Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love: The Mythology
Article ★ Hadley Balser ★ @hadleybalseronpitch ★ 6 Minutes
After my first experience with the legendary Kate Bush on Hounds of Love, I broke down the stories behind the songs, the personal meaning they evoke in me, and how this album defies explanation as a sonic experience crafted by a master.
Hounds of Love album art photographed by John Carder Bush, 1985Side A
Side A of Hounds of Love consists of five standalone tracks, each with their own story or perspective to bring to the table. Songs like ‘Cloudbursting” have become instant classics in my own music collection.
Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)
Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) is one of the best album openers I’ve ever heard. It’s so good that, if Hounds of Love were a lesser album, it might have been a mistake for Bush to start off so strong. Due to Hounds of Love’s pure creative brilliance, however, it simply serves as a euphoric look at what’s to come. Despite its fame (and the tendency to reject popular things), I consider this song to be one of the strongest on an album with zero misses.
Hounds of Love
The title track has served as the inspiration for many artists like Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine, an influence that is impossible to miss once you’ve established familiarity with both artists. Hounds of Love is such a strong continuation of what “Running” starts, leading perfectly into The Big Sky.
The Big Sky
The first time I heard this song, I was driving under the big blue Orlando sky, with both windows down on the highway. The experience saturated the song. The Big Sky allows the listener to feel as if they are close to touching the clouds, no matter where they happen to be. For The Big Sky to follow the last two tracks and still hold its own is no small feat.
Mother Stands for Comfort
Mother Stands for Comfort feels both story like and deeply personal. Some of the most haunting lyrics of the album are present in this song, with “Am I the cat that takes the bird / To her, the hunter, not the hunted.”
These lyrics hint at the narrator’s sinister nature and stand to prove that the strength of a mother’s love overcomes even the evil a child commits. It could also be argued, in turn, that the mother’s love overcomes common sense or morality, and the narrator is taking advantage of this with a strange sense of reflective guilt.
Cloudbursting
A personal favorite of mine off the album, every new instrument adds a collection of glorious layers on Cloudbursting. Dominated by strings over an enchanting melody, the song is a true standout and a real gem from Hounds. Like much of Bush’s work, the track could be taken many ways.
The official story behind the song is inspired by the memoir A Book of Dreams, detailing the lives of incarcerated inventor Wilhelm Reich and his son, Peter. It is Peter himself who authored the memoir, and Bush references their home in the opening lines “I still dream of Organon / I wake up crying,” as well as the name of Wilhelm’s machine, Cloudbursting, as the song’s title.
However, I feel personal interpretations of music are equally important, as the audience perceives the song from a different perspective than the artist themself. My interpretation of Cloudbursting focuses on the song’s relentless optimism and lightness. I view the track as an anthem for what lies on the other side of hardship, and the loss of the old giving way to the new.
As Bush says: “I just know that something good is going to happen // I don’t know when / But just saying it could even make it happen.”
Side B: The Ninth Wave
Side B of Hounds of Love is actually a concept album, all following one narrator as they survive a shipwreck. Although this overarching plotline is not immediately clear upon first listen, the songs And Dream of Sheep, Under Ice, Waking the Witch, Watching You Without Me, Jig of Life, Hello Earth, and The Morning Fog are a series connecting together as the narrator struggles to survive their physical and mental obstacles.
And Dream of Sheep
The softness of And Dream of Sheep fills the space left by Cloudbursting. With the exception of the masterful crescendoed darkness at the 1:08 minute mark, the song feels like a lullaby.
Within the larger context of The Ninth Wave, the song can be interpreted as right after the wreck, and yet the calm before a storm. Bush describes the narrator’s lack of awareness of what is to come and the intensity they will face. The “light” Bush describes could be thought of as a help signal of some kind, something that the addition of background voices discussing shipping information upholds. This song doesn’t give the listener any indication of what the following track will bring to the narrator.
Under Ice
Under Ice is one is one that grows on me with every listen. The storytelling matches the haunting strings and chorus of Bush’s voice. One thing Hounds does a lot of is include outside voices and sounds within the songs themselves, like the breaking plates in Mother Stands for Comfort. She uses sound and narratation to build suspense and tension within a song in a way that feels completely unique to her and showcases the complexity and thoughtfulness of her work. When the narrator of Under Ice finally reveals that it is they who are trapped under the ice, the listener feels a chill, like we are stuck there with them. This is an essential part of the Ninth Wave concept, and gives a sense of impending danger and mental instability.
Waking the Witch
I will never have enough words to describe the brilliance of this song. Overlapping voices, whispers, snippets of chorus, and light piano all suddenly give way to a driving downbeat and a satanic voice luring the narrator to confess their sins. It is both terrifying and alluring, and encompasses the song’s title well. This may be the best and most well-crafted song on the album, despite the fierce competition from tracks like Jig of Life and Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God).
Following Under Ice, it's clear that this song takes place in the narrator’s shaky psyche as they endure this unimaginable trial. The beginning of the song even features the chorus of a “little light” from the beginning of the concept, And Dream of Sheep. Waking the Witch exudes madness and desperation, and the listener has no choice, at this point in the album, but to see how it ends.
Bush’s vocals are not spoken about enough, but the comparative quality of the male voice, guttural and raspy, with her longing lilt, adds yet another layer to the song. It is, simply put, a masterpiece in the likes of David Bowie’s Blackstar.
Watching You Without Me
This track is slightly separated in sound from the rest of the album, but it very clearly serves as a continuation of the previous songs in the Ninth Wave. When listening, it seems the narrator is watching someone from behind the veil and is unable to reach them. Bush’s character seems to watch their lover live out of their reach, and the longing and grief shines through in every word, and in Bush’s gentle, mournful vocals.
Jig of Life
Even without knowledge of the Ninth Wave, Jig of Life feels like a gothic celebration of life and dance. This song is another favorite of mine from the album from a pure instrumental perspective, and the use of Irish musicality is yet another thing that makes Kate Bush stand out from the crowd on this album. It is the narrator’s reclamation of the pursuit of life, and adds even more interesting tempo and dynamic changes to one of the most creative, experimental albums of all time.
There’s only one artist this song calls to mind for me, and it is the brilliant but underrated The Amazing Devil, comprised of the heavenly Joey Batey and Madeleine Hyland. Bush’s influence on the darkly creative folk of today is undeniable.
Hello Earth
The drumbeat on this track is perfect, with classic, soft 80s downbeats that accentuate Bush’s flowing vocals. Hello Earth feels like the narrator’s looking up at the night sky from the water, and contemplating the mortal plane they still exist within. It is a necesscary step down from the climax of the concept, and transitions easily into the finale, The Morning Fog.
The Morning Fog
In The Morning Fog, the narrator has made it through the night and lives to find a new joy and relief in the simplicity of life around them. The trial is over, and with it Bush sings of a new appreciation of the ones we love, and the peace of endings.
Kate Bush photographed by John Carder Bush, 1985Since my very first listen, Hounds of Love has been on repeat. It is a sonic and storytelling experience like no other, and its albums like these that drive home the importance of audience interaction with music, and of music that reaches new creative depths. It’s artists like Kate Bush that propel music forward.
