Kate Bush – Moments of Pleasure

August 26, 2008

YouTube – Kate Bush – Moments of Pleasure.

Posted by Matt
Filed in Music
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23 Comments »

23 Responses to “Kate Bush – Moments of Pleasure”

  1. Type Writer Says:

    August 26, 2008 at 2:44 am

    Thanks for posting this, Matt; I’ve been a fan of Kate for twenty years now, even as she’s fallen off the radar of pop music sensibilities (in America, at any rate)… I’ve always liked this song but never saw the video before. It’s a pretty cool clip; Kate seems like a cross between a music box dancer and a snow-globe figuirine… Cheers, mate…

    TW

  2. Matt Says:

    August 26, 2008 at 10:00 am

    I think you’re right about the music box theme, although she uses that dance movement in another video of hers (in I think The Sensual World) I don’t know why, but the snow globe effect is particulary touching with the music and lyrics, for me anyway. Perhaps because the blurriness of the snow adds to feelings of reminiscence, of those selective memories coming out of the void.

    A song I can listen to time and time again, and never seems to get old.

  3. Type Writer Says:

    August 27, 2008 at 11:52 pm

    Matt,

    I think you’re right about The Sensual World; I’ve only seen a clip from that video but I do remember her twirling in the middle of a forest… Dance is almost as important as music is to Kate, so it’s not surprising that she tries to incorporate that into her videos…

    What’s impressive about this video is that it’s just as touching as the song is, which is a rare feat. My favourite part of the video is at the end when all the bandmembers she mentions in that final verse make their appearances… And yes, I do agree that the snow globe effect is very effective…

    Thanks again…

    TW

  4. Matt Says:

    August 28, 2008 at 8:14 am

    I thought I’d add the lyrics for thread completeness, although for me, I usually prefer not reading the lyrics to a song, as they tend to read not quite so personal on their own without your own wierd interpretations. By that I mean, you hear things differently, for instance I thought she was singing, “Every old sock needs an old shoe”, and surely “‘S Murph, playing his guitar refrain,” is Smurf playing his guitar refrain.

    I read recently that in this song Kate remembers friends and family who have died, including her mother, guitarist Alan Murphy, film director Michael Powell, dancer Gary Hurst, lighting engineer Bill Duffield and others.

    So, maybe it is ‘Smurf’ as an affectionate nickname and not S Murph as the lyrics show. :)

    From Wikipedia; Murphy was enlisted to play on the one and only Kate Bush tour of the Europe & UK (1978). Both a live video and EP were released with material taken form this tour. He also contributed to her albums Never for Ever, The Dreaming, Hounds of Love and the single “Rocket Man”.

    Hey there Bill,
    Could you turn the lights up?

    Seems particulary poignant knowing the background.

    -

    Moments of Pleasure

    Some moments that I’ve had
    Some moments of pleasure

    I think about us lying
    Lying on a beach somewhere
    I think about us diving
    Diving off a rock, into another moment

    The case of George the Wipe
    Oh God I can’t stop laughing
    This sense of humour of mine
    It isn’t funny at all
    Oh but we sit up all night
    Talking about it

    Just being alive
    It can really hurt
    And these moments given
    Are a gift from time

    On a balcony in New York
    It’s just started to snow
    He meets us at the lift
    Like Douglas Fairbanks
    Waving his walking stick
    But he isn’t well at all
    The buildings of New York
    Look just like mountains through the snow

    Just being alive
    It can really hurt
    And these moments given
    Are a gift from time
    Just let us try
    To give these moments back
    To those we love
    To those who will survive

    And I can hear my mother saying
    “Every old sock meets an old shoe”
    Isn’t that a great saying?
    “Every old sock meets an old shoe”
    Here come the Hills of Time

    Hey there Maureen,

    Hey there Bubba,
    Dancing down the aisle of a plane,

    ‘S Murph, playing his guitar refrain,

    Hey there Teddy,
    Spinning in the chair at Abbey Road,

    Hey there Michael,
    Do you really love me?

    Hey there Bill,
    Could you turn the lights up?

  5. Type Writer Says:

    September 3, 2008 at 7:24 pm

    you hear things differently, for instance I thought she was singing, “Every old sock needs an old shoe”, and surely “‘S Murph, playing his guitar refrain,” is Smurf playing his guitar refrain.

    Surely the composer of “Wuthering Heights” wouldn’t be making a reference to a Smurf :) But I also thought it was “Every old sock needs an old shoe”; that seems to make sense to me…

    I read recently that in this song Kate remembers friends and family who have died, including her mother, guitarist Alan Murphy, film director Michael Powell, dancer Gary Hurst, lighting engineer Bill Duffield and others.

    I knew that her mom died prior to this album (it’s dedicated to her), but I hadn’t realized that the other people mentioned in the song had also passed away. Makes it all the more poignant… I believe Bill was previously memorialized in a song on the album “Never For Ever” in the early ’80s, so I guess his memory lingers…

    But seeing the lyrics raises at least one more question: What the heck did she mean by “the case of George The Wipe” ? Is that a KB insider joke or is it something that makes sense to Brits?
    This might be a job for Gaffaweb :)

    TW

  6. Matt Says:

    September 4, 2008 at 1:08 pm

    “George the wipe” yeah, I glossed that one over, seems very cryptic.

    I haven’t a clue who “George the wipe” is, and being British, it doesn’t ring any bells with me whatsoever. The only Georges I know of are, St George of dragon lancing fame, and George III as portrayed in “The madness of King George” I suppose it would be a fair guess that as you say, it’s mentioning someone passed away that KB had an injoke about.

    Only Kate can tell us what it means. – Gaffweb

    I still hold out that she’s singing “Smurf” (listened to it many times now) as an english nickname for Murphy. That would make sense to me, S Murph can’t be right as his name was A Murphy, unless someone has the lyrics on the actual album to prove me utterly wrong!

    Such a beautiful song, regardless of my dreadful lyrical interpretation :)

  7. Type Writer Says:

    September 4, 2008 at 5:24 pm

    I still hold out that she’s singing “Smurf” (listened to it many times now) as an english nickname for Murphy. That would make sense to me, S Murph can’t be right as his name was A Murphy, unless someone has the lyrics on the actual album to prove me utterly wrong!

    Actually, Matt, the lyrics you post prove you wrong, as they show an apostrophe before the ‘S’. So I read that the way I heard it, as a contraction for “It’s” .

    But there was a lyric I misheard on “Wuthering Heights”. In the second verse, I thought Kate was singing, “My one dream, my only monster” but apparently the word was “master” instead of “monster”. Given how cruelly Cathy and Heathcliff treated each other, I would have that monster would have been more appropriate, especially juxtaposed against “dream” and given Kate’s dramatic delivery of the line… Perhaps I should get her re-record that vocal once again :)

    ‘S Type Writer, writing his rubbish — again :)

  8. Matt Says:

    September 4, 2008 at 6:00 pm

    Actually, Matt, the lyrics you post prove you wrong, as they show an apostrophe before the ‘S’. So I read that the way I heard it, as a contraction for “It’s” .

    Puts down his pen a moment, aghast that the very clues were right before his eyes.

    “You know, Watson, you’re right! ‘S a flash of decyphering genius”

    But there was a lyric I misheard on “Wuthering Heights”. In the second verse, I thought Kate was singing, “My one dream, my only monster”

    I have to admit, I thought it was “monster” also, come to think about it. (I think I’d probably have to put “Wuthering heights” somewhere in my #10 greatest all time songs, which retrospectively is a turn around as I pretty much hated it when it first came out, hearing it just as screechy vocals. A few listens from the first KB compilation album, 1986, “The Whole Story”, where I think she re-recorded it with new vocals, changed my mind forever)

    ‘S Type Writer, writing his rubbish — again

    You sure it’s not Stype Writer :)

    I think we’ve probably studied this song to the nth point, it was fun though. Kate would be proud. Will have to do it again sometime on another song. Thanks, TW.

    Ps.

    On a balcony in New York
    It’s just started to snow
    He meets us at the lift
    Like Douglas Fairbanks
    Waving his walking stick
    But he isn’t well at all

    I wonder if she’s still talking about George the wipe at this point. If so, that’s quite a fair chunk of the song about him. Do you ever get the feeling that the more you look into a KB song, the more there is to find? :)

  9. Type Writer Says:

    September 5, 2008 at 8:49 pm

    “You know, Watson, you’re right! ‘S a flash of decyphering genius”

    ‘S no big deal :)

    (I think I’d probably have to put “Wuthering heights” somewhere in my #10 greatest all time songs, which retrospectively is a turn around as I pretty much hated it when it first came out, hearing it just as screechy vocals. A few listens from the first KB compilation album, 1986, “The Whole Story”, where I think she re-recorded it with new vocals, changed my mind forever)

    She did indeed re-record the vocal for the version included in “The Whole Story”, and I concur that it was a vast improvement. Kate’s high-pitched delivery in the original version didn’t do that song justice, which makes it all the more surprising that it was a #1 hit for her as an unknown performer…

    You sure it’s not Stype Writer

    If anything, it would be “A Type Writer” :)

    I think we’ve probably studied this song to the nth point, it was fun though. Kate would be proud. Will have to do it again sometime on another song.

    Any time. I’m a songwriter myself, and lyrics are my strong suit, so I love to talk about them…

    On a balcony in New York
    It’s just started to snow
    He meets us at the lift
    Like Douglas Fairbanks
    Waving his walking stick
    But he isn’t well at all

    Look at you starting up the Song Study again :) You quoted the most vivid passage in that song; I always picture a black-and-white clip of someone like George VI wearing a ’30s suit whenever I hear those lines…

    I wonder if she’s still talking about George the wipe at this point.

    I doubt it, even though it would fit nicely with my visualization :)

    Do you ever get the feeling that the more you look into a KB song, the more there is to find?

    There’s actually a website called “Cloudbusting — Kate Bush in her own words” which features quotes from her about various subjects, but primarily her songs. It’s an excellent help for deciphering Kate compositions, since so much of her subject matter tends to be obscure… The only bad thing about this site is that it only goes up to The Sensual World album, but otherwise, it’s gold for Kate Bush fans…

    TW
    p.s. I’m still shocked that Gaffaweb had no answer for the George The Wipe question. I thought they knew everything about Kate Bush.

  10. Matt Says:

    September 10, 2008 at 9:15 pm

    I’ll have to look up the “Cloudbusting” site, thanks for the reference, TW. :)

    p.s. I’m still shocked that Gaffaweb had no answer for the George The Wipe question. I thought they knew everything about Kate Bush.

    Yes, frankly I’m stunned that there isn’t a George The Wipe site aswell, just what is The-Kate-Bush-World coming to.

    I think I need to do some cloudbusting!

  11. Type Writer Says:

    September 17, 2008 at 6:15 am

    I’ll have to look up the “Cloudbusting” site, thanks for the reference, TW.

    If you haven’t already found that site, here it is:

    http://gaffa.org/cloud/index.html

    I guess it’s part of Gaffaweb now, as well it should be, given what a great Kate Bush reference it is…

    Yes, frankly I’m stunned that there isn’t a George The Wipe site aswell, just what is The-Kate-Bush-World coming to.

    Dave Barry would say that George The Wipe would be an excellent name for a rock band :)

    TW

  12. Matt Says:

    September 19, 2008 at 8:12 pm

    Thanks for the link, TW, it really is a good site. I especially like the chronologically listed early years, some fascinating reading there, and brings to mind of where I was then (a spotty teenager) Kate’s a bit of a wave that passed over me at the time (in 1979) and who I only really appreciated much later.

    Girls at high school used to be seen occasionally passing around a Lionheart album at times, applauding and discussing Kate’s music in their own circles in hushed tones as if it was their private, personal secret, something that boys couldn’t possibly understand. And to be honest I thought it was just arty girlie music, which I suppose it was if drawing a straight comparison to the fist of punk that was around back then.

    At the time, Wuthering Heights screeched out like some wierdo sixth former, it stood out like a Pre-Raphaelite scene, but not as a song for me back then, but as an act. It was the only song I’d heard of hers, and there were so many alternative (Kate definitely seemed alternative) acts vying for attention back then, from Tubeway Army to Siouxsee and the Banshees to The Sex Pistols. Although come to think of it, not many alt solo woman artists of the time, and even less (or none) writing a Bronte themed song. I guess the writing was on the wall for a songwriter that would go against musical fashion and follow the path of her own particular musical muse. As particular as the wave that eventually passed back, decades later for me.

  13. Type Writer Says:

    October 1, 2008 at 4:58 am

    Kate’s music never made it down to Jamaica when I was in high school, so I didn’t run across her till ’85 when she was on the cover of Keyboard magazine, talking about her fancy Fairlight synth she’d used for the Hounds of Love album. By time I got up to the States for college, “Running Up That Hill” was in the top ten, followed by “Cloudbusting” a few months later…

    But I didn’t even hear the entire album till a couple years later, when my roomate bought it for me as a birthday present. That was enough to get me to pick up her releases afer that, y’know the ones that came out every 5 or ten years or so :)

    It wasn’t until the mid-90s when I was at a party where the hostess was playing “The Whole Story” that I was inspired to go explore Kate’s back catalogue, picking up her first album “The Kick Inside” and third “Never For Ever”. Then I ran across the Cloudbusting site and learned more about Kate than I ever ought to have known. So I too have experienced Kate in periodic waves…

    TW

  14. nectarfizz Says:

    October 18, 2008 at 10:47 pm

    I am thinking I need to listen to more Kate Bush..something there I like.

  15. Joy Says:

    May 15, 2009 at 12:57 am

    Yes, I agree, this song moved me. It’s very beautiful. I’ll need to listen to more of her. I loved the “music box” dancer type moves as well.

  16. Stewart Says:

    March 2, 2010 at 4:53 pm

    Was reading through thoughts on the meaning of Kate Bush’s lyrics for the song Moments of Pleasure and came across your post. I’m going to take an out of left field shot at George the Wipe. i have no idea if this is correct but I was reading about early color film development and came across a gentlemen named George Albert Smith. George invented the first successful color motion picture process, Kinemacolor in 1906, but more to the point he was the first person to use the film transition know as the wipe in 1903. I can find no relation of his to Kate or any thing showing him with a nickname of George the Wipe but I find it the kind of obscure reference that Kate would use. Just a thought.

  17. Matt Says:

    March 4, 2010 at 12:20 pm

    Stewart, that sounds very plausible and seems just the sort
    of connection that Kate might catch and run with. However, I’m
    still not sure what connection George has to Kate, or why she’d feel
    the need to feature him in such a prominent way (those lyrics
    seem to stand out to me as she’s laughing about/with him)

    I guess we’ll never really know, and we’re left with little touch of
    an enigma to deliberate on. Actually, I don’t mind that, often the enigma
    guess is better than the true explanation.

    Still, I wonder if George Albert Smith is indeed the infamous George
    the wipe.

    What a good thought and thanks for adding it.

  18. Type Writer Says:

    March 4, 2010 at 10:09 pm

    Hello again, Matt

    Look at this excellent thread getting new comments after all this time :) It was a pleasure re-reading our comments on Kate’s lyrics, as we had such good source material. I think Kate’s lyric-writing is probably overshadowed by her other musical skills, which is a shame because this thread certainly proves what a cinematic quality they have…

    Back when I was in college, I had a friend that used to make fun of the rec.music.gaffa USENET group, because she said it was basically for people to say “Kate Bush is God” over and over again. Flash forward to the present, where you and I are doing the same thing in the blogosphere :)

    TW

  19. Matt Says:

    March 5, 2010 at 4:42 pm

    Hi, TW! Good to read you again.

    From Wikipedia -

    George Albert Smith (4 January 1864, London – 17 May 1959) was an inventor, a stage hypnotist, psychic, astronomer and magic lantern lecturer and one of the pioneers of British cinema. His work in psychical matters was as an assistant to Edmund Gurney in a series of investigations into hypnotism and telepathy, which in their day made Gurney an impressive figure to the British public as a leader of the Society of Psychical Research. Since then it has been heavily studied and critiqued by Trevor Hall in his study The Strange Case of Edmund Gurney. Hall concluded that Smith (using his stage abilities) faked the results that Gurney trusted in in his research papers, and this may have led to Gurney’s mysterious death from a narcotic overdose in June 1888 at Brighton.

    In 1896, Smith, of Hove, England patented a camera and projector system. He was also the proprietor of St. Anne’s Well Pleasure Gardens in Hove at the time. He purchased a prototype cine camera from local engineer Alfred Darling, who subsequently made many contributions to the cinema technology.

    Smith’s neighbour James Williamson (1855-1933) also bought a movie camera. Williamson ran a chemist’s shop which supplied photographic services and equipment. The neighbours created numerous historic minute-long films. Smith is credited with the invention of the ‘close-up’ and the use the first to use double-exposure to achieve special effects in moving pictures.

    Smith went on to develop the first successful colour film process, Kinemacolor, but was virtually put out of business due to a patent suit filed by William Friese-Greene.

    and IMDB (The Internet Movie Database) –

    Mini Biography

    Along with his better-known French counterpart Georges Méliès ‘George Albert Smith’ was one of the first film-makers to explore fictional and fantastic themes, often using surprisingly sophisticated special effects. His background was ideal – an established portrait photographer, he also had a long-standing interest in show-business, running a tourist attraction in his native Brighton featuring a fortune teller. His films were among the first to feature such innovations as superimposition (Smith patented a double-exposure system in 1897), close-ups and scene transitions involving **wipes** and focus pulls. He also patented Kinemacolor, the world’s first commercial cinema colour system, in 1906, which was extremely successful for a time, despite the special equipment required to project it

  20. shannon Says:

    April 21, 2010 at 5:28 am

    You know, I thought “He meets us at the lift, like Douglas Fairbanks, waving his walking stick. But he isn’t well at all…” referred to her Dad. I don’t know why…. But is he still alive?

  21. John Malcolm Says:

    March 15, 2011 at 2:03 am

    I’ve heard that the meeting in New York was with the director Michael Powell, who shot a certain film called The Red Shoes – that could also be who she’s referencing when she sings “Do you still love me Michael” towards the end.

  22. Steve Jones Says:

    March 26, 2012 at 10:41 am

    I think this song is in 2 parts – the first her talking about the moments of pleasure she has participated in for others to remember (those who will survive) and then the moments she remembers of others who are no longer with us. It’s a work of art …

  23. Del Hanlon Says:

    April 3, 2012 at 10:19 pm

    I totally agree that this song is a work of art. I loved it in it’s original recording but totally adore the Director’s cut version. I’d love to know what “the case of George the wipe” was and why it was so funny. Does anyone know?


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