FEATURE:
The Lesser-Heard Gems
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush at the British Rock & Pop Awards, February 1980/PHOTO CREDIT: Mirrorpix
Kate Bush’s Never for Ever at Forty-Three
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ON 8th September…
PHOTO CREDIT: Angelo Deligio/Mondadori via GI
Kate Bush’s Never for Ever will turn forty-three. Released at the start of her most successful decade, as I have said before, Never for Ever reached number one in the U.K. That set a record, as Bush became the first British female solo artist to reach number one with an album. She also broke a record in 1978 with Wuthering Heights. As the song went to number one, it was the first time a self-penned song by a female artist reached the top spot. It is amazing to think Bush was breaking these records when she was so young. I have already written about Never for Ever a few times lately. I wanted to focus on the lesser-known songs. From the eleven on the album, three were singles – Breathing, Babooshka and Army Dreamers. I don’t think enough people know about the rest of the songs. Those deep cuts that hardly ever get played. I am not going to write a big thing on each of the eight songs. Instead, I would recommend that you listen to the whole album and spend time appreciate them. In a playlist, I am going to rank (best at the top) my favourite lesser-known songs from Never for Ever. There are so many gems that people have never heard or you do not hear played much on the radio. The singles are arranged so that we open with Babooshka. Army Dreamers and Breathing are the final two tracks. In that big middle are these songs which never quite get as much focus as deserved.
Even if Never for Ever got to number one, it has gained a few mixed reviews. The reaction in general is positive, though some feel it has filler and it is not a strong album like Hounds of Love (1985). I would disagree! There is a wonderful mix of the sublime, beautiful, political and odd. From the brief and beautiful choral passage of Night Scented Stock to the heady rush of Violin and the beautiful Blow Away (For Bill), there is so much to admire. I am going to choose four songs to expand on, and I will end by talking about the album in general and how one should not focus too heavily on the singles – even though they are glorious and charted really well (Babooshka got to number five; Army Dreamers and Breathing reached sixteen). I don’t think I have ever heard All We Ever Look For played. It is one of those distinctly Kate Bush songs. From her vocal to little production touches, it is wonderful. Situated before Egypt at the end of side one, this is a song where Bush made good use of the Fairlight CMI. A relatively new addition and discovery for her, there are some beautiful and interesting sounds on the song. We get some interview archive snippets from the Kate Bush Encyclopedia:
“All We Ever Look For' is about how we seek something but in the wrong way or at wrong times so it is never found. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, September 1980)
One of my new songs, 'All We Ever Look For', it's not about me. It's about family relationships generally. Our parents got beaten physically. We get beaten psychologically. The last line - "All we ever look for - but we never did score".' Well, that's the way it is - you do get faced sometimes with futile situations. But the answer's not to kill yourself. You have to accept it, you have to cope with it. (Derek Jewell, 'How To Write Songs And Influence People'. Sunday Times (UK), 5 October 1980)”.
That track features Hare Krishna followers singing the Maha Mantra; Bush uses a part of a line from this mantra: "(Hare) Krishna, Hare Krishna, (Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare)". I wonder if Bush was influenced by The Beatles ands George Harrison in particular, given his attachment and love of Eastern mysticism and his genuine authority of and affection for music of India. One song that I feel should have been released as a single is Violin. Many see it as one of the weaker tracks on the album, though I feel it could have been a chart success. Bush did perform it live – including her 1979 Christmas special -, though this is one that never truly gets loads of love. I know that The Anchoress (Catherine Anne Davies) includes this as one of her favourites from Never for Ever. In musical terms, Egypt is a nation that has had few, but quite odd, representations in music. I can think of The Bangles Walk Like an Egyptian and this song. Maybe not an easy country to depict truly and correctly, I still love what Bush did. Here is some more personal insight:
“'Egypt' is an attempted audial animation of the romantic and realistic visions of a country. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, September 1980)
The song is very much about someone who has not gone there thinking about Egypt, going: "Oh, Egypt! It's so romantic... the pyramids!" Then in the breaks, there's meant to be the reality of Egypt, the conflict. It's meant to be how blindly we see some things - "Oh, what a beautiful world", you know, when there's shit and sewers all around you. (Kris Needs, Fire in the Bush. Zigzag (UK), 1980)”.
Two particular songs from the second side that I want to highlight are also two that could have been singles. The Wedding List might be my favourite of the non-singles. Premiered of her 1979 Christmas special, this wonderful song would have been a big hit if it got a wider release. Performed live in 1982 for the Prince’s Trust Rock Gala, there was a demo going around for a while. Never for Ever is an album that I would love to hear demos from. Bush’s inspiration for The Wedding List is really interesting:
“The Wedding List' is about the powerful force of revenge. An unhealthy energy which in this song proves to be a "killer". (Kate Bush Club newsletter, September 1980)
Revenge is so powerful and futile in the situation in the song. Instead of just one person being killed, it's three: her husband, the guy who did it - who was right on top of the wedding list with the silver plates - and her, because when she's done it, there's nothing left. All her ambition and purpose has all gone into that one guy. She's dead, there's nothing there. (Kris Needs, 'Fire in the Bush'. Zigzag, 1980)
Revenge is a terrible power, and the idea is to show that it's so strong that even at such a tragic time it's all she can think about. I find the whole aggression of human beings fascinating - how we are suddenly whipped up to such an extent that we can't see anything except that. Did you see the film Deathwish, and the way the audience reacted every time a mugger got shot? Terrible - though I cheered, myself. (Mike Nicholls, 'Among The Bushes'. Record Mirror, 1980)”.
The final lesser-heard cut that I also think could have been a single is the stunning The Infant Kiss. Maybe it would have caused controversy because people would have misinterpreted the title and lyrics – it is not about Kate Bush having a crush on a child -, she did reveal a brief background to it (“The Infant Kiss' is about a governess. She is torn between the love of an adult man and child who are within the same body. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, September 1980”). A beautiful song with some gorgeous compositional elements, production and musicians (Viol: Adam Sceaping; lironi: Jo Sceaping; electric guitar: Alan Murphy; string arrangement: Jo & Adam Sceaping), an American fan called Chris Williams made a video for the song using scenes from the film, The Innocents. Wonderfully Bush contacted him and said that the scenes from the film he choose for the videos were ion his head when she was writing the song! Such a solid album with no weak moments, I wanted to spend time with some of its deeper cuts. I love singles like Babooshka but, as Never for Ever is forty-three on 8th September, I hope people spend time with those rare gems. A moment when Bush took her music to new places and co-produced for the first time – she assisted production on 1978’s Lionheart, but co-producing with Jon Kelly on Never for Ever was her first big foray into production - was huge. The music sounds much more naturally her. You can feel her exploring different sounds and themes. Seemingly more confident and happier as a performer, Never for Ever remains an underrated and…
SIMPLY wonderful album.