Because I can.

[catsidhe]

This morning, for your daily dose of poetry and surrealism and deep-thinky stuff, I present the words to a song, wot I like.

I've attempted to show the interplay of voices with indentation and typeface. It's a pale shadow of the song, though.

Kate Bush – Waking the Witch

(From The Hounds of Love/The Ninth Wave, 1985)

'Wake up!'
 'A good morning, ma'am. Your early morning call.'
'You must wake up!'
  '[titter] Wake up! [titter]'
'Wake up, man!'
 'Wake up, child! Pay attention!'
  'Come on, wake up!'
'Wake up, love!'
    'We should make the night, but see your little light's alive!'
 'Stop that lyin' and a-sleepin' in bed--get up!'
'Ma needs a shower. Get out of bed!'
 Little light...
'Can you not see that little light up there?'
 'Where?'
'There!'
 'Where?'

'Over here!'

'You still in bed?'
'Wake up, sleepy-head!'
 'We are of the going water and the gone. We are of water in the holy land of water'
   'Don't you know you've kept him waiting?'
'Look who's here to see you!'


Listen to me, listen to me, baby. Listen, baby, help me, baby! Help me, help me! Listen to me, talk to me!
 You won't burn.
Red, red roses.
 You won't bleed.
Pinks and posies.
 Confess to me, girl.
Red, red roses,
Go down!

Spiritus sanctus in nomine...
Spiritus sanctus in nomine...
Spiritus sanctus in nomine...
Spiritus sanctus in nomine...

 Poor little thing,
Red, red roses,'
 The blackbird!
Pinks and posies.
 Wings in the water,
Red, red roses,
Go down.
Pinks and posies.

Deus et dei domino...
Deus et dei domino...
Deus et dei domino...
Deus et dei domino...

 'What is it, child?'
'Bless me, father, bless me, father, for I have sinned.'
 Red, red roses!
Help me, listen to me!
 Red, red rose!
 I question your innocence!
Help this blackbird!
 'She's a witch!'
There's a stone around my leg.
 Uh! Damn you, woman!
Help this blackbird!
 There's a stone around my leg.
 'What say you, good people?'
  'Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!'
Help this blackbird!
 I am responsible for your actions.
Oh-hoh-hoh!
 'Not guilty!'
Help this blackbird!
  Wake (of) the witch!

'Get out of the waves! Get out of the water!'

The Hounds of Love was actually two albums, one for each side of the LP (yes, I own the vinyl version. One owner, from new).
The Hounds of Love was side A, but side B was The Ninth Wave. The Hounds of Love is about various interpretations of love, from the overwhelming nature of lust and new love (Hounds of Love: "They're in the trees... They're coming!", (Running up that Hill: "If I only could, I'd make a deal with God, and I'd get him to change our places."), love for a mother (Mother stands for Comfort) and father (Cloudbusting).
In contrast, The Ninth Wave is about dreaming. And Dream of Sheep is the hypnagogic state as the dreamer falls asleep and begins to dream, The Morning Fog is waking up – refreshed, if maybe confused. Like a night of dreaming, it breaks into various not-entirely-logical sections, but with strands linking all the dreams. One strong strand is that of the dreamer fading away, leaving loved ones behind. This is the main idea behind all tracks except the first and last.
Given the ebb and flow of dreams, another universal theme is that of water, and the danger of drowning. There is an obvious link between dreaming and the sea, made more explicite by the quote on the cover linked to the title:

Wave after wave, each mightier than the last,
Till last, a ninth one, gathering half the deep

from Tennyson. The theme of water is also extended to Time. The chant in the prelude to Waking the Witch: "We are of the Going water and the Gone, We are of Water in the Holy Land of Water" is taken from a section in another song, Jig of Life:

Can't you see where memories are kept bright?
Tripping on the water like a laughing girl.
Time in her eyes is spawning past life,
One with the ocean and the woman unfurled,
Holding all the love that waits for you here.
Catch us now for I am your future.
A kiss on the wind and we'll make the land.
Come over here to where When lingers,
Waiting in this empty world,
Waiting for Then, when the lifespray cools.
For Now does ride in on the curl of the wave,
And you will dance with me in the sunlit pools.
We are of the going water and the gone.
We are of water in the holy land of water
And all that's to come runs in
With the thrust on the strand.'

Another repeated line is "Get out of the Waves, get out of the Water."

Sleep, as a metaphysical crisis.

Ah, feh. I'm talking out of my arse, and I don't know that I'm making much sense, and you really have to sit down and listen to the album anyway. I'm talking as someone who has listened to it a lot, and am trying to get across the depth and profundity of it, as I have experienced it. Thank you for your indulgence.

Comments

[tooticky.livejournal.com]

Hm. Nice start to a good post. You could always write some more about it, I don't think I'm being that indulgent.
Although, you could indulge me for a moment- years and years ago usuakari mentioned you'd said that "Waking the Witch" reminded you of me. Every now and then when I hear the song, I think about that and I'm not sure what to whether to be flattered or mildly appalled.
It's one of the creepiest things I've heard (This Mortal Coil's Blood is up there- Come to Daddy is the worst) and the whole album is messed up, chilling, scary, weird and just generally Very Kate Bush Indeed. If you remember why, can you tell me?

[catsidhe.livejournal.com]

Buggered if I know.

Possibly the mystic/magick/poetic/hypnagogic associations swirling around in that song reminded my of a possibly similar association matrix which I saw in you. The more I think about the actual words, and the woven threads of the song, the less I think of them as relevant to you.

I think it was more of a gestalt impression than any intellectual thing.

FWIW, the Jig of Life soliloquy I quoted is a piece of poetry that resonates strongly with me. Again, buggered if I know why. I tend to associate myself more with Air and Fire than with Water. eh.

D'yer think I should write more on this subject? I certainly could do with the writing practice...

[tooticky.livejournal.com]

Why not? That's what lj's for, anyway. You'll almost certainly find a Kate Bush community out there- see what they write about, that could be interesting. If music generally, pretty much the same. You could always cross post.
Probably with most of us, the more practice we have articulating what we think and why, the better really. :)
Plus, That Kate? She rocks.