Sunday 1 March 2020

Kate Bush - Breathing


Sunday, time for a classic.

"Breathing" is a single by Kate Bush, the first cut from her 1980 album "Never For Ever", with backing vocals by Roy Harper.

The single was issued on 14 April 1980, four months before the album was released. It was the first single by Bush to feature a non-LP track on its B-side, "The Empty Bullring".


"Breathing" is about a foetus, very much aware of what is going on outside the womb and frightened by nuclear fallout, which implies that the song is set either during a nuclear war scare or a post-apocalyptic birth. The lyrics also refer to the unborn baby absorbing nicotine from the mother's smoking. In an interview that year Bush described the song as her "little symphony", adding that she considered it her best work to date. Bush stated that the information within the song mostly came from a documentary she had seen about the effects of nuclear war, while the tone of the song was inspired by PINK FLOYDs "The Wall" (side three in particular). The song was recorded over three days in early 1980.

The track includes spoken words describing the flash from a nuclear bomb.

The music video features Bush in a womb portraying a foetus. Bush performed the song live in the benefit concert in aid of The Prince's Trust in July 1982. In 1985, Bush donated the song as her contribution to the multi-artist compilation Greenpeace – The Album.



Enjoy today's tune by this remarkable woman.



More info @

Official Kate Bush Web

Listen to ”Kate Bush - Breathing" on Spotify!



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