nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (Doug Alan) (07/30/85)
["And I'm afraid by the way we grow old"] In celibration of Kate Bush's birthday, which is today (she was born on July 30, 1958 -- July 30 is also the birthday of Emile Bronte), I am posting my interpretation of another song from "The Dreaming". This time I shall look at "Suspended in Gaffa". "Suspended in Gaffa" is about the pursuit of perfection, and about how this pursuit is so frustating that it can make one very impatient. In this way, it is very similar to "Sat In Your Lap" which is about the pursuit of knowledge, and how that can sometimes seem very frustrating and futile. I caught a glimpse of a God all shiny and bright .... Kate tells us. Perfection is sighted, but how to achieve it? Suddenly my feet are feet of mud It all goes slow-mo I don't know why I am crying Am I suspended in Gaffa? Not until I'm ready for you Not until I'm ready for you Can I have it all I try to get nearer But as it gets clearer There something appears in the way It's a plank in me eye With a camel who's trying to get through it Am I doing it? Can I have it all now? .... But sometimes it's hard To know if I'm doing it right Can I have it all now? We can't have it all It's so much work trying to achieve perfection, and all that work is necessary if one is ever to achieve perfection, but still perfection doesn't seem to get any closer. It all goes slow-mo, and it's very difficult to move when bound up in gaffer's tape. And how does one know if they are even trying to go in the right direction? Where are the angels? I'm scared of the changes. In order to get closer to perfection, Kate has to mature as an artist, which is why she is making "The Dreaming" the way she is, but it is scary maturing artistically -- just like it is to mature physically from a girl to a woman. We all have a dream, maybe. "The Dreaming" is Kate's attempt at achieving her dreams. It don't know whether she achieved hers, but she certainly achieved mine. "Suspended in Gaffa" is strange in that it talks about some sort of crime -- as if someone is trying to take a short-cut to achieve their goals. In "There Goes A Tenner", the metaphor for Kate's recording career is hidden very well and nearly obscured by a story of bank robbery. In "Suspended in Gaffa", the two images are sort of jumbled together or superimposed surrealistically, with neither seeming to be the surface meaning or the hidden meaning. Out in the garden, there's half of a heaven The money from the bank robbery is hidden in the garden? But also Kate's 8-track recording studio is in her back yard (this was pointed out to me by someone else). But the 8-track studio is only good enough for demos. She needs a 48-track studio to make final recordings. It's only half of a heaven. And we're only bluffing We're not ones for busting through walls Kate Bush once said in an interview, that when she heard Pink Floyd's "The Wall", she nearly stopped writing music, because she felt it said everything there is to say. (I find this interesting, because though I feel it is not by far Pink Floyd's best album, it is the first Pink Floyd album I ever heard, and it effected me as strongly -- it introduced me to the fact that music could and should be more than just entertainment -- that it is an art form.) Is "The Dreaming" Kate Bush's "The Wall". If "The Wall" is Roger Waters's description of what drove him crazy, is "The Dreaming" Kate Bush's description of what drives her crazy? It seems like a lot of it is! But they've told us unless we can prove That we're doing it We can't have it all Unless Kate can convince the record company that her "The Wall" will be as successful as Pink Floyd's, they won't let her use the fancy fully digital studio? Well it didn't turn out as successful commercially (though it's certainly more successful artistically) as Pink's did it? I'm much more like That girl in the mirror Between you and me She don't stand a chance of Getting anywhere at all No, not a thing She can't have it all Does her ego sometimes get in the way of working towards perfection? Well, despite what Kate Bush will tell us, I think she did it! She reached perfection even if she doesn't believe it. Only time will tell if she can sustain it. "I want it all" Doug Alan nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (or ARPA)