Yearly Archives: 2007

4. The Kick Inside

Music, Song Blog, ,

Flash forward to January 1979*. I’m student teaching and attending university in England and it seems like everyone in the college dorm is playing a record by a new female singer. At first I’m not so sure I like the music, but when I listen to the lyrics I find that I do. The musician tells a story with each of her songs, and her voice can do things I’d never heard. Plus, they tell me, she dances while she sings her incredible songs. I’m also told, by fellow American students, that she performed on Saturday Night Live the night after I left for England.

Of course I’m talking about Kate Bush. As soon as I return to the States I buy her album, The Kick Inside, and play it over and over again, listening to the words; hypnotized by the sounds. I force my friends and family to listen to her and we try to dissect the songs. What do they mean?

Of course we know what Wuthering Heights is about, but I was memorized by the title song, The Kick Inside. I suspected it was about sibling incest or suicide, but couldn’t imagine either, so looked for some other meaning in the lyrics.

The first verse was obviously about death. I remember looking up the word chintz and because it sounded so old fashioned, thought perhaps this was an old woman’s deathbed. She’d lived a long and happy life and was writing a note to a loved one (husband? child?) and saying she’d soon be with (a) God.

I’ve pulled down my lace and the chintz.
Oh, do you know you have the face of a genius?
I’ll send your love to Zeus.
Oh, by the time you read this,
I’ll be well in touch.

The second verse made it harder to fool myself. My first thought was that the kicking was an unborn baby, but that didn’t mesh with my old woman theory. Maybe the kicking was pains from death. Maybe she’s writing that note to her brother and not her husband or child. And the part about being under the quilt. Well, it was the olden days – they had to keep warm somehow.

I’m giving it all in a moment or two.
I’m giving it all in a moment, for you.
I’m giving it all, giving it, giving it.
This kicking here inside
Makes me leave you behind.
No more under the quilt
To keep you warm.
Your sister I was born.
You must lose me like an arrow,
Shot into the killer storm.

I’d deluded myself for years, loving this song, but not letting myself think what it could really be about. It wasn’t until I began researching for this post that I discovered that it was about sibling incest and suicide and an unborn baby. God bless the Internet.

I’ll write more about Kate Bush’s music and her influence on me in later posts. I go in and out of my obsession with her work. Currently I’m out, but once I listen to her stuff again, I’m sure to be back in.

*It’s possible I’d heard about Kate Bush earlier than January 1979 – in fact I’m almost sure of it, but my memories do not mesh with the dates. I thought I’d heard her in a 6th form break room at Benton Park Grammar School while visiting friends at that school, but the year she released The Kick Inside, I didn’t visit England until early December. Maybe I visited the school before their winter holiday break. Still a month earlier doesn’t make that much difference, I just like to get my memories straight.

3. The Boy with the Moon and Star on his Head

Music, Song Blog,

I wasn’t much into music until around my junior year of high school. Before that I mostly listened to show tunes. In tenth grade our English teacher asked us to share the name of our favorite popular musician and favorite song. As my turn to share neared, I fretted – not having a clue who to name, and not wanting to admit I didn’t listen to popular music enough to have a favorite. When the student ahead of me named her favorite musician, I decided I’d borrow my best friend, Cindy‘s, favorite musician – I even knew the name of the album and her favorite song on it, since she’d mentioned it a number of times and perhaps had even played it for me when I visited her house.

“I like Cat Stevens,” I blurted out, feeling my face turn red. “I like The Boy with the Moon and Star on his Head from Catch Bull at Four.” The teacher nodded and went on to the next student while I sat, embarrassed at my lie, knowing that the whole room of sophomores knew I’d been dishonest.

That moment stuck with me for about two decades until I eventually purchased a used copy of Catch Bull at Four at a record shop and listened to it. I could see why Cindy liked it, especially The Boy with the Moon and Star on his Head. By then had seen Harold and Maude and proclaimed it my Favorite Movie of All Time, so I was familiar with Cat Stevens’ raspy voice and consistently upbeat lyrics.

Also by then, Cat Stevens had converted to Islam and become Yusuf Islam. By then he’d reportedly said he’d support the assassination of Salman Rushdie. So my late re-introduction to this musician was tinged with controversy.

In retrospect, I’d actually heard other songs by Cat Stevens, after the English class discussion and before I saw Harold and Maude, but never bothered to find out who the singer was. I feel somehow that I missed an opportunity to like a musician before he was hated and distrusted by much of the country.

2. The Twist & Let’s Twist Again

Music, Song Blog

The first song I remember liking enough to do something about was The Twist, sung by Chubby Checker. The song seemed to be everywhere when I was in kindergarten and first grade.

Ray Raynor showed us how to twist on the Ray Raynor Show, telling his audience to pretend they were toweling off after a bath. He demonstrated by holding a bath towel in his hands with the middle part behind the small of his back, then quickly pulling on either side of the towel as if he was drying his lower back.

When my kindergarten teacher played the song on the record player in her classroom, I was all set and knew exactly what to do, thanks to Ray Raynor. I held my fists out as if I had a towel by the corners and wiggled my butt and closed my eyes, dancing away. When I opened them, the song was over and Ms Freeman was standing near me trying hard not to laugh.

When I got a little older, I still liked the song and was pleased to see that my parents had a version of it. I’d put it on our HiFi and wiggle my butt and pretend to towel off, just as Ray Raynor told me to.

Come on everybody clap your hands
Now you’re looking good
I’m gonna sing my song and you won’t take long
We gotta do the twist and it goes like this

Come on let’s twist again like we did last summer
Yea, let’s twist again like we did last year
Do you remember when things were really hummin’
Yea, let’s twist again, twistin’ time is here

Though I’m not a dancer, just thinking about that song makes my hips begin to move back and forth and occasionally when I towel off after a shower I think about Ray Raynor and Chubby Checker and I want to Twist Again, like I did last summer…

(Ok, the shower image is a little disturbing.)