Living an Artist’s Life-The Lessons of Kate Bush
You’re not wrong, Writer Unboxed is indeed dedicated to the business and craft of writing fiction. For anyone keeping track, yes–two out of my last three essays here have drawn from music and musicians (rather than books and authors). But hey, times are tough, and I promise, this time I won’t cite lyrics or delve into song meanings. So maybe you’ll bear with me?
It was the solstice last Tuesday, technically making the past week the lightest of the year. But for me, these long days have been feeling pretty dark. War, disease, demagoguery, racism, misogyny, the nullification of rights; they all feel like the drumbeats to the steady march of authoritarianism. It’s felt more like the start of dystopia than the start of summer.
It’s been hard to stay hopeful, which might be why I seized upon some happy news. News that you may not have noticed. As a longtime fan of English singer, songwriter, pianist, dancer, and record producer Kate Bush, I’ve been a keen spectator as her 1985 song Running Up That Hill reappeared on the charts and proceeded to race upward. The song, an old favorite of mine, has reentered the zeitgeist due to its meaningful placement in the new season of the hit show Stranger Things.
Last week Running Up That Hill hit #1 in the U.K. as well as six other countries, and entered the top five on the U.S. charts. Kate has been shattering records along the way, including the longest duration for a song from its release to hitting #1 (37 years!), and oldest female to hit #1 (Kate’s 63, beating out Cher’s Do You Believe In Life After Love, which topped the charts when Cher was 53). Speaking of stranger things, this all feels strangely fitting, since Kate was the first English female singer to hit #1 with a self-written song (Wuthering Heights, in 1978, at the age of 19).
The success of Running Up That Hill has led to a revival of the phenomenon a teenage Kate became in the U.K. in the late 70s. This time around, thanks to TikTok, she’s a worldwide version (her songs have been sampled on TikTok more than 616 million times). In dark days, a spectacle like this feels like a little bit of joy to grab onto. As a means of fighting my world-weariness, the revival has led me to drop into the Kate Bush rabbit hole. I’ve not only been listening to her nearly nonstop, I’ve been rewatching old interviews and documentaries. I’ve been struck anew by what a singular artist Kate really is. There was nothing like her when she arrived, and in spite of many who cite her as an influence (Bjork, St. Vincent, Joanna Newsome, to name a few), there’s really been no one like her since.
Something I heard in an old interview caught my ear and brought it all home. The interviewer asked about her willingness to take risks in her art.
Kate’s response? “This is what art is all about, isn’t it? It’s a sense of moving away from boundaries that you can’t escape in real life.”
Kate’s Literary Cred
If you’re still not convinced Kate Bush is the most fitting topic for an essay on writing fiction, please consider the vast depth and breadth of her literary influences. Not only was Kate’s first big hit a tribute to Emily Bronte’s only novel (the aforementioned Wuthering Heights), Kate has also referenced or alluded to the literary works of William Blake, Henry James, Albert Tennyson, Hans Christian Anderson, Peter Reich, Stephen King, and—of course—Shakespeare. Heck, when Kate approached the James Joyce estate for permission to put the Molly Bloom soliloquy to music, and was refused, she rewrote the thing herself. Beautifully, in my opinion; in a manner perhaps more fitting than Joyce to making her point ( for the song The Sensual World).
As a storyteller, Kate has written from what has to be one of the broadest arrays of POVs in modern songwriting, including (but far from limited to):
*An aging and neglected wife who tests her husband’s fidelity (Babooshka)
*The mother of a soldier killed in action (Army Dreamers)
*The son of a dissident who professes to be a rainmaker (Cloudbusting)
*A regretful husband, waiting to hear if his wife in childbirth survives complications (This Woman’s Work)
*An unborn baby, singing from the womb in a post-apocalyptic, radioactive world (Breathing)
How many of us has tested our writing range like that? Convinced that she’s worthy of our writerly curiosity yet?
An Icon Living an Artist’s Life
Kate has always had an uneasy relationship with fame. She hasn’t toured since 1979. She’s since seemed more driven by making new music than promoting the music that’s been released. When she grew tired of asking her label for more studio time and being refused, she simply built her own studio. Once asked about her fierce independent streak, and reputation as being “difficult,” Kate replied, “I’m the shyest megalomaniac you’re ever likely to meet.” Heh—sounds like a few writers I know.
Over decades of fandom, I’ve come to admire so much about her beyond the music itself. She’s not only fierce in pursuing her vision for her music, she’s fiercely pursued living an artist’s life, shunning celebrity and all of its trappings in order to do so. As hard as it currently feels to stay focused and committed to my own artistic vision, it seems like the perfect time to examine the life of someone who’s done it so well.
Let’s take a look at a few of Kate’s lessons for living an artist’s life, shall we?
Discipline—When asked about avoiding distraction, Kate has said she needs, “a very contained environment.” One in which she feels free to explore. “In a lot of ways I really am quite shy as a performer, and it’s important that I feel safe and comfortable while I’m trying ideas out.”
Satisfaction—When an interviewer suggested that Kate never seems satisfied with her dancing, she said, “I have a level of dissatisfaction with everything I attempt to do, really. I wouldn’t want to keep doing it if I wasn’t (dissatisfied). It’s the desire to do something well, that you’re not quite pleased with, that keeps you motivated.” She also said, “The idea is to be pleased enough to know you can make it better.” But she also warned that, “You’ve got to give yourself a way to find a sense of accomplishment. I feel that when I finish (making an album).”
Preconceptions—When asked if she feels misunderstood, Kate said, “It’s not important to me that people understand me.” In another interview, she said, “It’s only natural for people to be interested in someone in the spotlight (the artist). I prefer to have my work speak for me. I think my work says a lot more interesting things than I ever could. It’s more eloquent by design. So people’s preconceptions about me are their problem, not mine.”
Expectations—When asked if she feels pressure from her record company or from fans, Kate said, “I do feel pressure. The main sort is the pressure to find ways to be different, to keep evolving. That’s a pressure that I put myself under. It’s only when an album is released that the pressure you’re referring to comes into play. At that point, it’s out of my hands, really.”
Evolution—When asked about how she’s changed as an artist, she said, “The making of an album leads inevitably to big discovery. And I think that discovery is used best when it’s used on the next album. It’s all a big learning process. Each album is like starting from scratch, but from a new plateau.”
Voice—[Note: Kate is referring to her singing voice, but to me what she’s saying applies to authorial voice, as well.] When asked about a perceived change in her range, she said, “It’s different for the audience than it is for me. Every artist goes through phases, of things they try out. It always starts with experimentation. But yes, my voice has changed a lot. As I’ve grown, my voice has grown with me. I can easily do things with it that weren’t easy for me years ago.”
Audience—In regard to fans’ response to change, Kate said, “People expect too much sometimes (from an artist). I think the work is what should stand out…I think the relationship to the audience is that they should know that I’m producing the very best that I can at the time. And that’s all I can do. I do really hope that they like it, but I think it’s important to change. The person I was when I was writing the first album is quite a bit different to the person writing these songs now.”
Showing The Way
One of my favorite quotes about Kate came from rock journalist Nigel Williamson: “What makes her fascinating to her audience is the fact that she’s not necessarily making records for them.”
That may sound odd, but I get it. And I admire it. It’s always been clear to me that Kate Bush panders to no one. She experiments without restrain, free from expectation. She’s fearless, trying things that most pop artists would consider themselves way too cool to attempt. I see that fearlessness as a byproduct of living the artist’s life. She eschews self-consciousness, but she takes herself seriously, which forces us to do the same. Once she’s put her art into the public realm, she’s trained herself to let it go and to strive on to the next thing. It’s clear to me that Kate Bush finds joy in creation rather than in validation.
Kate has bristled at being called reclusive, and insists she shuns the spotlight only so that she can “lead an ordinary life.” But I’d hardly call her life ordinary. More like extraordinary.
Regarding the use of the song Running Up That Hill in Stranger Things, in a recent and rare interview with BBC radio, Kate said, “I really like for people to hear a song and take from it what they want… But I thought, what a lovely way for the song to be used, in such a positive way—as a kind of talisman for Max (the show’s female teenage protagonist). I find it very touching, actually.” [If you’re interested in how the song was used, there is a video—spoiler warning for Stranger Things, S4]
Such a legacy! I’m not a musician and yet Kate fills me with aspiration. Not that I aspire to popularity or fame. I aspire to dedicate myself to my art as she does; to strive to experiment and evolve; to dedicate myself to my vision without heeding commercial viability; to release what I’ve created and then let go of the outcome; to truly find joy in creation.
The very sort of hyper-connectivity that Stranger Things has brought to Running Up That Hill has the potential to lead us astray. So much of our endeavor has us focused on screens. Screens that can so easily become windows to despair. Kate’s example reminds us to maintain our focus not on what’s reflected back, but on projecting our next vision, and seizing the joy in doing so.
Now that’s how one lives an artist’s life. The lessons Kate Bush provides could not have reentered my own life at a better time. Thanks, Kate.
How about you, WU? Are you a Kate Bush fan? Have you been Running Up That Hill of late? Are you finding joy in creation? Let’s seek a bit of Deeper Understanding in the comments.
