KATE BUSH - Piano, Arranger, Keyboards, Vocals, Producer, Harmony Vocals, Art Direction, Vocal Harmony
KEVIN BURKE - Violin
ROY HARPER - Vocals, Background Vocals
DUNCAN MACKAY - Keyboards, Fairlight
IAN BAIRNSON - Guitar, Bass Vocal, Vocals
BRIAN BATH - Acoustic Guitar, Guitar, Electric Guitar, Background Vocals
ANDREW BRYANT - Vocals, Background Vocals
PADDY BUSH - Harmonica, Mandolin, Balalaika, Bass Vocal, Sitar, Vocals, Background Vocals, Koto, Banshee, Saw, Mando, Delius
STUART ELLIOT - Drums, Bodhran
STUART ELLIOTT - Drums, Bodhran
LARRY FAST - Keyboards, Prophet Synthesizer
MARTYN FORD - Orchestra
JOHN GIBLIN - Bass, Fretless Bass
PRESTON HEYMAN - Percussion, Drums, Background Vocals
GARY HURST - Vocals, Background Vocals
JON JACOBS - Assistant Engineer
MAX MIDDLETON - Keyboards, Moog Synthesizer, Fender Rhodes, String Arrangements
MIKE MORAN - Keyboards, Prophet 5
ALAN MURPHY - Acoustic Guitar, Guitar, Electric Bass, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Bass
DEL PALMER - Electric Bass, Vocals, Fretless Bass
MORRIS PERT - Percussion, Tympani
ROLAND - Percussion
ADAM SKEAPING - Viola
JOSEPH SKEAPING - Lironi
ADAM SCEAPING - Viol, String Arrangements
JO SCEAPING - Lironi, String Arrangements
JON KELLY - Engineer
JOHN BARRATT - Ass. Engineer
JON JACOBS - Ass. Engineer
JOHN L. WALTERS - Programming, Fairlight
RICHARD BURGESS - Programming, Fairlight
NICK PRICE - Artwork, Cover Art
JOHN CARDER BUSH - Photography, Back Cover
1984 CD EMI America E2-46360
1980 LP EMI 794
1980 CD EMI America CDP7463602
1980 EMI 17115
1984 CS EMI America E4-46360
1991 CS Alliance 46360
1996 CD Alliance 46360
Two years after her first two releases, Kate Bush took her career into
her own hands and produced NEVER FOR EVER. Though at the time she was
younger than 21, Bush confidently became the careful, experimental
studio-only artist she remainedfor the remainder of her career. Bush
created a marriage ofgroundbreaking, up-to-the-minute technology with
little-used acoustic instruments. She also tempered the little girl
voice that was her trademark to produce a work of near brilliance.
NEVER FOR EVER opens with "Babooshka", a song that sets an auspicious
stage for what follows. Her spiritual fascination continues with "Blow
Away" and "All We Ever Look For". The theme of incest first hinted at
on THE KICK INSIDE continues on "Infant Kiss". But the true highlights
of this album are the lilting waltz of "Army Dreamers", as well as
"Breathing", a song about an unborn baby who reports on a nuclear
holocaust from within its mother's womb. This rich album hints at the
many delights that were to follow in Bush's career.
Never for Ever has Kate Bush sounding vocally stable and more
confident, taking what she had put into her debut single "Wuthering
Heights" from 1978 and administering those facets into most of the
album's content. Never for Ever went to number one in the U.K., on the
strength of three singles that made her country's Top 20. Both
"Breathing" and "Army Dreamers" went to number 16, while "Babooshka"
was her first Top Five single since "Wuthering Heights." Bush's
dramatics and theatrical approach to singing begin to solidify on Never
for Ever, and her style brandishes avid seriousness without sounding
flighty or absurd. "Breathing," about the repercussions of nuclear war,
conveys enough passion and vocal curvatures to make her concern sound
convincing, while "Army Dreamers" bounces her voice up and down without
getting out of hand. "Babooshka"'s motherly charm and flexible chorus
make it one of her best tracks, proving that she can make the simplest
of lyrics work for her through her tailored vocal acrobatics. The rest
of the album isn't quite as firm as her singles, but they all sport a
more appeasing and accustomed sound than some of her past works, and
she does manage to keep her identity and characteristics intact. She
bettered this formula for 1985's Hounds of Love, making that album's
"Running Up That Hill" her only Top 40 single in the U.S., peaking at
number 30.
Mike DeGagne - All Music Guide
Kate Bush returned to form on her third album, which is steeped in
images of violence and anger ("Babooshka," "The Wedding List") but also
includes fascinating references to classical music ("Delius"). Very
finely produced as well.
Kate Bush's Popularity In The U.K. Is Unparalleled. Never For Ever, Her
Third Album - Nearly Two Years In The Making - Soared To Number One On
The British Lp Charts Two Weeks After Its September `80 Release. When
The One-Time Teenage Prodigy (Initially Discovered And Signed To Emi At
The Age Of 16) Released Her First Record, The Single, "Wuthering
Heights" (Based On The Emily Bronte Novel), It Went Straight To Number
One, Topping The U.K. Charts For A Month. And Her Debut Album (1978's
The Kick Inside - Her Only Prior U.S. Release) Followed It Into The
Upper Reaches Of The Charts Soon After. Her Second Album (Lionheart)
Highlighted Her Unusually High Vocal Range And Established Bush As An
Intelligent And Extremely Eloquent Songwriter And Arranger. Then
Followed A Long Silence - Interrupted Only By A Live Ep (On Stage)
Which Displayed Bush's Talents In Concert. Never For Ever Is Bush's
Most Varied And Imaginative Lp Yet. The Two Singles Included Here
(Which Preceded The Album By A Few Months) Are The Most Successful
Tracks She Has Ever Committed To Vinyl. Yet No Two Pieces Of Music By
The Same Artist Could Be Further Apart In Style Than "Breathing" And
"Babooshka." In The Boldly Experimental, Ominously Lovely "Breathing,"
The Dreamy, Fretless Bass-Fronted Arrangement Weds An Uncanny Feeling
Of Dread And Fear To A Deeply Personal View Of The Possible Effects Of
Nuclear Fallout. Its Chorus Flows With The Syncopated Rhythm Of Human
Breathing While In The Background A Bbc Announcer Offers The Specific
Details. This Unusual Experiment Is A Masterpiece. At The Other Extreme
Is "Babooshka." To The Tune Of A Wonderfully Infectious Chorus Refrain,
It Offers The Whimsical Tale Of A Wife Who Tests Her Husband's Fidelity
By Attempting To Seduce Him With A Love Letter Written Under The
Pseudonym Of The Song's Title. Does She Succeed? You'll Have To Check
With Kate Bush To Find Out.
Nachdem Kate Bushs Zweitwerk Lionheart unter musikalischen
Gesichtspunkten eher bescheiden ausgefallen und von der Kritik zurecht
mit höchst zwiespältigen Rezensionen bedacht worden war,
kehrte das Wunderkind von einst auf seinem dritten Werk Never For Ever
wieder zu den Stärken ihres sensationellen Debüts "The Kick
Inside" zurück. Also: Verwoben-verspielte Mini-Dramen, vorgetragen
von einer glasklaren Elfenstimme, die sich im weiten Universum zwischen
Fantasy und bestem Pop-Entertainment bewegten. Und trotz aller
Skurrilität in den Kompositionen hielt auch Never For Ever wieder
etliche Single-Hits parat, die in den Charts weltweit rasch nach ganz
oben preschten: das entschlossene "Babooshka", das fragile "Army
Dreamers" und das nichts weniger als epochale "Breathing", das wie kaum
ein anderes Kate Bush-Stück den schmalen Grat zwischen Wehmut und
Wahnsinn seiner Protagonistin demonstriert. Never For Ever, zu Beginn
der neuen Dekade veröffentlicht, gewährte der damals gerade
mal 22-jährigen Britin einen fulminanten Einstieg in die 80er
Jahre. Es sollte ein weiteres erfolgreiches Jahrzehnt dieser
exzentrischen Ausnahmekünstlerin werden. Im nächsten
Jahrzehnt tat Mrs. Bush sich da wesentlich schwerer: Gerade mal ein
Album erschien, das eher laue "The Red Shoes" aus dem Jahr 1993.
Seitdem haben wir nur noch von Kates Gewichtsproblemen gehört.
Auch ein Motiv, seie Karriere zu beenden.
She wanted to test her husband.
She knew exactly what to do:
A pseudonym to fool him.
She couldn't have made a worse move.
She sent him scented letters,
And he received them with a strange delight.
Just like his wife
But how she was before the tears,
And how she was before the years flew by,
And how she was when she was beautiful.
She signed the letter
"All yours,
Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya!
All yours,
Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya!"
She wanted to take it further,
So she arranged a place to go,
To see if he
Would fall for her incognito.
And when he laid eyes on her,
He got the feeling they had met before.
Uncanny how she
Reminds him of his little lady,
Capacity to give him all he needs,
Just like his wife before she freezed on him,
Just like his wife when she was beautiful.
He shouted out, "I'm
All yours,
Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya!
All yours,
Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya!
All yours,
Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya!"
DELIUS (Song of summer)
Ooh, he's a moody old man.
Song of summer in his hand.
Ooh, he's a moody old man.
...in...in...in his hand.
...in his hand.
To be sung of a summer night on the water.
Ooh, on the water.
"Ta, ta-ta!
Hmm.
Ta, ta-ta!
In B, Fenby!"
To be sung of a summer night on the water
Ooh, on the water.
On the water.
BLOW AWAY (For bill)
One of the band told me last night
That music is all that he's got in his life.
So where does it go?
Surely not with his soul.
Will all of his licks and his R'n'B
Blow away?
Blow away
Blow away
Our engineer had a different idea
From people who nearly died but survived,
Feeling no fear of leaving their bodies here,
And went to a room that was soon full of visitors.
Hello Minnie, Moony, Vicious, Vicious, Buddy Holly, Sandy Denny.
Please don't thump me,
Don't bump me,
Don't dump me back there.
Please don't thump me,
Don't bump me,
I want to stay here.
Put out the light, then, put out the light.
Vibes in the sky invite you to dine.**
Dust to dust,
Blow to blow.
Bolan and Moony are heading the show tonight.
Hello Minnie, Moony, ("Bill " [?]), Vicious, Vicious,
Buddy Holly, Sandy Denny.
Please don't thump me,
Don't bump me,
Don't dump me back there.
Please don't thump me,
Don't bump me,
I want to stay here.
ALL WE EVER LOOK FOR
Just look at your father
And you'll see how you took after him.
Me, I'm just another
Like my brothers
Of my mother's genes.
All they ever want for you
Are the things they didn't do.
All they ever wanted--a little clue.
All they ever wanted--the truth.
All they ever wanted--a little bit of you.
All they ever wanted,
But they never did get.
The whims that we're weeping for
Our parents would be beaten for
Leave the breast
And then the rest
And then regret you ever left.
All we're ever looking for
Is another open door.
All we ever look for--another womb.
All we ever look for--our own tomb.
All we ever look for--ooh, la lune.
All we ever look for--a little bit of you, too.
All we ever look for,
But we never do score.
All we ever look for--a god.
All we ever look for--ooh, a drug.
All we ever look for--a great big hug.
All we ever look for--a little bit of you.
All we ever look for--a little bit of you, too.
All we ever look for,
But we never do score.
EGYPT
Follow the Nile
Deep to much deeper.
The Pyramids sound lonely tonight.
The sands run red
In lands of the Pharoahs.
Their symmetry gets right inside me.
I cannot stop to comfort them.
I'm busy chasing up my demon.
I cannot stop to comfort them.
I'm busy chasing up my demon.
Oh, I'm in love
With Egypt.
My Pussy Queen
Knows all my secrets.
I'll never fall in love again.
I drift with dunes.
I whisper of the tombs.
They offer me Egyptian delights.
She's got me with that feline guise,
Got me in those desert eyes.
She's got me with that feline guise,
Got me in those desert eyes.
Oh I'm in love
With Egypt.
THE WEDDING LIST
No, I'll never give the hunt up,
And I won't muck it up.
Somehow this is it, I knew.
Maybe fate wants you dead, too
We've come together in the very same room,
And I'm coming for you!
Do you think I'd ever let you
Get away with it, huh?
He swooned in warm maroon.
There's gas in your barrel, and I'm flooded with Doom.
You've made a wake of our honeymoon,
And I'm coming for you!"
"All of the headLines said 'Passion Crime"
'Newly weds Groom Shot Dead
'Mystery Man.' God help the bride
She's a widow, all in red,
With his red still wet. She said--"
I'll put him on the wedding list!
I'll put him on the wedding list!
I'll get him and I will not miss.
Now, as I'm coming for you,
All I see is Rudi.
I die with him, again and again.
And I'll feel good in my revenge.
I'm gonna fill your head with lead
And I'm coming for you!
And when it's all over you'll roll over
The butt of my gun:
One in your belly, and one for Rudi.
You got what you gave by the heel of my bootie.
Bang-bang--Out! like an old cherootie,
I'm coming for you!
"All of the headLines said 'Passion Crime:
'Newly weds Groom Shot Dead
'Mystery Man.' God help the bride!
She's a widow, all in red,
With his red still wet. She said--"
She sure got him on the wedding list
I'll got him on the wedding list!
I'll got him and I will not miss.
I'll put him on the wedding list!
"And after she shot the guy,
She committed suicide.
I'm coming, Rudi!
"And later, when they analysed,
They found a little one inside.
"It must have been Rudi's child."
I shot, I shot, I shot him honey!
"Never mind, she got the guy."
He hit the ground, Rudi!
"An eye for an eye."
Ashes to ashes...
"Eye for an eye."
I hit him, hit him
Rudi!, Rudi!
I'm coming coming coming honey
"Eye for an eye."
Rudi!
VIOLIN
Four strings across the bridge,
Ready to carry me over,
Over the quavers, drunk in the bars,
Out of the realm of the orchestra,
Out of the realm of the orchestra.
Filling me up with the shivers.
Filling me up with the shivers and quivers.
Filling me up with the shivers.
Get the bow going!
Let it scream to me:
Violin! Violin! Violin!
Get the bow going!
Let it scream to me:
Violin! Violin! Violin!
Paganini up on the chimney,
Lord of the dance,
With Nero and old Nicky.
Whack that devil
Into my fiddlestick!
Give me the Banshees for B.V.s,*
Give me the Banshees for B.V.s.
Jigging along with the fiddle, oh, Johnny.
Jigging along with the fiddle-dee-dee.
Jigging along with the fiddle, oh, Johnny.
Jigging along with the fiddle-dee-diddle-dee-dee!
Get the bow going!
Let it scream to me:
Violin! Violin! Violin!
Get the bow going!
Let it scream to me:
Violin! Violin! Violin!
Get the bow going!
Let it scream to me:
Violin! Violin! Violin!
Get the bow going!
Let it scream to me:
Violin! Violin! Violin!
THE INFANT KISS
say good night-night
I tuck him in tight.
But things are not right.
What is this? An infant kiss
That sends my body tingling?
I've never fallen for
A little boy before.
No control.
Just a kid and just at school.
Back home they'd call me dirty.
His little hand is on my heart.
He's got me where it hurts me.
Knock, knock. Who's there in this baby?
You know how to work me.
All my barriers are going.
It's starting to show.
Let go. Let go. Let go.
I cannot sit and let
Something happen I'll regret.
Ooh, he scares me!
There's a man behind those eyes.
I catch him when I'm bending.
Ooh, how he frightens me
When they whisper privately.
("Don't Let Go!")
Windy-wailey blows me.
Words of caress on their lips
That speak of adult love.
I want to smack but I hold back.
I only want to touch.
But I must stay and find a way
To stop before it gets too much!
All my barriers are going.
It's starting to show.
Let go. Let go. Let go.
(Don't let go!)
ARMY DREAMERS
"B.F.P.O.*"
Army dreamers.
"Mammy's hero."
"B.F.P.O."
"Mammy's hero."
Our little army boy
Is coming home from B.F.P.O.
I've a bunch of purple flowers
To decorate a mammy's hero.
Mourning in the aerodrome,
The weather warmer, he is colder.
Four men in uniform
To carry home my little soldier.
"What could he do?
Should have been a rock star."
But he didn't have the money for a guitar.
"What could he do?
Should have been a politician."
But he never had a proper education.
"What could he do?
Should have been a father."
But he never even made it to his twenties.
What a waste --
Army dreamers.
Ooh, what a waste of
Army dreamers.
Tears o'er a tin box.
Oh, Jesus Christ, he wasn't to know,
Like a chicken with a fox,
He couldn't win the war with ego.
Give the kid the pick of pips,
And give him all your stripes and ribbons.
Now he's sitting in his hole,
He might as well have buttons and bows.
"What could he do?
Should have been a rock star."
But he didn't have the money for a guitar.
"What could he do?
Should have been a politician."
But he never had a proper education.
"What could he do?
Should have been a father."
But he never even made it to his twenties.
What a waste --
Army dreamers.
Ooh, what a waste of
Army dreamers.
Ooh, what a waste of all that
Army dreamers,
Army dreamers,
Army dreamers, oh...
("B.F.P.O.")
Did-n-did-n-did-n-dum...
Army dreamers.
Did-n-did-n-did-n-dum...
("Mammy's hero.")
("B.F.P.O.")
Army Dreamers.
("Mammy's hero.")
("B.F.P.O.")
No harm heroes.
("Mammy's hero.")
("B.F.P.O.")
Army dreamers.
("Mammy's hero.")
("B.F.P.O.")
No harm heroes.
[*--"B.F.P.O.": British Forces Posted Overseas.]
BREATHING
Outside
Gets inside
Through her skin.
I've been out before
But this time it's much safer in.
Last night in the sky,
Such a bright light.
My radar send me danger
But my instincts tell me to keep
Breathing,
("Out, in, out, in, out, in...")
Breathing,
Breathing my mother in,
Breathing my beloved in,
Breathing,
Breathing her nicotine,
Breathing,
Breathing the fall-out in,
Out in, out in, out in, out in.
We've lost our chance.
We're the first and the last, ooh,
After the blast.
Chips of Plutonium
Are twinkling in every lung.
I love my
Beloved, ooh,
All and everywhere,
Only the fools blew it.
You and me
Knew life itself is
Breathing,
("Out, in, out, in, out...")
Breathing,
Breathing my mother in,
Breathing my beloved in,
Breathing,
Breathing her nicotine,
Breathing,
Breathing the fall-out in,
Out in, out in, out in, out in,
Out in, out in, out in, out...
("Out!")
"In point of fact it is possible to tell the
("Out!")
difference between a small nuclear explosion and
a large one by a very simple method. The calling
card of a nuclear bomb is the blinding flash that
is far more dazzling than any light on earth--brighter
even than the sun itself--and it is by the duration
of this flash that we are able to determine the size
("What are we going to do without?")
of the weapon. After the flash a fireball can be
seen to rise, sucking up under it the debris, dust
and living things around the area of the explosion,
and as this ascends, it soon becomes recognisable
as the familiar "mushroom cloud". As a demonstration
of the flash duration test let's try and count the
number of seconds for the flash emitted by a very
small bomb; then a more substantial, medium-sized
bomb; and finally, one of our very powerful,
"high-yield" bombs
"What are we going to do without?"
Ooh please!
"What are we going to do without?"
Let me breathe!
"What are we going to do without?"
Ooh, Quick!
"We are all going to die without!"
Breathe in deep!
"What are we going to die without?"
Leave me something to breathe!
"We are all going to die without!"
Oh, leave me something to breathe!
"What are we going to do without?"
Oh, God, please leave us something to breathe!"
"We are all going to die without
Oh, life is--Breathing