovery. “Way To Be Loved” is the title track to TOPS 2014 album, Picture You Staring. Catchy, indie pop goodness that infuses needed energy to my Monday.

4. “Waltz Across Texas Tonight” by Emmylou Harris
from the album, Wrecking Ball (1995)

“But the moon is so full,
the stars are so bright,
and my hand is steady,
my touch I’d light.
Look in my eyes,
hold on real tight,
and I’ll waltz you my darling across Texas tonight.
I’ll waltz you my darling across Texas tonight.”

The first song my love sent me today. This morning. I love when we trade songs. This track is off of my favorite Emmylou album, Wrecking Ball, from the mid-90’s and produced by Daniel Lanois.

“Waltz Across Texas Tonight” has always been one of my favorite tracks off of the album.

5. “This Woman’s Work” by Kate Bush
from the album, The Sensual World (1989)

“I should be crying but I just can’t let it show.
I should be hoping but I can’t stop thinking.
All the things we should’ve said that I never said.
All the things we should have done that we never did.
All the things we should have given but I didn’t.
Oh, darling,
make it go.
Make it go away.”

This song always makes me cry. No exceptions. No matter, it is still one of my favorite Kate Bush songs, and one of my all-time favorite songs, too. “This Woman’s Work” hits on losses I’ve had in my life, real loss and loss of things that I wanted, but that never happened, or never will happen. All that sadness though comes in such a gorgeously beautiful song. Breathtakingly beautiful.

Top 5 Music Obsessions – Week of September 24, 2018

 

Female Friday is back with a brand new playlist to spin through the last gasps of Summertime. Spanning the sonic landscape of genre, style, and sound, this playlist is full of some of my very best favorite women in music.

Love, loss, and the last of the late Summer nights
A Female Friday Playlist

Listen on Spotify and YouTube

“Cloudbusting” by Kate Bush
“Putting the Damage On” by Tori Amos
“Laura” by Bat For Lashes
“Song To the Siren” by This Mortal Coil
“We are Fine” by Sharon Van Etten
“Metal Heart” by Cat Power
“Elegie” by Patti Smith
“Blue” by Joni Mitchell
“My Skin” by Natalie Merchant
“I Know” by Fiona Apple
“Halah” by Mazzy Star
“Night Vision” by Suzanne Vega
“Even Though Our Love Is Doomed” by Garbage
“Ocean” by Goldfrapp
“All Apologies” by Sinéad O’Connor
“Horses In My Dreams” by Polly Jean Harvey
“Come To Me” by Björk
“Love Is a Stranger” by Eurythmics
“I Drove All Night” by Cyndi Lauper
“The Killing Jar” by Siouxsie and the Banshees
“Joanne (Where Do You  Think You’re Going)” (Piano Version) by Lady Gaga
“Elastic Heart” (Piano Version) by Sia
“Crystal” by Stevie Nicks
“Hymn to Her” by Pretenders
“A Little More Love” by Juliana Hatfield
“Acrobat” by Tanya Donelly
“All I Could Do Was Cry” by Etta James
“Drown In My Own Tears” by Aretha Franklin
“Sail” by Macy Gray
“LA Song” (Live Acoustic) by Beth Hart

Love, loss and the last of the late Summer nights

Blow up each memory to leave me in ruin
A Monday Playlist

Listen on Spotify and YouTube

“Crystal” by New Order
“Hey Sunrise” by The Charlatans
“Sonnet” by The Verve
“Bed On Fire” by Butch Walker
“Things” by Paul Westerberg
“Look at Miss Ohio” by Band Of Heathens
“Everybody Knows” by Ryan Adams
“Songs That She Sang In the Shower” by Jason Isbell
“Slow Show” by The National
“There Goes the Fear” by Doves
“Darklands” by The Jesus And Mary Chain
“Jean Jeanie” by The Dandy Warhols
“Life Is Strange” by T-Rex
“Its the End of the World” by Julie London
“Oh Yeah!” by Roxy Music
“Cure For Pain” by Morphine
“Last Nite” by The Detroit Cobras
“List of Demands (Reparations)” by The Kills
“Gold Lion” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
“Digging In the Dirt” by Peter Gabriel
“Anthem For a Doomed Youth” by The Libertines
“Baby’s Coming Back To Me” by Jarvis Cocker
“Make You Better” by The Decemberists
“Hounds of Love” by Kate Bush
“Made of Stone” by Matt Corby
“The Death of You and I” By Isaac Gracie
“Come Undone” by Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell
“Wild Is the Wind” by Nina Simone
“Maybe I’m Right” by Pete Yorn
“I Miss the Zoo” by Joseph Arthur

Blow up each memory to leave me in ruin

 

Today is a Tuesday that feels like a Monday because of yesterday’s Bank Holiday. I feel a bit like I’m playing catch-up at work, and here at Lyriquediscorde. That said, I’m trying to just enjoy the day, the shorter week, and breathe my way through an overwhelming “To-Do” List. I have so many things on that list for today, and there are so many things I’d like to do that aren’t even on the list. Before I start to spin out from it all I’m going to Press Play and Turn Up the Volume to Today’s Top 5 Music Obsessions. Wanna join me?

Song 1 is The Charlatans’ “Hey Sunrise“. I’m a huge fan of their 2017 Album, Different Days, most especially this Song/the Album’s Opening Track. The Song feels like a sunrise, like the start of a new day, like second chances and deep intakes of breath. Next up is Kirsty MacColl’s “Walking Down Madison”, from her 1991 Album, Electric Landlady. I sometimes forget about Kirsty’s Music, and then when I stumble on it again (like this morning via Spotify’s Discover Weekly Playlist) I remember how much I enjoy her. Track 3 is one of my Favorites from The Psychedelic Furs, “Love My Way”. When I hear this Song I think of High School dances in church basements, of a boy I once loved who used to play this on acoustic guitar and sing it to me through the phone lines late at night, and of John Hughes Films, even though I’m not sure this Song was ever in one. “Kiss Them For Me” by Siouxsie And The Banshees is Song 4. This is one of those “Go-To” Songs that always make me smile, and of course, sing-a-long. Last, but not least, is Kate Bush’s Song “Cloudbusting”. I love this Video so much. Did you know it was conceived by Kate and Filmmaker Terry Gilliam? The two of them wanted to make a Short Film from the Song.

Alright, so are you ready to Press Play and give these 5 Songs a Listen? What Songs are you Obsessing over on this Tuesday that feels like a Monday Day?

Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day – February 20, 2018

Listen to the Week on Spotify and YouTube, or stream below via YouTube

1. “Hey Sunrise” by The Charlatans

2. “Walking Down Madison” by Kirsty MacColl

3. “Love My Way” by The Psychedelic Furs

4. “Kiss Them For Me” by Siouxsie And The Banshees

5. “Cloudbusting” by Kate Bush

Have a listen and let me know what you think of these 5 Songs. I’d love to hear what you are listening to, as well. Drop them in the Comments.

Top 5 Music Obsessions for the Week of February 20, 2018

Listen on SPOTIFY and YOUTUBE

We made it through Monday and on into Tuesday. How about that! To celebrate let’s turn that volume way, way up to today’s Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day.  All 5 songs are a little bit of audio magic ready to get you singing-a-long. These are favorite songs of mine, songs that you could call obsessions, and not just for today.

Song 1 is “The Magic Position” from the underrated brilliance that is Patrick Wolf. I can never quite understand how his music isn’t larger than life. Perfume Genius is up next with the first song I ever heard of his, “Queen”. I want to hear a Patrick Wolf and Perfume Genis duet. Wouldn’t that be amazing? Track 3 is “Thieves Like Us” from New Order which sets-up Song 4, Kate Bush’s chill-inducing “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) perfectly. “Spark” by Tori Amos takes us to the end of today’s Top 5. This song is also chill-inducing, like Kate’s above. It also almost always makes me cry.

Click the Spotify and YouTube links above to hear today’s Top 5, as well as the rest of the week, as it unfolds. Don’t miss a single day!

Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day – 10/17/17

1. “The Magic Position” by Patrick Wolf

“It’s you,
who puts me in the magic position, darling, now.
You put me in the magic position.
To live, to learn,
to love in the major key.”

2. “Queen” by Perfume Genius

“Don’t you know your queen?
Whipped.
Heaving.
Flower bloom at my feet.”

3. “Thieves Like Us” by New Order

“But it’s called love,
and it belongs to us.”

4. “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush

“You don’t wanna hurt me,
but see how deep the bullet lies.
Unaware I’m tearing you asunder.
Oh, there is thunder in our hearts.”

5. “Spark” by Tori Amos

“6:58, are you sure where my spark is?”

Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day for TUESDAY

I hope you enjoy today’s Top 5 Music Obsessions featuring Patrick Wolf, Perfume Genius, New Order, Kate Bush, and Tori Amos.

Be sure to Tune in tomorrow for the next round of Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day.

Listen on Spotify and YouTube

Monday is here again with its early wake ups and to-do lists, and the kind of challenges that sometimes can have you in tears (at least that was me today). These 5 songs are definitely helping me along, keeping me strong, and chasing away the anxiety that keeps trying to creep in. Sometimes a day is rough to get through, and today has been that, but I’m determined to not let it bring me too far down. So, let’s have a listen to the Top 5 songs that are holding my hand and singing in my ear, shall we?

Track 1 is unforgettable, and very missed, Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings covering the Kenny Rogers song “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)”. Next up is a new discovery of mine, Margo Guryan and her song “Something’s Wrong With The Morning”. This song’s chorus of “something’s wrong with the morning today” is singing my feelings for today, which strangely helps me get on the other side of feeling that way. Song 3 is “California Soul” by Marlena Shaw, and Shirley And Company’s “Shame, Shame, Shame” is Song 4. Tying it all together for the day is Kate Bush and her beautiful and haunting “Babooshka”. I watched a documentary on Kate Bush over the weekend with my boyfriend and was overcome with how many songs of hers I love, and have loved, for so long.

Are you ready to indulge in today’s Top 5 mix? Click the Spotify and YouTube links above to hear today’s Top 5, as well as the rest of the week, as it unfolds. Don’t miss a single day!

Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day – 9/25/17

1. “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

“I tripped on a cloud,
and fell-a eight miles high.
I tore my mind on a jagged sky.”

2. “Something’s Wrong With the Morning” by Margo Guryan

“And something tells me,
something’s wrong with the morning today.”

3. “California Soul” by Marlena Shaw

“It’s all in the air,
you hear it everywhere,
no matter what you do,
it’s gonna get a hold on you.”

4. “Shame, Shame, Shame” by Shirley And Company

“Shame shame shame,
hey, shame on you,
if you can’t dance, too.”

5. “Babooshka” by Kate Bush

“She sent him scented letters,
and he received them with a strange delight,
just like his wife,
but how she was before the tears.”

Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day for Monday

I hope you enjoy Today’s Top 5 Music Obsessions featuring Sharon Jones And The Dap Kings, Margo Guryan, Marlena Shaw, Shirley And Company, and Kate Bush.

Be sure to Tune in tomorrow for the next round of Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day.

My Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day :: 2/17/17
Listen here on Spotify

A very rainy Friday, stormy and pouring down really. My Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day are definitely influenced by the weather outside. It starts with a nostalgia-soaked beauty from Cocteau Twins which weaves itself perfectly into the epic beauty of “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)”. After that we shift gears into something newer – very newer, actually – from The Jesus & Mary Chain. Then, it ends with two lush, dreamy beauties from Slowdive and Lush.

You can click to listen to each video below, or choose the Spotify link to listen to the My Top 5 Song Obsessions of the Day :: Top Five playlist. I will add each five songs shared to the playlist each day.

1. “Wax & Wane” :: Cocteau Twins

“The devil bite’s dirty,
we wax and wane.”

This song always reminds me of crossing the bridge between Oakland and San Francisco, in April of 1991, with Garlands playing, on cassette, in my car stereo. Julia’s dad and I were trying to guess at the lyrics, making up our own as we drove. It was one of the last good memories the two of us shared together before so much of our lives changed.

2. “Running Up that Hill (A Deal with God”) :: Kate Bush

“Tell me, we both matter,
don’t we?
You,
it’s you and me.
It’s you and me –
won’t be unhappy.”

Epic. This song is epic. It feels like a film trilogy in one song, with all the highs and lows, the drama, the questions of love and religion, and the human experience.

3. “Always Sad” :: The Jesus & Mary Chain

“There’s nothing like you,
in this world.”

I wrote about this song here. I’m so digging this new JAMC song. I can’t stop listening to it. New album, please be here now.

4. “Alison” :: Slowdive

“Listen close,
and don’t be stoned,
I’ll be here in the morning…
’cause I’m just floating.”

Dreamy, lush and liquid-feeling, this is the perfect song for this grey and stormy weather. Turn it up and float around in the sounds of it. Sometimes I forget how much I love Slowdive.

5. “I Have the Moon” :: Lush

“We have ended many lives,
but we never really died.”

Another song I feel like floating around in today. I love the lyrics, too. They remind me of age and aging, of getting drunk nostalgically, of the “alternate realities” of our lives, the one we were once in, the one we are now in, and that space we drift within when we are not so sure where we are, or where we want to be. Also, this is one of those songs that is just made to make out to. Don’t you think?

So, that was Friday’s rainy weather My Top 5 Music Obsessions. What are you ending the week listening to?

List your favorite album covers :: MusicListography
courtesy of Music Listography : Your Life In (Play)Lists

Have a listen to a song from each album here on Spotify

1. Aladdin Sane :: David Bowie

2. Rio :: Duran Duran

3. Gold :: Ryan Adams

4. Musicforthemorningafter :: Pete Yorn

5. Self-Titled :: The Libertines

6. Andy Warhol/Self-Titled :: The Velvet Underground & Nico

7. Rumours :: Fleetwood Mac

8. Avalon :: Roxy Music

9. Self-Titled :: Madonna

10. Never Mind the Bollocks :: The Sex Pistols

11. August & Everything After :: Counting Crows

12. I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning :: Bright Eyes

13. Parallel Lines :: Blondie

14. Some Girls :: The Rolling Stones

15. Disintegration :: The Cure

16. Figure 8 :: Elliott Smith

17. Strip :: Adam Ant

18. Unknown Pleasures :: Joy Division

19. Horses :: Patti Smith

20. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan :: Bob Dylan

21. Nothing’s Shocking :: Jane’s Addiction

22. Rabbit Fur Coat :: Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins

23. To Bring You My Love :: PJ Harvey

24. Cinema Verite :: Dramarama

25. Grace :: Jeff Buckley

26. Sam’s Town :: The Killers

27. Violator :: Depeche Mode

28. All Over the Place :: The Bangles

29. Come On Feel the Lemonheads :: The Lemonheads

30. Electric Warrior :: T-Rex

31. Rubber Soul :: The Beatles

32. Beauty & the Beat :: The Go-Go’s

33. Strange Days :: The Doors

34. Become What You Are :: Juliana Hatfield Three

35. Laid :: James

36. Transatlanticism :: Death Cab For Cutie

37. Ophelia :: Natalie Merchant

38. Funeral :: Arcade Fire

39. Demon Days :: Gorillaz

40. Pedestrian Verse :: Frightened Rabbit

41. The Sensual World :: Kate Bush

42. Different Class :: Pulp

43. Bella Donna :: Stevie Nicks

44. Lion & the Cobra :: Sinead O’Connor

45. Hotel California :: The Eagles

46. White Blood Cells :: The White Stripes

47. Once Upon a Time/The Singles :: Siouxsie & The Banshees

48. Exile in Guyville :: Liz Phair

49. In Utero :: Nirvana

50. Live Through This :: Hole

“You don’t want to hurt me,
but see how deep the bullet lies.”

About the song:

“Running Up That Hill” is a song by Kate Bush, from her 1985 album, Hounds of Love. It was the first single from that album, released in the U.K. in August of 1985. It was also Kate’s first song to be released as a 12″ single.

The song was the most successful of Kate’s 1980’s releases, entering the U.K. chart at #9, and eventually peaking at #3. The single also had an impact in the U.S., providing Kate with her first chart hit in the U.S. since 1978.

Originally the song was to be released as “A Deal with God”, but representatives at EMI were hesitant to release the song with that title owing to possible negative reception because of the use of the word “God”. Kate relented, changing the title.

However, the album version of the song is listed as “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)”.

The song has often been misinterpreted. Kate has described the song as following:

“I was trying to say that, really, a man and a woman can’t understand each other because we are a man and a woman. And if we could actually swap each other’s roles, if we could actually be in each other’s places for a while, I think we’d both be very surprised! And I think it would lead to a greater understanding. And really the only way I could think it could be done was either…you know, I thought a deal with the devil, you know. And I thought, ‘well, no, why not a deal with God!’ You know, because in a way it’s so much more powerful the whole idea of asking God to make a deal with you. You see, for me it is still called “Deal with God”, that was its title. But we were told that if we kept this title that it would not be played in any of the religious countries, Italy wouldn’t play it, France wouldn’t play it, and Australia wouldn’t play it! Ireland wouldn’t play it, and that generally we might get it blacked purely because it had God in the title.”

The music video (see below) features Kate performing an interpretive dance with dancer Michael Hervieu. The video was directed by David Garfath while the dance routines were choreographed by Diane Grey. 

My thoughts:

I’m not sure I ever caught the male and female connotations in the song, nor do I believe it is that simple, dividing gender as diametrical differences, but I do see what is being described. To me, I felt it was more about no one ever understanding completely what it feels like to be in someone’s skin, and that with someone you are close to, be it a lover, a friend, or a family member, if you could swap skin and shoes and existences, if even for a day, what understanding would be gleaned by the experience?

As for God in this song? Me and God have not been such good friends, to the point that I’m not all that sure I believe in such a thing at all. That said, the idea of it, of making a deal with an perceived almighty, well that’s some pretty heady stuff to consider, much less do.

Running Up that Hill :: Kate Bush
from the album, Hounds of Love