Nobody has an eye and ear for artistic aesthetics and musical concepts quite like the incomparable Kate Bush. Let’s look at a few (sort of) creepy Kate Bush songs that were ahead of their time and should have been way more popular on the charts.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Get Out Of My House” from ‘The Dreaming’ (1982)
This song always sticks out in my head for being so unsettling in the best way possible. This song didn’t chart because it was never released as a single off The Dreaming, and I definitely understand why. This track isn’t for the normies. Still, it’s such a beautifully uncomfortable song that deserves more attention in the scope of the album. Inspired by Stephen King’s novel The Shining, this unsettling work closes out the album on a strange note. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Waking The Witch” from ‘Hounds Of Love’ (1985)
Everyone knows Hounds Of Love by its lead single, “Running Up That Hill”. That track is certainly one of Bush’s finest, but there are so many other hidden gems on that album. One such gem, in my opinion, is the strange sea shanty art pop delight “Waking The Witch”, which features lyrical quotes from the traditional folk song “Blood Red Roses”. This song is buried in the middle of Side Two and follows the somewhat common theme of drowning found in many of Bush’s works. According to Bush herself, this song features a hefty number of people on the vocal tracks.
“My mother’s in there, my father, my brothers Paddy and John, Brian Tench – the guy that mixed the album with us – is in there, Del is in there, Robbie Coltrane does one of the voices,” said Bush.
It’s a haunting song about losing oneself, and I can confidently say I’ve never heard anything like it before.
“Mother Stands For Comfort” from ‘Hounds Of Love’ (1985)
This entry on our list of creepy Kate Bush songs yet again comes from Hounds Of Love. “Mother Stands For Comfort” gets almost no love online from what I’ve seen, and I think that’s crazy. Rarely have I ever heard a song about a murderer sung from the perspective of the killer in question, who seems to know their mother is hiding their crimes to protect them. To make things more complex and exhilarating, this song has such a soft arrangement. That arrangement clashes (beautifully) with the song’s subject. Bush herself said that she used the “cold qualities” of synths to mimic “unfeeling” from the perspective of a killer.
Photo by TV Times/TV Times via Getty Images












Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.