This is the day eight of my Kate Bush journey. Today I’m going deep to research the connection between traditional folk song “Lucy Wan” & “the kick inside.” I make some shocking discoveries along the way, so if you love folk song origins / murder ballad origins / suicide ballad origins this is the video for you. Kick inside is the title track from Kate Bush‘s debut album. And it’s Kate Bush‘s first album’s most interesting track in my opinion on an album of interesting tracks! young Kate Bush really knew how to incite emotion in her audience. As even a teenage Kate Bush was a great female lyricist. This video is filled with music reactions, music video reactions. As well as I explore different artists covering traditional Ballad “Lucy Wan.”
Kate Bush Journey PLAYLIST
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVaDWMlhe6SGJdpXW8VuH3ItYy6jBkJQ8
Top 10 Underrated & Influential Albums for Women!
https://youtu.be/AFXKrCWucrk
Dreams of ORGONON Blog-
https://katebushsongs.wordpress.com/2019/01/14/the-kick-inside/
KATE BUSH STUFF THAT APPEAR IN THIS VIDEO-
Efteling special Kick inside-
https://youtu.be/hZ71EZA10VU
Kick Inside Demo-
https://youtu.be/V3GoXeWlIE8
LUCY WAN VERSIONS THAT APPEAR IN THIS VIDEO-
Frankie Armstrong-
https://youtu.be/7lYmpo1KwH8
Hannah Sanders-
https://youtu.be/AeVQuPj5JAA
Frankie Archer-
https://youtu.be/uC25sXPjGQc
Jim Moray-
https://youtu.be/zB8D8UG2RIg
source
Fantastic video, you really did a very deep dive, I could only find two versions of the original folk song. As to your theory about why Kate changed things around from her being murdered by her committing suicide, I think that you are absolutely "spot on". Since both of her brothers were active on the local folk music scene, I have no doubt that she would have heard quite a few examples of these murderous "child ballads" (note: there's an interesting Wikipedia entry on them, although I suspect that you have already read it) where woman/girls didn't have any agency at all..
Funny. I usual choose my amusement parks based on the quality of their incest theme songs…
Couldn't find links you mentioned in the video. Specifically was looking for the link to the older video you mentioned that has been getting comments lately. Thanks and have a great day!
Thanks for your video it was lovely and informative.
You have fallen into the Kate Bush rabbit hole and I am looking forward to you revealing and illuminating more from this magical wonderland.
I always took Kate's retelling of Lucy's story to be rather feminist. I don't think she intended it to be that way, but by telling the story from the pregnant girl's perspective and allowing her to choose her own fate, Kate gave her the agency that the traditional ballads never afforded her. In Kate's retelling, Lucy is no longer the helpless victim of her cruel brother's violent need to absolve himself of the sin of incest; instead, she gets to speak for herself, and we find that she is a loving sister who has chosen to end her life due to social pressures while content in the knowledge that her brother is still very much in love with her and will be waiting for her in some other life. It's more radical this way too, because now the blame here is not put on the sin itself, but on the social stigma around incest. The brother in Kate's story is implied to be loving, so I don't think she is absolving any man of anything, as the writer you quoted suggested. Kate does have a tendency to be sympathetic towards the men in her stories, but I don't think there's anything bizarre about that. It's quite refreshing actually to have a woman singer-songwriter who is so perceptive and kind about the inner life of men (The Man With a Child in His Eyes is a very early example; there are more complex ones to follow later in her catalogue), but that's a whole different conversation.
Kate has two brothers named Paddy and John. Paddy is in the band and videos. John did the photos and appears on "Hounds". I don't think I've seen this video after all these years. Still things to discover about Kate. Enjoying your deep dives into her music. That's what I find fascinating about Kate. The more you discover the more you need to discover.
It you take advice from your comment this has nothing to do with Kate Bush… love her… react to Laura nyro..amazing singer songwriter.. the song brown earth
Great review – you are to be congratulated on the depth of your investigation.
The other thing to come from Kate's version of the story is that, rather than the sister's death being the result of anger/resentment/guilt etc on the part of the brother, we have a suicide resulting from the woman's love. Somehow that, for me at least, is more satisfying. The original folk story paints the brother as devoid of love for 'Lucy' – one can only assume that his involvement with his sister was based purely on lust.
This is one of the best videos I've seen in a long time! I knew the song was inspired by that folk song but I didn't do any further research. I really think you're onto something, I too think that's the reason why she changed the story. This makes the song even better. I hope many Kate fans watch this video!
Great analysis! By the way, Frankie Armstrong, though her voice is a bit aged and wavering here, is a powerhouse of folk song going back to the 1960s, who in younger days worked as a social worker in some very marginalized communities in the UK. I recall in the 80s when I saw her in concert that she would introduce this song in the context of the ongoing issue of “honour killings”, where a daughter or sister is murdered by her brother or father for “dishonoring” the family (by falling pregnant or having a relationship with the “wrong” person. Really driving home the point that folk songs are not just archaic quaint curiosities, but are timeless in their relevance to society. I’m not sure if Frankie is still alive, but I’m sure she’d approve of Kate’s take on the song.
There are, however, quite a few songs where the women take agency and are not just victims. Tam Lin is a great example, where the woman rescues her lover from the Queen of Elfland (nice twist on the usual Disney trope of the princess needing to be rescued).
That really was a reaction video to savour and thank you so much for it. This has always been of my favourite Kate Bush songs and remember seeing this video for the first time and finding it very moving. I suppose there are a few things that spring to my mind about this video after being so familiar with the song for so many years and watching the video quite a few times. The first is the famous painting of Ophelia by John Everett Millais and how similar Kate's pose is to Ophelia's as the barge fades into the distance, Ophelia, who was warned against falling in love with Hamlet because he was not free to marry her, the same Ophelia who after her death it was said that she seemed to be "incapable of her own distress" and it would even be suggested in the play that, like "Lucy" in Kate's song she too had taken her own life . The second thing that always comes to my mind is Kate's use of a kind of funeral barge in this video, something she will return to in her next album on the wonderful "Oh England, My Lionheart." Then there are the beautiful lyrics as well as how Kate's voice matches them so effectively and last of all there is the sheer determination to have this as the last song, the last farewell or sign off on her first album – an album that begins with "Moving" and an anthem to dance and life and movement and all that it can express and give and make one feel, but also an album that is courageous enough to finish with such utter darkness. Thanks again for a very considered reaction!
Fantastic ! .. Been looking forward to this since you announced you would do it, and you certainly did not disappoint .👍👌.. I didn't find this too long at all, as everything was so interesting and entertaining .. I love "The Kick Inside", and I loved that you were interested enough in Kate and the song to go into such detail about it's lyrics and background .. You should be very proud of this ! 🙏🙏
Ewan MacColl wrote 'The first time ever I saw your face' Covered by Roberta Flack.
News …. Jay leno at hospital. ..serious burn on face ..hands after trying to fix fuel tank on his 1907 car…
It was a long wait, but worth it! Very interesting. This is a beautiful and heartbreaking song. I also disagree that the song portrays suicide in a positive light. It's tragic. And in her song you feel for the sister's naïveté in thinking her life is the one less worthwhile. Kate seems to think a lot about human frailty and likes to pick at it like a scab. For example, who looks at the ending of Wuthering Heights and takes a deep dive into the dead Cathy's psyche? Also, "The Innocents" where she climbs into the mind of the governess tormented by the spirit of grown man seducing her from within her young charge (The Infant Kiss).