Home Tidbits Kate Bush Welcome Back, Kate Bush

Creative Slush by Chris Dunmire

ANTicipating Slushy Sweetness - Eating Creative Fun!

Home aMUSEum of Silly Pun Nit Wits Humor, Free Printables, Creativity Tips & Fun Tidbits!
 

Slush Cup

Creative Slush™ is Chris Dunmire's online aMUSEum and virtual scrapbook of humor & play peppered with creative milestones, printable jokes, inspiring tidbits, and punny tongue-in-cheek humor. Please respect her copyright »

RSS Feed RSS

Home

About Chris

Creativity Coaching

Printable e-Books

Creativity Interviews

Nit Wits Comics & Free Coloring Pages

Free Cartoony Drawing Lessons

Printable Humor, Gags & Jokes

More Humor & Fun

Inner Diablog & Essays

Joy, Spirituality, Creativity Writings

Contact Chris

Chris's Corny Humor
Free Range Ant Farm
TACT PENatomy Chart
No Frills Greeting Cards
Nit Wits Cartoons
Funny Fake Fortunes
CreativiTea Tea Packets
Zany Creativity Patch
Impossible Puzzles
Origami Money Plant

Chris Around the Web
Creativity Portal
Creative Slush
Current Living
Coaching Your Creativity

Blog Archives
2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003

People
Welcome Back, Kate.


Kate Bush: Aerial

Kate Bush: Aerial Posted Feb-16-2006
The Long-Awaited 2005 Kate Bush CD

Dear Kate,

I first heard your voice on Peter Gabriel's song "Don't Give Up" (So, 1986 ) as a teenager. Your voice was so beautiful — and I bought a copy of Sensual World (1989) on account of that — but I was not quite ready to embrace your world at the time.

A few years later I rediscovered you on an alternative rock station in my car on the way work one morning. I remember sitting stunned at a stop light after listening to "Running up that Hill (Deal with God)" wondering how I missed out on what seemed to be the biggest deal in the UK a decade earlier (as I worked my way up through elementary and junior high school). It seemed like the top 40 stations in the US didn't mirror UK pop when it came to your music. Who was Kate Bush?

Like me, so many others almost missed out on the 'two birds in the bush' unless they paid close attention to the MTV videos in the late 80s (The Sensual World). I can still mention your name among peers and face blank stares until I say "the soothing female voice on Peter Gabriel's Don't Give Up." (Ha, I've since discovered you also appearing on his earlier song "No Self Control.")

To this day I can't watch or read any form of Wuthering Heights without your song playing in the background of my mind. In fact, your song inspired me to read the classic book by Emily Bronte. And a lump always appears in my throat in the chorus dialog of your song. I am so moved by your emotional rendering of that story.

Through my 20s I collected all of your CDs I could get ahold of: The Kick Inside (1977), Lionheart (1978), Never for Ever (1980), The Dreaming (1982), The Whole Story (1986), and The Red Shoes (1993). Your music became my constant companion as I navigated through my 'roaring 20s' and processed personal and worldly triumphs and tragedies through the years. "Running up that Hill" comforted me after the loss of a sibling. "Moving" and "The Saxophone Song" helped me honor the lost life of John F. Kennedy Jr. "Babooshka" was the humble joy over my quiet, Polish grandmother. "This Woman's Work" allowed me silent breakdowns as I adjusted to my balancing roles as a working woman and wife. The entire Dreaming album befriended me as I contemplated leaving Corporate America. And Red Shoes gave me the permissive nudge to look beyond my religious upbringing for spiritual nourishment. I've been holding on tight since Red Shoes wondering what would come next from the context of your own life. That is how you create your art — and why we've all patiently waited so long for Aerial (2005).

Your music has impacted my life, my creative vision, in ways that I can only acknowledge in words on a surface level. The intertwining of your expressive energy into my soul I can't quantify. But I know it's there. It weighs on my mind as I backtrack through the years and inspires me even now as I plunge forward in my creative pursuits. When asked what music I want to accompany me on a deserted island, your name is always at the top of the list.

Yesterday I remembered your new release as I wandered through the music section of a local store. I quickly spotted Aerial filed under the "B" category and knew as soon as I picked it up that I was once again on the verge of a new connection with you. I wouldn't have put it back if ten people stood behind me with critical reviews. To soulfully connect with your music — with anyone's music — is a very personal thing that I wouldn't trust to another person to decide for me. Art in any form is such a subjective experience.

After two days of playing the two CDs that make up this new creation you've named Aerial, I know I'm still in the "honeymoon" phase of getting acquainted with your mature work. I will play these CDs at least 25 more times before knowing which song comes next and knowing which pieces resonate with me the most. I have yet to read the lyric sheet. I've peeked, though. Bertie is a fine artist :-).

The graphic artist in me loves the CD artwork. The colors, the laundry line morphing into flying birds. The birds in the music. Your laughter. The ways the CDs fit into the case to complete the pictures. I am drawn to Disc 2: "A Sky of Honey" and have looped songs 5 through 9 three times today. Yesterday I realized that Sunset was the song that grabbed me the most. After the final arrangements Nocturn and Aerial play, the steady beat and melody is firmly fixed into my creative mind and I find myself so inspired to create ... to write ... to be.

Thank you, Kate. Your music is an enduring gift to the world. Aerial was well worth the wait. (© 2006 Chris Dunmire)

More Kate Bush Tidbits...
© 2005-2010 Chris Dunmire. All rights reserved.

Home | Contact | About | Projects | Creativity | Humor & Fun | Archives | Site Map | Terms of Use

Content on this Web site is © copyright Chris Dunmire, www.chrisdunmire.com.
Please do not duplicate the material from this Web site elsewhere.
Brief commentary with links to the pages on this site are encouraged and appreciated.