THE DREAMING

-- First review for this single -- Kate Bush's fourth album The Dreaming was released in September 1982. The making process of that highly innovative and experimental album, produced sovereignly by the artist herself, lasted about one year and a half, so obviously some singles were released beforehand. The first one was 'Sat in Your Lap' (June 1981) but the next one featuring the album's title track came no sooner than thirteen months later, July 1982. That speaks volumes of her uncompromising artistic dedication to the album project.

'The Dreaming' is about the destruction of Aboriginal Australians' traditional lands by white Australians in their quest for weapons-grade uranium. Rolf Harris is guesting on the didgeridoo, and bird impersonator Percy Edwards provided animal noises. The title is based on the concept in Aboriginal mythology. The original title 'The Abo Song' was changed because it made use of a racial slur.

Musically the song pretty much abandons the conventional charasteristics of a pop song, although it does have a chorus with a melody and a powerful drumming of Stuart Elliott. Apart from that, the melodic substance is minimal, and the whole soundscape far from the usual pop instrumentation. Percussion and a steady shamanistic rhythm is very central, and of course the didgeridoo is crucial for creating the Aboriginal Australian colour, as well as the bullroarer played by Kate's big brother Paddy Bush. Kate uses the digital synthesizer Fairlight CMI. Most of her vocals are radically distanced from her normal feminine singing. The lyrics are awesome in their meaningfulness, containing lines such as "Erase the race that claim the place and say we dig for ore". I admit this song has never been among my Bush favourites, but it is a very strong artistic statement, a totally uncommercial piece of art-rock comparable to some works of e.g. Peter Gabriel, David Byrne & Brian Eno or Laurie Anderson. Despite its demanding nature 'The Dreaming' made it to No. 48 on the UK Singles Chart.

The B side has 'Dreamtime' which is the same track minus the main vocals. It's however not quite right to call it an instrumental version because it still has most of the backing vocals, most notably the repeated line "See the light ram through the gaps in the land". The single's cover art was drawn by Del Palmer, bass player and Kate's partner at the time. It features a depiction of the Wandjina, a sky spirit in Western Australian traditions. Wandjinas brought the law, culture and language.

The song deserves a good rating, despite the fact that it's definitely the whole album that every Kate Bush fan ought to have and this single remains rather non-essential per se. 'Dreamtime', despite being a rare B sider, is in the end pretty useless in its own right.