KATE BUSH - The Sensual World | FIRST TIME HEARING REACTION

[@l-Pay_-_it_-_Forward-l]

She is the definition of a true Artiste, a genius, and she has been our British little secret for over 50 years. I love her and her music so much!!

[@jimmeltonbradley1497]

That mixture of modern and traditional instruments creates such a fabulous aural landscape. U;ysses is a novel by Irish novelist James Joyce. It's his masterwork. And the character Kate features here is Molly Bloom.

[@silgen]

One of my favourite songs by my favourite artist. If you're still in the mood for a Kate Bush video I suggest checking out the Video for Cloudbusting, which features that great actor Donald Sutherland who died a few days ago. Another great song and great video, and the story behind the song is facinating.

[@mattleppard1964]

Absolutely stunning ❤

[@magicbrownie1357]

Too bad she never reached the status in the US she found in the UK. She's a national treasure there, while she barely gets noticed in the US.

[@Grizazzle]

She was very popular in the US during the 80's at least in the crowd that I ran with.

[@leslieturner8276]

Kate's always been popular in other territories, but she never took off in the US at the time. I suspect that it had something to do with the nature of American commercial radio and being very difficult for different music to enter radio playlists.

[@Missjunebugfreak]

​@@leslieturner8276 well that and also the fact that Kate never toured the US and hardly did any promo there. I reckon if she did she would have been as big as Björk is in the US.

[@Missjunebugfreak]

I wish Kate got popular in the US but at the same time I like that she's more of a niche there since people get to discover how talented and amazing she is. Kate didn't tour the US which also accounts for why she isn't as well known there.

[@leslieturner8276]

@Missjunebugfreak she did some promotional stuff, even early in her career when she appeared on SNL. I think the American distributor wanted her to join the US tour of I think Fleetwood Mac (please correct me if wrong), but she refused because she wanted full control of any performance. In 1979 she had her sole tour in the UK and Europe, "The Tour Of Life." Now, whether it was this or poor record sales her American distributor refused to release her next two albums, so she basically disappeared from America at that point. It was only when her 4th studio album, "The Dreaming," managed to get into the Billboard album chart that the previous two albums, Lionheart and "Never For Ever" were finally released in America. I did see a KZbin video of Kate performing "Hammer Horror" in the US, so whether that was at the same time as SNL or later, I don’t know. When it came to "Hounds Of Love," I think that Kate made quite a few promotional appearances in America. As for another tour, she never has although there was a 22-date concert residency in 2014 "Before The Dawn" tickets for all performances sold out in under 15 minutes and people travelled from all over the world to see her perform live in a concert, since 1979. So, I'm not sure that America was ready for her music in 1979 and her disappearance from America after her American distributor effectively dropped her didn't help, together with the nature of music radio stations in America that were very corporate owned, so there wasn't really much of a look in for different music. This is why Kate had more radio play over this period on independent and student radio stations.

[@clifton8929]

Stepping out of a James Joyce book and immediate impressions are that of the sensuality of this world: you can touch things, the color of the trees, the feel of grass on your feet. It's like when you read a book and you feel like your inside the book. I've read the book, and it's a long, hard read but very Irish and vivid. Thanks, Shawn. I haven't heard this played on reactions channels before.

[@dunringill1747]

I was going to mention "Flower of the Mountain", but you read it 👍. Kate Bush is an artistic genius - musically and visually. Whatever theme Kate wishes to convey always checks every box. ✅ Vocally, through pitch control and inflection. ✅ Musically, through choice of instruments and arrangements. ✅ Visually, through video landscaping, acting / mime, dance choreography, and costume choices.

[@mattleppard1964]

She is a true artist and visionary. Simply extraordinary.

[@FrankUli]

Shawn this is a pleasant surprise thank you

[@MongooseTales]

As a counterpoint to this song I recommend "Never Be Mine" from the same album. It's another beautiful Kate Bush composition, musically rich and lyrically evocative, but coming from an entirely different emotional place. I don't believe there's an official music video for it, but the track is worth a reaction nonetheless.

[@willfromyadkinville]

she is wonderful!

[@RullXov]

She could teach a cat to purr. The song includes Irish instrumentation (uilleann pipes, fiddle, whistle) under a breathy rendering of the orgasmic 'Yes'.

[@rk41gator]

Wuthering Heights is one crazy video. Kate has a broad range both in her voice and her imagination. A Force in art rock. I need to see if you covered her excellent duet with Peter Gabriel called 'Don't Give Up'. Her 'Woman's Work' is genius. And 'Army Dreamers' is a incredible anti-war song and video.

[@Judymoe]

This is a very, very spicy song, but pretty tastefully related. I think those were uillian pipes (sp?).

[@markjohnson4217]

The final passages from Molly Bloom are clearly expressed as an escape into an erotic/ sensual fantasy. The punctuation of verses with Mmmm yes...mean exactly what they suggest; Molly is masterbating, and this brings the novel to its beautiful climactic ending. This is not gratuitous or petty sensationalism, but a stunning piece of literature from James Joyce, the greatest writer of the last two centuries. What a courageous venture for Kate to tackle this head-on! She wanted to use the actual verses from the novel but tbe James Joyce estate refused, but later retracted after hearing and seeing her stunning interpretation..

[@mattleppard1964]

So good, I made a special second cup of cocoa and settled down properly. Wow, this album. Every one a winner. Definitely her best for me - absolutely bewitching. Lots of East European folky musical mystery and harmonies. Tons of immersive soundscapes and experimentation ❤ David Gilmour on 2 tracks 😊

[@palebeachbum]

I think the prominent instrument you initially thought was violins, is a Pungi, an instrument from India. You probably would recognize it best as the instrument snake charmers use. At least that's what it sounds like to me.

[@silgen]

I think you'll find it's uilleann pipes.

[@atkvin]

I always thought the line "the arrows of desire rewrite the speech" was a meta line about how Kate/the character's passion rewrote the lyrics for the song since the estate refused the rights initially. I honestly feel Sensual World is much better than Flower of the Mountain, though there are flaws not of the lyrics' fault entirely, such as the less polished mixing and Kate's voice having matured (hardly a flaw of hers! She sang with great beauty all the same in 50 words for snow, and I think she was going for a more mellow tone. it just didn't hit as well as the original for this song) My favorite lyric in both versions by far for its imagery, is "Do I look for those billionaires, like a machiavellian girl - when I could wear / the sunset?" as the video shows Kate draped in the (artificial?) sun's orange glow. It's so beautiful. And yeah, the trilling "mmmm-hhh yes" adds so much to making this track so memorable, in addition to the sensual and enchanting melody.

[@darkmatter6714]

My favorite witch

[@bibakroll8999]

Irish bagpipes.

[@Robert-kl2pp]

I was there at the beginning. When ever the end will be i will be there. Kate is.

[@glenn20081965]

🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

[@kirkhall2099]

Music was to loud and overpowered her voice.

[@glenn20081965]

What the hell are you talking about....?

[@kirkhall2099]

@@glenn20081965 I have a good set of headphones and listen on a laptop. The music was loud and overpowered her singing for the most part. Maybe your getting a different sound than me