ALN essay Kate Bush

Evaluate Kate Bush's use of music technology, melody and structure

in Cloudbusting and And Dream of Sheep from the Hounds of
Love album in relation to other pop songs from the late 20th-
century.

Relate your discussion to other relevant works. These may include

set works, wider listening or other music.

Kate Bush was a British artist whose original creations countered the
pre-fabricated, standardised pop songs of the mid-1980s. Her individuality
stems from the 1970s Prog Rock of her teenage years, her experimentations
as a self-taught musician, and her artistic background as a dancer and mime-
artist. Bush took her inspiration from literature and historical sources,
elevating her lyrics to a higher poetic level than the commercial songs of the
time

The album Hounds of Love (1985) epitomises many of Bush's

aforementioned distinctive musical features. It is a concept-album divided in
two suites (her songs are part of a wider-arching form), each on a different
side of the original LP. Side a is Hounds of Love, which consists of five
individual songs that are linked by the theme of love and relationship; side b
is the conceptual seven-song cycle entitled The Ninth Wave, which is more
experimental and about drifting out at sea. There is also much innovative
use of music technology, another integral aspect of 1970s Prog Rock, and the
improvisational feel of Bush's melodies are reminiscent of the genres solo
instrumental improvisations. The structure of her songs are unusual and
varied: they reflect the poetry and meaning of the lyrics, similar to the
classical Lied. Bush's use of music technology, melody and structure will be
explored by focusing on two songs from Hounds of Love: Cloudbusting,
which is from side a; and And Dream of Sheep, from side b; in relation to
other pop songs from the late 20th-century, especially the mid-1980s with a
focus on female artists.

The use of music technology was developed by Prog Rock bands: King
Crimson set the trend with the mellotron, and Pink Floyd added sounds from
everyday life (cash-machine, clocks) in their ground-breaking concept-album
Dark Side of the Moon. During the 1980s music technology progressed with
the universal MIDI, sampling and the falling price of synthesisers. In
'Cloudbusting' Bush uses a Fairlight CMI sampler for steam engine sounds, a
treated vocal sample and sampled tracks for the instrumental section. The
song is based on a maverick psychoanalyst/inventor's doomed inventions
(including the cloudbusting which was supposed to create rain) and the
relationship with his son, Peter; who is the lyrics narrator. The more robotic,
reverberating effect of the treated vocals during the instrumental section
create a dark and ominous mood, as Peter is unable to protect his father
when taken away by the police in the video. Bushs use of music technology
ALN essay Kate Bush

is fitting for a song about a slightly mad inventor of mechanical inventions.

And Dream of Sheep' is more surrealist and dark in its depiction of an
individual drifting at sea awaiting rescue. Here, Bush uses technology to
create a feeling of terrifying hopelessness with the sample of a radio
shipping forecast (reminiscent of Pink Floyd's use of mechanical sounds from
the physical world) and a multi-track Irish whistle bended note that is
repeated at the end. In the video Kate Bush is seen in water, in the dark,
floating with a life-jacket and its light the only source of hope. We hear her
mothers sampled voice saying Come here with me now, a comforting
motherly tone, as the protagonist finally succumbs to sleep and drowns.
Bushs creative use of music technology as a means of expressing her songs
is in stark contrast to Madonnas commercial exploitation of technology, as
exemplified by her album Like a Virgin (released in 1984), which is digitally
recorded (a new technique at the time), with multi-tracking, special mics and
various synthesisers. The hit-song Material Girl consists of synthesisers and
a robotic male voice repeating the hook over a dance-beat, but the result
whilst clean-cut and appealing for the dance-floor, is not musically creative.

Bushs use of melody is interesting and sensitive as it serves to

highlight the meaning of her lyrics. There is an improvisatory feel to the main
melodic line, giving both songs a free-spirit, highly emotive sincerity as well
as versatility; similar to Prog Rocks instrumental improvisations. In
Cloudbusting there is a robotic, repetitive violin riff; whilst a violin solo soars
over with long, legato phrases. Could this represent the march of doom (riff)
beneath the love of Peter for his father (soaring melody)? And Dream of
Sheep uses the minor descending third, which sounds childlike. Bush said
about the song that when she had nightmares as a child, she would go to see
her mother for comfort (hence the vocal sample); therefore the use of a
minor third could represent a yearning for the safety of a mothers arms.
There is also word-painting as the melodic line descends when Bush sings
they take me deeper. A descending melody to express grief and word-
painting are both features of classical arias, such as Purcells Didos
Lament. Annie Lennox, from Eurythmics, in Here Comes Rain Again
similarly uses violins for melodic interest, although they alternate between
short pizzicato notes and legato, long lines at times in countermelody.
Lennoxs vocals equally descend in the melancholic verses. However,
Lennoxs use of melody remains the same throughout the song, which makes
it easy to sing as a pop song and therefore more commercial. Bushs use of
melody, on the other hand, is subservient to the text: more inventive and
artistic.

With regards to structure, Bush uses the conventional verses, chorus,

instrumental bridge elements of a pop song, but in highly innovative ways;
once again in the vein of Prog Rocks art form and reflective of her
background as a performing artist. The length of the two songs does not
follow the 3-minute SAW pop songs of the mid-1980s: Cloudbusting lasts 5
ALN essay Kate Bush

minutes (in the video it is extended to 7); And Dream of Sheep is relatively
short, but is part of a seven-song cycle. Neither songs have an introduction:
they immerse the listener straight into their themes, highlighting once again
the prime importance of the lyrics. In Cloudbusting there are two short
verses and a longer chorus. The striking structural element of this song are
the extensive instrumental passages in the bridge sections and even longer
outro; during which there is more action in the video (Peters childhood and
admiration for his father, and the latters subsequent arrest). Hence, Bush
uses structure not only as a song-form, but as a cinematic vehicle for her
holistic vision as an artist. And Dream of Sheep, being on the b side, is even
more experimental as it has no chorus, but two verses and two instrumental,
lengthier bridges with a substantial outro for dramatic effect as the
protagonist gives up slowly on her fight for life. Bush uses structure to
amalgam the musical, visual and literary components of her songs, which
has some parallel with Wagners music dramas in which he aimed to
synthesise all arts: poetry, musical, dramatic and visual.

Kate Bush shows in Cloudbusting and And Dream of Sheep that she
had vision. She used melody and structure as expressive vehicles for her
lyrics; such as Baroque vocal word-painting, Romantic Lied use of
instrumental melody to highlight the text, and the subservience of structure
to the musical, visual and literary drama. In complete contrast to the factory-
made SAW songs for bands/singers of the mid-1980s (Bananarama or Kylie
Minogue) that were engineered for commercial success; Bushs songs were
exceptional and unique in their creativity and experimentation. There were
indeed other female artists at the time who aimed to be innovative with
technology: Annie Lennox with Eurthymics embraced synth-pop, and
Madonna was likewise at the cutting edge of music technology. However,
their inventiveness was more in terms of image and marketing than it was
musical: Lennox with her androgynous style and Madonna with her
provocative videos and performances. Bush, on the other hand, explored,
created and fashioned a distinctive, unique and musically avant-garde
approach to song-writing through her use of music technology, melody and
structure; which inspired and influenced a younger generation of
experimental female artists; such as Bjrk and Florence and the Machine.