Songs that Changed Music: Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights
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Published 2021-01-13
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“Wuthering Heights” launched the nineteen year old Kate Bush into the international spotlight. It not only hit number one in the UK (making Bush the first female artist in the UK to reach number one with a self-written song), it also grabbed the number one spot in Australia, Italy, New Zealand, and Ireland. Further, the song made it into the top ten in Denmark, Belgium, Finland, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Spain.
“Wuthering Heights” remains one of Kate Bush’s most successful and beloved tracks. In 2016, Pitchfork named it number five on their list of the best two hundred songs of the 1970s. It was also foundational in helping Bush develop her interest and skills in music production. She has gone on to record ten studio albums, many of which she produced or co-produced herself. She has also received three Grammy nominations and in 2013, she was appointed as a Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth.
Bush’s relationship with the track was intensely personal. She had penned the song after discovering Emily Brontë’s famous mid-nineteenth century novel through a television broadcast of the BBC’s 1967 film adaptation. She explained:
“When I first read Wuthering Heights I thought the story was so strong. This young girl in an era when the female role was so inferior and she was coming out with this passionate, heavy stuff. Great subject matter for a song. I loved writing it. It was a real challenge to précis the whole mood of a book into such a short piece of prose. Also when I was a child I was always called Cathy not Kate and I just found myself able to relate to her as a character. It’s so important to put yourself in the role of the person in a song. There’s no half measures. When I sing that song I am Cathy.”
The lyrics tell the story from the point of view of the novel’s protagonist Catherine (“Cathy”) Earnshaw. It captures the destructive passion of Cathy’s relationship with Heathcliff (“I hated you, I loved you too”) and the haunting presence she holds throughout the story. “Heathcliff, it’s me, Cathy. Come home, I’m so cold. Let me in your window,” she wails in the song’s chorus. Bush’s vocals are intoxicating in their originality. She uses the full range of her voice, both enticing and unsettling the listener – somehow managing to condense the essence of Brontë complex character into a few minutes of exquisite songwriting and performance.
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All Comments (21)
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What are some other songs you would like us to cover in this series?
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She also wrote "The Man with the Child in his Eyes" when she was...13 years old. She's a genius.
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What a moment, this song. In the middle of the punk movement, Kate Bush has millions of teenagers mesmerized by a musical adaptation of a 19th century gothic novel. It's hard now to appreciate how revolutionary that was, and the lasting influence she had on popular music. Genius track, and brilliant songwriter. There is only one Kate Bush.
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Its still one of the most unique songs of all time. Nothing else sounds like it. Like Bohemian rhapsody its an eccentric masterpiece.
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Perfect that she shares a birthday with Emily Bronte.
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The guitar solo that emerges out of seemingly nowhere at the end takes my breath away every time
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Kate Bush is arguably the best female songwriter and producer to come out of the UK. Hounds of Love is a masterpiece.
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"Genius" is a word that is toted around too easily, but in Kate Bush's case there is no other way to describe her.
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The first time I heard this in the 70s, I said to myself "What the hell was that?" I had never heard anything like it in my life and it immediately became one of my favorite songs of all time and she became one of my favorite singers. To this day, there has never been anyone like her.
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WUTHERING HEIGHTS IS A MASTERPIECE.
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I'm 28 years old. I remember as a child seeing her on a re-run of TOTP and it FREAKED me out, she was like a witch or a syren or something with this beautiful wailing voice. I asked my parents who she was and they said "Kate Bush. We reacted the same way when we saw it live on TOTP back in the day".
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When she sings the line "I'm so cold", it really brings to life (pardon) the image of that lonely, confused, shivering ghost trying to get back in. It's really powerful.
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I saw Kate do the red dress Wuthering Heights video on MC Swap Shop when I was a child in 1978, and it stopped me in my tracks and impressed a memory that is still as strong as ever. No web in those days, I listened for it on the radio. The following Monday at school everybody was “did you see that on Saturday morning?” nothing like it has happened since. Any time I hear Wuthering Heights I feel like I’m right there back at that moment again.
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My dad Nick Abson, produced and directed the original video for this song, the ‘red dress’ one on the moors. He has some interesting tales of that scene.
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One of the great artists of all time
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I saw Kate on SNL 1978?.. when I was young... I thought "What a Weirdo!" Now that I have rediscovered her I am overjoyed that I discovered her genius.... Amazing talent.. omg! ❤️ I am a Prince fan and I see a lot of influence in his music from Kate.
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The Dreaming is the best thing ever recorded. Its weird and unique, nothing else like it. You might love it or hate it but it's pure genius
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To this day, Kate Bush remains one of the most inspiring and original artist of her time. Thank you for paying tribute to her extraodinary work.
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Gives me chills every time I listen. Her voice, the song structure - beauty and genius all rolled into one amazing work.
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I was listening to "Babooshka" while delivering mail last year (I'm in southern Tacoma), when a man walked up to me and asked what I was listening to, commenting that it was unusual and interesting. After gushing to him about how dear Kate Bush's music is to me and how much I appreciate her genius, he nodded and said, "I have heard of her. I'm going to dig into her library." Another fan made.
