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La svolta più importante della carriera di Kate Bush è forse rappresentata dalla collaborazione al fondamentale terzo album di Peter Gabriel. Grazie a quell’incontro Kate decise di avere un maggiore controllo sulla registrazione dei suoi album e ottenne di co-produrre l’album “Never For Ever” (1980), disco di transizione tra la Kate bambina prodigio di fine anni ’70 e la Kate signora indiscussa del pop sofisticato dei decenni successivi.
Forte dei risconti ottenuti (“Never For Ever” fu il primo disco di una donna inglese a raggiungere il primo posto in UK) Kate decise di produrre completamente da sola l’album successivo e il risultato fu quello che è forse il suo capolavoro, “The Dreaming” (1982), un gioiello di bizzarra creatività in cui sogni, visioni, incubi, psicosi e passioni si intrecciano in trame complesse e ardite senza mai concedere una tregua all’ascoltatore.
Il disco lasciò spiazzati critica e pubblico, l’eccentrica ninfetta dei primi tre album era sparita portandosi con sé le sue canzoni capaci da far cantare una nazione come “Wuthering Heights” o “Babooshka” e per la prima volta nella sua carriera Kate si trovò a sperimentare l’insuccesso.
Col senno di poi risulta chiara l’importanza di questo album non solo per la carriera della Bush (in un certo senso, il celebratissimo “Hounds Of Love” si può vedere come una versione più “educata” di “The Dreaming”) ma anche per molte artiste che nei decenni successivi ne avrebbero proseguito il discorso, prima fra tutte Bjork i cui sperimentalismi (vocali e non) devono molto a questo album.
E’ difficile segnalare alcune canzoni in particolare perché tutte meritano un applauso.
L’album si apre con la martellante sete di conoscenza di “Sat In Your Lap” (“Some say that knowledge is something sat in your lap / Some say that knowledge is something that you’ll never have”) per proseguire con il racconto con pesante accento “cockney” di una rapina in banca in “There Goes A Tenner”. “Pull Out The Pin” vede Kate nei pani di un Vietcong dilaniato tra l’istinto di sopravvivenza che gli intima di uccidere il soldato americano che ha di fronte e la consapevolezza che è un normale essere umano esattamente come lui (“Just one thing in it / Me or him / And I love life!”). “Suspended In Gaffa” è un meraviglioso valzer psicotico dal testo criptico (sin dal titolo!) mentre “The Dreaming” si critica il trattamento dell’uomo bianco nei confronti degli Aborigeni australiani. Proprio in questo brano l’influenza di Gabriel è più visibile, l’intricata sezione ritmica e l’arrangiamento etnico (in cui spicca il didgeridoo di Rolf Harris) ricordano da vicino certe atmosfere del quarto lavoro del collega, uscito lo stesso anno.
In “Night Of The Swallow” Kate interpreta ben due ruoli: nelle strofe è la moglie di un contrabbandiere che cerca con ogni supplica e minaccia di impedirgli di compiere un volo mentre nei ritornelli il marito è i l marito che risponde, la voce che come il suo aereo si eleva fino ad altezze vertiginose sorretta da un efficace arrangiamento irlandese.
“Houdini” è divisa tra due piani temporali separati, da un lato si ha la moglie del mago che dopo la sua morte partecipa a sedute spiritiche per sbugiardare i sedicenti medium che affermavano di essere in contatto col marito, dal'altro si ha l'angosciante ricostruzione di uno dei mozzafiato (in tutti i sensi!) exploit di Houdini. Piccola curisoità: la copertina dellalbum è ispirata proprio a questo brano, con una cotonatissima Kate-Sig.ra Houdini che si appresta a passare al marito con un bacio la chiave delle catene che lo imprigionano.
La gemma del disco arriva però solo in chiusura, "Get Out Of My House" precipita l'ascoltatore in un incubo di distorsioni, grida straziate e ritmi inclazanti che si conclude con la Bush trasformata in asino a ragliare (!!!), un assoluto caploavoro visionario di produzione e interpetazione vocale.
Nel complesso, un album sicuramente difficle dove coraggiosamente la Bush non si è posta limiti e per la prima (e forse unica) volta ha sfruttato le enormi potenzialità della sua voce al 100% e ha lasciato briglia sciolta alla sua fantasia di prodduttrice realizzando dieci complessi brani potenti e indimenticabili. Da riscoprire.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Sat in Your Lap (03:30)
I see the people working,
And see it working for them.
And so I want to join in,
But then I find it hurts me.
Some say that knowledge is something sat in your lap.
Some say that knowledge is something that you never have.
I see the people happy,
So can it happen for me?
'Cause when I am unhappy,
There's nothing that can move me.
Some say that knowledge is something that you never have.
Some say that knowledge is something sat in your lap.
Some say that heaven is hell.
Some say that hell is heaven.
I must admit, just when I think I'm king,
(I just begin.)
Just when I think I'm king, I must admit,
(I just begin.)
Just when I think I'm king,
(I just begin.)
I've been doing it for years.
My goal is moving near.
It says, "Look! I'm over here."
Then it up and disappears.
Some say that knowledge is something sat in your lap.
Some say that knowledge is ho-ho-ho-ho.
I want to be a lawyer.
I want to be a scholar.
But I really can't be bothered.
Ooh, just gimme it quick, gimme it, gimme gimme gimme gimme!
Some say that knowledge is ho ho ho.
Some say that knowledge is ho ho ho.
Some say that heaven is hell.
Some say that hell is heaven.
I must admit, just when I think I'm king,
(I just begin.)
Just when I think I'm king, I must admit,
(I just begin.)
Just when I think everything's going great,
(I just begin,)
Hey, I get the break,
Hey, I'm gonna take it all--
(I just begin.)
When I'm king--
(-- just begin.)
In my dome of ivory,
A home of activity,
I want the answers quickly,
But I don't have no energy.
I hold a cup of wisdom,
But there is nothing within.
My cup, she never overfloweth,
And 'tis I that moan- and groaneth.
Some grey and white matter,
"Give me the karma, mama!"
I'm coming up the ladder,
"A jet to Mecca,"
I'm coming up the ladder,
"Tibet or Jeddah,
Up the ladder...
"To Salisbury,
A monastery,
The longest journey,
Across the desert,
Across the weather,
Across the elements,
Across the water!"
02 There Goes a Tenner (03:26)
Okay, remember
Okay, remember
That we have just allowed
Half an hour
To get in, do it, and get out
The sense of adventure
Is changing to danger
The signal has been given
I go in
The crime begins
My excitement
Turns into fright
All my words fade
What am I gonna say?
Mustn't give the game away
We're waiting
We're waiting
We're waiting
We got the job sussed
This shop's shut for business
The lookout has parked the car
But kept the engine running
Three beeps means trouble's coming
I hope you remember
To treat the gelignite tenderly for me
I'm having dreams about things
Not going right
Let's leave in plenty of time tonight
Both my partners
Act like actors:
You are Bogart,
He is George Raft,
That leaves Cagney and me
("What about Edward G.?")
We're waiting
We're waiting
We're waiting
You blow the safe up
Then all I know is I wake up
Covered in rubble. One of the rabble
Needs mummy
("What's all this then?")
The government will never find the money
("What's all this then?")
I've been here all day
A star in strange ways
Apart from a photograph
They'll get nothing from me
Not until they let me see my solicitor
Oh, I remember
That rich, windy weather
When you would carry me
Pockets floating
In the breeze
Oh, there goes a tenner
Hey, look, there's a fiver
There's a ten-shilling note
Remember them?
That's when we used to vote for him
03 Pull Out the Pin (05:29)
Just as we hit the green,
I've never been so happy to be alive.
Only seven miles behind
You could smell the child,
The smell of the front line's survival.
With my silver Buddha
And my silver bullet,
(I pull the pin.)
You learn to ride the Earth,
When you're living on your belly and the enemy are city-births.
Who need radar? We use scent.
They stink of the west, stink of sweat.
Stink of cologne and baccy, and all their Yankee hash.
With my silver Buddha
And my silver bullet,
(I'm pulling on the pin,)
Ooh, I pull out, pull out the pin.
(pulling on the pin, oh...)
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
And I love life!
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
And I love life!
I love life!
I love life!
I've seen the coat for me.
I'll track him 'til he drops,
Then I'll pop him one he won't see.
He's big and pink, and not like me.
He sees no light.
He sees no reason for the fighting
With my silver Buddha
And my silver bullet.
(I'm pulling on the pin,)
Ooh, I pull out, pull out the pin.
(pulling on the pin, oh...)
I had not seen his face,
'til I'm only feet away
Unbeknown to my prey.
I look in American eyes.
I see little life,
See little wife.
He's striking violence up in me.
With my silver Buddha
And my silver bullet.
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
And I love life!
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
And I love life!
I love life!
I love life!
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
And I love life!
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
And I love life!
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
And I love life!
I love life!
I love life!
04 Suspended in Gaffa (03:58)
Out in the garden
There's half of a heaven,
And we're only bluffing.
We're not ones for busting through walls,
But they've told us
Unless we can prove
That we're doing it,
We can't have it all.
He's gonna wangle
A way to get out of it.
She's an excuse
And a witness who'll talk when he's called.
But they've told us
Unless we can prove
That we're doing it,
We can't have it all.
We can't have it all.
"I caught a glimpse of a god, all shining and bright."
Suddenly my feet are feet of mud.
It all goes slo-mo.
I don't know why I'm crying.
Am I suspended in Gaffa?
Not until I'm ready for you,
Not until I'm ready for you
Can I have it all.
I try to get nearer,
But as it gets clearer
There's something appears in the way,
It's a plank in me eye,
With a camel
Who's trying to get through it,
Am I doing it?
Can I have it all now?
I pull out the plank and say
"Thank you for yanking me back
To the fact that there's
Always something to distract."
But sometimes it's hard
To know if I'm doing it right.
Can I have it all?
Can I have it all now?
We can't have it all.
"We all have a dream...maybe."
Suddenly my feet are feet of mud.
It all goes slo-mo.
I don't know why I'm crying.
Am I suspended in Gaffa?
Not until I'm ready for you,
Not until I'm ready for you
Can I have it all.
I won't open boxes
That I am told not to.
I'm not a Pandora.
I'm much more like
That girl in the mirror.
Between you and me
She don't stand a chance of getting anywhere at all.
Not anywhere at all.
No, not a thing.
She can't have it all.
"Mother, where are the angels? I'm scared of the changes."
Suddenly my feet are feet of mud.
It all goes slo-mo.
I don't know why I'm crying.
Am I suspended in Gaffa?
Not until I'm ready for you,
Not until I'm ready for you
Can I have it all.
05 Leave It Open (03:25)
With my ego in my gut,
My babbling mouth would wash it up.
(But now I've started learning how,)
I keep it shut.
My door was never locked,
Until one day a trigger come cocking.
(But now I've started learning how,)
I keep it shut.
Wide eyes would clean and dust
Things that decay, things that rust.
(But now I've started learning how,)
I keep 'em shut.
I keep 'em shut.
Harm is in us.
Harm is in us, but power to arm.
Harm is in us.
Harm in us, but power to arm.
Harm is in us.
("Leave it open!")
Harm is in us, but power to arm.
Narrow mind would persecute it,
Die a little to get to it.
(But now I've started learning how.)
I leave it open.
I kept it in a cage,
Watched it weeping, but I made it stay.
(But now I've started learning how.)
I leave it open.
I leave it open.
Harm is in us.
Harm in us, but power to arm.
Harm is in us.
Harm in us, but power to arm.
Harm is in us.
("Leave it open!")
Harm in us, but power to arm.
Harm is in us.
Harm in us, but power to arm.
Harm is in us.
("Leave it open!")
Harm in us, but power to arm.
Harm is in us.
Harm in us, but power to arm.
Harm is in us.
Har in us, but power to arm.
Harm is in us!
Harm is in us!
Harm is in us!
Harm is in us!
Harm is in us!
Harm is in us--
Harm in you and in me!
What you letting in?
Tell me what you're letting in.
Say what we're gonna let in!
"We let the weirdness in.
We let the weirdness in.
We let the weirdness in.
We let the weirdness in.
We let the weirdness in."
06 The Dreaming (04:32)
"Bang" goes another Kanga
On the bonnet of the van
(See the lights ram through the gaps in the land)
Many an Aborigine's mistaken for a tree
'Til you near him on the motorway
The tree begin to breathe
(See the lights ram through the gaps in the land)
Coming in with the golden light in the morning
Coming in with the golden light is the New Man
Coming in with the golden light is my dented van
DRE-A-M-T-I-ME
The civilized keep alive the territorial war
(See the lights ram through the gaps in the land)
Erase the race that claim the place
And say we dig for ore
Or dangle Dvils in a bottle
And push them from the Pull Of The Bush
(See the lights ram through the gaps in the land)
You find them in the road
(See the lights bounce of the rocks to the sand)
In the road
Coming in with the golden light - in the morning
Coming in with the golden light - with no warning
Coming in with the golden light - we bring in the rigging
Dig, dig, dig away
DRE-A-M-T-I-ME
Many an Aborigine's mistaken for a tree
You near him on the motorway, the tree begin to breathe
Erase the race that claim the place and say we dig for ore
(See the lights ram through the gaps in the land)
Dangle Devils in a bottle and push them from the Pull Of The Bush
(See the sun set in the hand of the man)
"Bang" goes another Kanga on the bonnet of the van
(See the lights ram through the gaps in the land)
You find them in the road
In the road
(See the light)
Pull Of The Bush
(See the lights bounce of the rocks to the sand)
Push them from the - Pull Of The Bush
See the sun set in the hand of the man
10 Get Out of My House (05:32)
("Hee-haw! Hee-haw! Hee-haw!")
When you left, the door was
(slamming!)
You paused in the doorway
(slamming!)
As though a thought stole you away.
(slamming!)
I watched the world pull you away.
(Lock it!)
So I run into the hall,
(Lock it!)
Into the corridor.
(Lock it!)
There's a door in the house
(slamming).
I hear the lift descending.
(slamming!)
I hear it hit the landing,
(slamming!)
See the hackles on the cat
(standing).
With my key I
(lock it).
With my key I
(lock it up).
With my key I
(lock it).
With my key I
(lock it up).
I am the concierge chez-moi, honey.
Won't letcha in for love, nor money.
("Let me in!")
My home, my joy.
I'm barred and bolted and I
(Won't let you in).
(Get out of my house!)
No stranger's feet
Will enter me.
(Get out of my house!)
I wash the panes,
(Get out of my house!)
I clean the stains away.
(Get out of my house!)
This house is as old as I am.
(Slamming.)
This house knows all I have done.
(Slamming.)
They come with their weather hanging 'round them,
(Slamming.)
But can't knock my door down!
(Slamming.)
With my key I
(lock it).
With my key I
(lock it).
This house is full of m-m-my mess.
(Slamming.)
This house is full of m-m-mistakes.
(Slamming.)
This house is full of m-m-madness.
(Slamming.)
This house is full of, full of, full of fight!
(Slam it.)
With my keeper I
(clean up).
With my keeper I
(clean it all up).
With my keeper I
(clean up).
With my keeper I
(clean it all up).
I am the concierge chez-moi, honey.
Won't letcha in for love, nor money.
("It's cold out here!")
My home, my joy.
I'm barred and bolted and I
(Get out of my house!)
(Won't let you in).
(Get out of my house!)
No stranger's feet
(Get out of my house!)
Will enter me.
(Get out of my house!)
I wash the panes.
(Get out of my house!)
I clean the stains.
(Get out of my house!)
(Get out of my house!)
(Get out of my house!)
(Get out of my house!)
Won't enter me.
(Get out of my house!)
(Get out of my house!)
(Get out of my house!)
(Get out of my house!)
Yeah! Won't let you in!
(Get out of my house!)
(Get out of my house!)
"Let me in!
"Woman let me in!
Let me bring in the memories!
Woman let me in!
Let me bring in the Devil Dreams!"
I will not let you in!
Don't you bring back the reveries.
I turn into a bird,
Carry further than the word is heard.
"Woman let me in!
I turn into the wind.
I blow you a cold kiss,
Stronger than the song's hit."
I will not let you in.
I face towards the wind.
I change into the Mule.
"I change into the Mule."
Hee-haw! Hee-haw! Hee-haw-hee-haw-hee-haw-hee-haw...
"Hee-haw! Hee-haw! Hee-haw!"
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