2. Kate Bush The Man With The Child In His Eyes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAj8suae3WY Given the fact that she has just sold 85,000 tickets in the space of 15 minutes a few weeks ago, theres no debate about the impact Kate Bush has made and continues to make on the musical landscape. What there does need to be however is recognition of the impact of the songs she emerged with in the 70s, both for other artists and the music business as a whole. Whilst Wuthering Heights was her breakthrough, it was her second single The man with the child in his eyes that showed what an amazing storyteller she was. Not using Emily Bronte as her source material this time, it tells the ambiguous story of a relationship and its never clear who the man actually is, he could be an imaginary friend, a lover or a father figure. Kate Bush said at the time it was about her fascination with older men who had a sense of innocence, but essentially the identity of the man doesn't matter, because this is a beautiful story of connection told by an ingénue, who is realising what is important in matters of the heart. And dont forget it was written when she was just 13 years old, the song shows a maturity of someone ten times older than that. Dealing with the very mundane details of just being with someone, waking up and falling asleep with them and the reassurance that provides I hear him before I go to sleep and focus on the day thats been, I realise hes there when I turn the light off and turnover Its a song that launched a thousand careers and was a singularly 70s piece. She used strings in the way that The Beatles did, but took them into an unheard of space; this type of tale had never been told before. Kate Bush was equal to David Bowie in the power of her songwriting, and rebelling from the 60s, wrote about the individual, rather than communal experience. Listen to the insularity of this line and marvel Nobody knows about my man, they think hes lost on some horizon
Ed Nash
Contributor
What makes music fantastic? Star quality, amazing music, breathtaking lyrics and the ability to bring something new to the table, even if that means a new take on the classics. That's what I love to listen to and write about.
As well as writing for What Culture, I occasionally write a blog http://tedney.blogspot.co.uk and sometimes use Twitter, but sparingly @TedneyNash
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Ed