The Album: The Sensual World Kate Bush
The Story: Nathan made a copy of Sensual World for me. The cassette tape was bright green and each side had the tracks listed in his beautiful handwriting. I was resistant for a while. Kate Bush had been an artist liked by one of the mother's husbands. I wasn't sure I was willing to accept anything associated with him into my life. Nathan kept asking if I'd listened to it and there were only so many ways I could pretend I had. I'm pretty good at BS, but I was starting to suspect he was starting to suspect I had no idea what I was talking about. So one day I slipped it into my Walkman and let it start playing. At least that would let me put concepts to song titles.
For some reason, even though I now love the first two songs, I let them slide over me without any kind of response.
Then there was laughter. Then these pipes started. Then the synchronicity hit me.
Just like a photograph, I pick you up.
Just like a station on the radio, I pick you up.
This album is a masterpiece. Most of Kate's stuff is. She now claims she feels a lot of it was overwrought. Which, okay, our style changes, but honestly, sometimes, certain things call for that.
Our teen years are often a time of madness and passions. Everything is intense and we crave things that feed that intensity. This album did that for me. A lot of the songs are about loving things deeply and losing them. Or loving people you shouldn't. Or just the pain.
The title track perfectly expressed the deepening awareness one feels about the world as they come into their own sensual power. "Rocket's Tail" is a song about living in the moment, even if that takes you to some crazy places. When I finally did have my heart broken, I listened to "Never Be Mine" like a billion times.
Oh. This is also the first CD I bought. Ahh, remember that? The amazing quality difference between cassette and CD? Truly a moment of completely loving the technology.
Thank you to: Nathan, his collection of generic green cassettes, and the journey.
The Lesson Learned: When I was 40, I had a surgery that put me in more pain than I had ever been in my life. My sister-in-law drove me home from Tulsa and by the time I was pulling myself into the house, I was in so much pain, I felt insane. It honestly didn't seem something so painful could be real. I'm glad it happened because ever since that, other pain has been kind of minor.
The Sensual World is kind of that way too. The way she sings about heartache catches that same moment, the seconds when you know you're losing this thing you wanted so badly. It's devastating, but knowing you have hurt so much lets you breath easier about the rest of the emotional pain life will bring you. There is comfort in knowing the level of heartbreak you can survive.
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