On my first listen to this album, on the day of its release back in '78, I was blown away by the range, not just by Kate's voice, but of her writing. For a teenage girl, back then, to write about such things as suicide, incest etc was breathtaking. I've loved the album ever since
I love the whole album but the title track is the one that always blows my mind. To write about such a taboo subject as incest and infuse it with that level of nuance and maturity is staggering to me. I know it was inspired by an Irish folk song "The Ballad of Lucy Wan" which is arguably just as dark.
I think you may like watching her perform the live version of "James and the Cold gun" look for Kate Bush - James and the Cold Gun | REMASTERED (Live at Hammersmith Odeon 1979) it is taken from her only tour (she did a brilliant residency later) - she is an absolutely mesmerizing live performer with hips that put Elvis Presley to shame, and in this song she does a few minutes of a stylized western shoot out - it's really fabulous. The tour was considered spectacular and from the music press (courtesy of Kate Bush Encyclopedia) Melody Maker called the Birmingham show “the most magnificent spectacle ever encountered in the world of rock. (…) I hadn’t expected to be impressed by her as a singer, both she and the band were nothing short of immaculate”. According to Sounds, the show was “so finely realised that it’s beyond criticism”. Not too many performers have ever got such good reviews and these shows pushed live music forward.
The fact that Kate wrote these songs at a very young age and it came out in my early childhood, this album to me is legendary. I feel myself blessed that I could follow her career a bit through the years , this mysterious and natural beauty of a woman and such a talented musician and songwriter as well. She's already a legend in British Pop History and very loved too in the Netherlands( they even got a Kate Bush Fan Club!) Of course I got this on LP and CD , what'd you expect! 😉👍Loved your reaction btw
Great reaction -- all of Kate's albums are so complex and fascincating. And you're right, Kate's voice really progressed as she progressed. Looking forward to your reactions to Never Forever and Aerial!
If you wanna hear James and the Cold Gun with an extended outro you must check out her live performance of the song from 1979! It's glorious! The live version was also released as part of an EP called "On Stage" and is my preferred version to listen to
"The Kick Inside" takes inspiration from the traditional folk song "The ballad of Lucy Wan" (although there are various versions where the spelling is different). It's one of a similar set of folk songs that are known a child or murder ballads. Now Kate would be familiar with the traditional song since her brothers were active in the local folk music scene. In the traditional folk song poor lucy doesn't do much apart from weeping and whaling before her brother cuts her in two with his sword and it's her brother who when his murder of Lucy comes to the notice of his mother, leaves never to return (e.g. the sun and the moon can never meet on a hill), I assume to commit suicide. Now Kate instead gave Lucy agency in that she left instead. Now Kate has faced some criticism because the brother in this particular case gets away scott free. As for me it's a very sad song about a topic that very few artists would ever cover and to have it as the title of her debut album is just amazing and illustrates Kate strength of character even at the start of her career. As a debut album the quality of the music contained within is brilliant and it sold a million copies in the UK.
On my first listen to this album (on the day of its release back in 1978) I was blown away by the range, not just of Kate's voice but of her writing. For a teenage girl, back then, to write about such things as suicide, incest etc was breathtaking. I've loved the album ever since
Search "Kate Bush SNL". That's the first time I saw/heard her (a friend's cousin told me about her and described her, because she was the latest thing in the UK), and from that moment on, I was a lifelong fangirl. That episode of SNL was a classic; Eric Idle hosted, they did the famous Julia Child sketch, etc.
I discovered Kate's music "only" about 20 years ago... and it was amazing to me how much of her American fanbase, back then, could be traced back to that single SNL appearance.
Been a few years since I listened to this album in its entirety, so thank you for the refresher! I generally prefer her post 82 work but his album is a stone cold classic. And can I just say, the cadence of your speaking voice is wonderful to listen to 😀
The Kick Inside is based on an old Irish tale of a brother and sister. Kate bases a lot of songs on books she's read and movies she's seen. She also has a quirky, morbid sense of humor, which you should keep in mind for all of her future albums. She also really l9ves horror stories, which you'll get in the next few albums.
Hi and thanks for such a well observed reaction video. I first listened to this album when it was released and immediately fell in love with it. To this day I still place it in my own personal top 4 Kate Bush albums and actually prefer it to 'The Dreaming.' There are songs on this album like 'Moving' 'The Saxophone Song' 'James and the Cold Gun' and 'Feel It' that I have always loved. But speaking personally I think that this album includes three of her greatest all time songs. Of course 'Wuthering Heights' is one of those timeless songs. And of course so too is 'The Man With The Child In His eyes.' But I personally think that that final track the title track is just an unbelievably beautiful, terrible, extraordinary piece of song writing. Yes, 'The Kick Inside' is a song about incest, pregnancy and suicide and yes it is written in the form of a suicide note. But it is much much more than that. it was inspired by the old folk song 'The Ballad of Lucy Wan' one of what has become known as child songs, or murder songs. In the original song the main character is Lucy's brother and Lucy is really only a bit part minor character. In the original she confronts her brother and tells him about her pregnancy with his child. he responds by killing her, decapitating her and the dismembering the body. He is subsequently challenged by his parents who see her blood on his hands and eventually he confesses and runs away, leaving the country and in effect he gets away with it. What Kate does is to make Lucy the main character and she chooses this terrible dark path in order to spare her brother and family from the shame of the situation. Instead of the young woman being the victim, Kate gives the young woman a voice and makes her the main protagonist. Instead of just being another woman abused and tossed aside by a man, Kate makes Lucy the centre of the entire song and puts beautiful, tender words into her mouth. 'The Kick Inside' is a terrible song and a terrible story: dark, bleak, harrowing, unspeakable - and yet somehow in the hands of Kate Bush she is able to create this beautiful, achingly beautiful song. I have loved it since the first time I ever heard it and it sits among my absolute favourite Kate Bush songs. As an aside, I do think you would enjoy the live version of 'James and the Cold Gun' form her 'Tour of Life Tour.' Thanks again.
Thank you for this insight. I can't help but notice most of the comments come from, let's say, more mature people. It's wonderful that 'Stranger Things ' propelled Kate into a whole new generation of folk who can appreciate one of the greatest artists of all time. I consider myself to be, one of the relatively few people, blessed to see her perform at the Sunderland Empire April 12 1979, and yes, James and the Cold Gun was spectacular!
my top 3: The Kick Inside Wuthering Heights Moving This is in my top 10 fav debut albums of all time! Always floors me how sophisticated and mature the songwriting is on this record considering most of these songs were written before Kate was 18. So glad to see you get into this record and hear how talented Kate Bush already was from the start
This album, along with her 2nd, got me through my dark years, I had them on either side of a C90 cassette and off I would go eating through batteries on my 'portable' player as far away from people as I could get. Kate was always with me. On the surface they're simpler songs than her later work, but my goodness her simple starts where a lot of other artists' complex ends. I think that's why that whole album still sounds as good tonight as it did 45 years ago. I hope you get at least that much enjoyment out of it too. Difficult to pick a fave track, it's the same as Queen's Night at the Opera, 'the album with BoRap on', it's difficult to see the rest, or was at the time at least when the song was omnipresent on the radio. I loved Wuthering Heights, but TMWTCIHE affected me most I think... we got the silver catsuit in the mist video for that, whereas we only ever saw the red dress on the moors video for her first, I think I was most affected by the silver catsuit...
The title track is the best song for me. Desperately sad but so beautiful. I'm with you, The Dreaming is her best album by a country mile. To this day, I find new pleasures within those complex and magnificent compositions. The critics, however, will tell you Hounds of Love is her masterpiece. It's brilliant, of course, but it's not The Dreaming!
The title track is my favorite on this album as well - supremely haunting & sophisticated. The Dreaming is also my favorite Kate Bush album! When I was getting into Kate's music years ago I believed that Hounds of Love was her best due to what the critics said but The Dreaming won me over quickly with its weird experimentation, and uniqueness.
UNCUT Reaction: www.patreon.com/posts/kate-bush-kick-93349648?Link&
On my first listen to this album, on the day of its release back in '78, I was blown away by the range, not just by Kate's voice, but of her writing. For a teenage girl, back then, to write about such things as suicide, incest etc was breathtaking. I've loved the album ever since
Agreed, nothing sounded like this when it came out, I was into Punk at the time but I absolutely loved this album immediately when it came out.
I love the whole album but the title track is the one that always blows my mind. To write about such a taboo subject as incest and infuse it with that level of nuance and maturity is staggering to me. I know it was inspired by an Irish folk song "The Ballad of Lucy Wan" which is arguably just as dark.
I think you may like watching her perform the live version of "James and the Cold gun" look for
Kate Bush - James and the Cold Gun | REMASTERED (Live at Hammersmith Odeon 1979)
it is taken from her only tour (she did a brilliant residency later) - she is an absolutely mesmerizing live performer with hips that put Elvis Presley to shame, and in this song she does a few minutes of a stylized western shoot out - it's really fabulous.
The tour was considered spectacular and from the music press (courtesy of Kate Bush Encyclopedia)
Melody Maker called the Birmingham show “the most magnificent spectacle ever encountered in the world of rock. (…) I hadn’t expected to be impressed by her as a singer, both she and the band were nothing short of immaculate”. According to Sounds, the show was “so finely realised that it’s beyond criticism”.
Not too many performers have ever got such good reviews and these shows pushed live music forward.
The live version is amazing !
yessssssssssss!!
The fact that Kate wrote these songs at a very young age and it came out in my early childhood, this album to me is legendary. I feel myself blessed that I could follow her career a bit through the years , this mysterious and natural beauty of a woman and such a talented musician and songwriter as well. She's already a legend in British Pop History and very loved too in the Netherlands( they even got a Kate Bush Fan Club!) Of course I got this on LP and CD , what'd you expect! 😉👍Loved your reaction btw
Thank you for watching! 😊
'Moving' is my FAVE! what an introduction to her first album!
Great reaction -- all of Kate's albums are so complex and fascincating. And you're right, Kate's voice really progressed as she progressed. Looking forward to your reactions to Never Forever and Aerial!
If you wanna hear James and the Cold Gun with an extended outro you must check out her live performance of the song from 1979! It's glorious! The live version was also released as part of an EP called "On Stage" and is my preferred version to listen to
"The Kick Inside" takes inspiration from the traditional folk song "The ballad of Lucy Wan" (although there are various versions where the spelling is different). It's one of a similar set of folk songs that are known a child or murder ballads.
Now Kate would be familiar with the traditional song since her brothers were active in the local folk music scene.
In the traditional folk song poor lucy doesn't do much apart from weeping and whaling before her brother cuts her in two with his sword and it's her brother who when his murder of Lucy comes to the notice of his mother, leaves never to return (e.g. the sun and the moon can never meet on a hill), I assume to commit suicide.
Now Kate instead gave Lucy agency in that she left instead. Now Kate has faced some criticism because the brother in this particular case gets away scott free.
As for me it's a very sad song about a topic that very few artists would ever cover and to have it as the title of her debut album is just amazing and illustrates Kate strength of character even at the start of her career.
As a debut album the quality of the music contained within is brilliant and it sold a million copies in the UK.
On my first listen to this album (on the day of its release back in 1978) I was blown away by the range, not just of Kate's voice but of her writing. For a teenage girl, back then, to write about such things as suicide, incest etc was breathtaking. I've loved the album ever since
Search "Kate Bush SNL". That's the first time I saw/heard her (a friend's cousin told me about her and described her, because she was the latest thing in the UK), and from that moment on, I was a lifelong fangirl. That episode of SNL was a classic; Eric Idle hosted, they did the famous Julia Child sketch, etc.
I discovered Kate's music "only" about 20 years ago... and it was amazing to me how much of her American fanbase, back then, could be traced back to that single SNL appearance.
Been a few years since I listened to this album in its entirety, so thank you for the refresher! I generally prefer her post 82 work but his album is a stone cold classic. And can I just say, the cadence of your speaking voice is wonderful to listen to 😀
Thank you so much!! 😊
L'Amour Looks Something Like You is my favorite Kate song.
This album is iconic. It always takes me to a fantasy land ❤
The Kick Inside is based on an old Irish tale of a brother and sister. Kate bases a lot of songs on books she's read and movies she's seen. She also has a quirky, morbid sense of humor, which you should keep in mind for all of her future albums. She also really l9ves horror stories, which you'll get in the next few albums.
Very true. One of my favourites is her love song to England 'Oh England! My Lionheart - There was never a more talented or beautiful patriot!
You HAVE to react to 90's Kate song LOVE AND ANGER you will FLIP! The most underrated BANGER NO ONE Knows about! :-D
The video for Them Heavy People is great fun...definitely worth checking out.
Agreed. It’s delightful.
A totally magical wonderful album. You really should watch/listien to her doing James and the Cold Gun live at Hammersmith Odeon it’s so amazing
Brilliant Albumn, bought it when it first came out. Very moving Albumn.
Lindo album. A partir deste ela inovou e mostrou coisas indiziveis. Perfeitos e inovadoras canções. Que nos faz viajar pelo universo musical.
Hi and thanks for such a well observed reaction video. I first listened to this album when it was released and immediately fell in love with it. To this day I still place it in my own personal top 4 Kate Bush albums and actually prefer it to 'The Dreaming.' There are songs on this album like 'Moving' 'The Saxophone Song' 'James and the Cold Gun' and 'Feel It' that I have always loved. But speaking personally I think that this album includes three of her greatest all time songs. Of course 'Wuthering Heights' is one of those timeless songs. And of course so too is 'The Man With The Child In His eyes.' But I personally think that that final track the title track is just an unbelievably beautiful, terrible, extraordinary piece of song writing.
Yes, 'The Kick Inside' is a song about incest, pregnancy and suicide and yes it is written in the form of a suicide note. But it is much much more than that. it was inspired by the old folk song 'The Ballad of Lucy Wan' one of what has become known as child songs, or murder songs. In the original song the main character is Lucy's brother and Lucy is really only a bit part minor character. In the original she confronts her brother and tells him about her pregnancy with his child. he responds by killing her, decapitating her and the dismembering the body. He is subsequently challenged by his parents who see her blood on his hands and eventually he confesses and runs away, leaving the country and in effect he gets away with it.
What Kate does is to make Lucy the main character and she chooses this terrible dark path in order to spare her brother and family from the shame of the situation. Instead of the young woman being the victim, Kate gives the young woman a voice and makes her the main protagonist. Instead of just being another woman abused and tossed aside by a man, Kate makes Lucy the centre of the entire song and puts beautiful, tender words into her mouth.
'The Kick Inside' is a terrible song and a terrible story: dark, bleak, harrowing, unspeakable - and yet somehow in the hands of Kate Bush she is able to create this beautiful, achingly beautiful song. I have loved it since the first time I ever heard it and it sits among my absolute favourite Kate Bush songs.
As an aside, I do think you would enjoy the live version of 'James and the Cold Gun' form her 'Tour of Life Tour.'
Thanks again.
Thank you for this insight. I can't help but notice most of the comments come from, let's say, more mature people. It's wonderful that 'Stranger Things ' propelled Kate into a whole new generation of folk who can appreciate one of the greatest artists of all time. I consider myself to be, one of the relatively few people, blessed to see her perform at the Sunderland Empire April 12 1979, and yes, James and the Cold Gun was spectacular!
Couldn't put it better myself. Love everything about this albumn. Thanks for the excellent comment.
my top 3:
The Kick Inside
Wuthering Heights
Moving
This is in my top 10 fav debut albums of all time! Always floors me how sophisticated and mature the songwriting is on this record considering most of these songs were written before Kate was 18. So glad to see you get into this record and hear how talented Kate Bush already was from the start
The first two albums I bought as a teenager in 1978 were The Kick Inside, and Blondie's Plastic Letters.
Interesting Artist. She found her own voice and build an unique genre.
This album, along with her 2nd, got me through my dark years, I had them on either side of a C90 cassette and off I would go eating through batteries on my 'portable' player as far away from people as I could get. Kate was always with me. On the surface they're simpler songs than her later work, but my goodness her simple starts where a lot of other artists' complex ends. I think that's why that whole album still sounds as good tonight as it did 45 years ago. I hope you get at least that much enjoyment out of it too.
Difficult to pick a fave track, it's the same as Queen's Night at the Opera, 'the album with BoRap on', it's difficult to see the rest, or was at the time at least when the song was omnipresent on the radio. I loved Wuthering Heights, but TMWTCIHE affected me most I think... we got the silver catsuit in the mist video for that, whereas we only ever saw the red dress on the moors video for her first, I think I was most affected by the silver catsuit...
I'm waiting for the compilation videos of Siouxie & the Banshees. Great music and perfect hair/make-up.
Kate Bush is incredible, my fave album is The Dreaming but can’t really fault most of her music! She’s a UK/music legend.
She's an English music legend, she's not Scottish or Welsh so let's specify - everyone else does. 🏴
Strange Phenomena should grow on you if you listen more to the album.
The title track is the best song for me. Desperately sad but so beautiful. I'm with you, The Dreaming is her best album by a country mile. To this day, I find new pleasures within those complex and magnificent compositions. The critics, however, will tell you Hounds of Love is her masterpiece. It's brilliant, of course, but it's not The Dreaming!
The title track is my favorite on this album as well - supremely haunting & sophisticated.
The Dreaming is also my favorite Kate Bush album! When I was getting into Kate's music years ago I believed that Hounds of Love was her best due to what the critics said but The Dreaming won me over quickly with its weird experimentation, and uniqueness.
When The Dreaming first came out, I wasn't sure if I liked it or not! Now, I love it, and it's second only to Aerial IMHO.
Sweets! The range! I am just sayin'!
Please review 'Never For Ever' my favourite
Can't listen to Kate like this,out with album I think, not a criticism its just not for me,
Strange Phenomena should grow on you if you listen more to the album.