I didn’t know this song (or at least had not remembered it) or video but both are excellent. It sounds ridiculous but I hadn’t really appreciated what a great story teller Kate Bush is. I love the zoom out at the end which reveals the shop name.
It’s not available on the streaming services I use but I’m pretty sure I have a cd copy of The Whole Story somewhere. I’ll have to dig it out.
Wow! I don’t think I’ve seen this video, I have heard the song before though, as I did own the whole story compilation.
This video is great, it totally must’ve inspired aspects of ‘Stranger Things’. The design of the Banshee kind of reminds me of the flying costume in Terry Gilliams ‘Brazil’ and the swooping POV shot where the camera attacks Hugh Laurie is so reminiscent of Sam Raimi’s the Evil Dead.
Also I love her being aware of the camera and miming shush at the end. Like this video is a secret to be kept.
These posts have been so great. So fun revisiting Classic Kate Bush and thank you for shedding light on this one for me. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
It is very Sam Raimi, I agree! I love a good sinister fourth wall break, like the ending of The Omen... I'm so glad you're enjoying them Jean-Pierre, they've been so much fun to research.
I know the song but somehow have never seen the video, which is excellent and has, for me, a 'slightly more horrific than you could get away with in Dr. Who" kind of vibe. And what a cast!
The end of the film, with its restricted areas, devastated ground and high fences is so 80s, when we were all convinced we could die at any moment due to The Bomb. We were also sure that there were nefarious things going on (secret experiments!) that we didn't know about. Some things just come around again, though the conspiracy theories weren't as rampant as they are these days.
I think that's spot on, Fi - I almost talked more about nuclear dystopias in this article, but there's another Bush song which is in some ways an even darker variation on that theme so I've saved it for another instalment...
"Turning sound into a weapon" reminds me of the Khamar Daban hiking tragedy. If you're interested in looking it up, check out the Lore Lodge episode on Youtube. There is a possibility that certain noises exist which are capable of tearing apart the human body on a cellular level. Spooky stuff!
I wonder if Kate Bush had read Graves's short story "The Shout"? (Not that she needed to get the idea from anywhere; her treatment of it is fully original.). Dunsany used a related concept in a darkly comedic way in "The Three Infernal Jokes", so it might be worth taking a look at how the trope has surfaced in myth, fiction and song.
Good points! There’s a particularly nasty horror film that includes a disturbing sequence of sound-torture and I was originally going to talk about that parallel - but it’s a bit much for my readership as I don’t usually cover the ‘extreme’ end of the horror spectrum so I’ve left it a bit open-ended this week for people to draw their own comparisons. I think ultimately it’s quite folkloric in Bush’s depiction, going all the way back to the siren/banshee.
I didn't even think of that but that's a cool connection, It'd be fun to see a Midsummer where the fairy magic was played as genuinely horrific. You could have Bottom's head transforming in an American Werewolf way...
Ha, I was right! This one is an anomaly isn't it? Strange that it was never on an album except for her greatest hits compilation. But it's a terrific mini-film, especially with all those surprise cameos. They look like they had a brilliant time.
You were right. Kate Bush,Hugh Laurie and Dawn French as I had never seen them before. Utterly amazing.
It’s so much fun, isn’t it?
I didn’t know this song (or at least had not remembered it) or video but both are excellent. It sounds ridiculous but I hadn’t really appreciated what a great story teller Kate Bush is. I love the zoom out at the end which reveals the shop name.
It’s not available on the streaming services I use but I’m pretty sure I have a cd copy of The Whole Story somewhere. I’ll have to dig it out.
It’s great isn’t it! I love a good story song, I wish more people did them. Bush is definitely the master.
Wow! I don’t think I’ve seen this video, I have heard the song before though, as I did own the whole story compilation.
This video is great, it totally must’ve inspired aspects of ‘Stranger Things’. The design of the Banshee kind of reminds me of the flying costume in Terry Gilliams ‘Brazil’ and the swooping POV shot where the camera attacks Hugh Laurie is so reminiscent of Sam Raimi’s the Evil Dead.
Also I love her being aware of the camera and miming shush at the end. Like this video is a secret to be kept.
These posts have been so great. So fun revisiting Classic Kate Bush and thank you for shedding light on this one for me. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
It is very Sam Raimi, I agree! I love a good sinister fourth wall break, like the ending of The Omen... I'm so glad you're enjoying them Jean-Pierre, they've been so much fun to research.
quite possibly my favorite Kate Bush song/video
It’s up there with Cloudbusting for me
yes, that’s my second fav
I know the song but somehow have never seen the video, which is excellent and has, for me, a 'slightly more horrific than you could get away with in Dr. Who" kind of vibe. And what a cast!
The end of the film, with its restricted areas, devastated ground and high fences is so 80s, when we were all convinced we could die at any moment due to The Bomb. We were also sure that there were nefarious things going on (secret experiments!) that we didn't know about. Some things just come around again, though the conspiracy theories weren't as rampant as they are these days.
I think that's spot on, Fi - I almost talked more about nuclear dystopias in this article, but there's another Bush song which is in some ways an even darker variation on that theme so I've saved it for another instalment...
Sound as a weapon features in 'The Calculus Affair ' L'Affaire Tournesol - my favourite of the Tintin books.
Great example!
"Turning sound into a weapon" reminds me of the Khamar Daban hiking tragedy. If you're interested in looking it up, check out the Lore Lodge episode on Youtube. There is a possibility that certain noises exist which are capable of tearing apart the human body on a cellular level. Spooky stuff!
Ooh fascinating, I'd not heard of that. It's such a scary thought...
I wonder if Kate Bush had read Graves's short story "The Shout"? (Not that she needed to get the idea from anywhere; her treatment of it is fully original.). Dunsany used a related concept in a darkly comedic way in "The Three Infernal Jokes", so it might be worth taking a look at how the trope has surfaced in myth, fiction and song.
Good points! There’s a particularly nasty horror film that includes a disturbing sequence of sound-torture and I was originally going to talk about that parallel - but it’s a bit much for my readership as I don’t usually cover the ‘extreme’ end of the horror spectrum so I’ve left it a bit open-ended this week for people to draw their own comparisons. I think ultimately it’s quite folkloric in Bush’s depiction, going all the way back to the siren/banshee.
"A song where someone undergoes a horrible transformation and starts braying like a donkey," but not A Midsummer Night's Dream! I can't wait.
I didn't even think of that but that's a cool connection, It'd be fun to see a Midsummer where the fairy magic was played as genuinely horrific. You could have Bottom's head transforming in an American Werewolf way...
Ha, I was right! This one is an anomaly isn't it? Strange that it was never on an album except for her greatest hits compilation. But it's a terrific mini-film, especially with all those surprise cameos. They look like they had a brilliant time.
You were indeed, Roz! Absolutely, it must have been loads of fun.