|
Post by rosabelbelieve on Apr 8, 2008 0:19:48 GMT
Very interesting thoughts on this song. Funny, Tannis mentioned Babooshka having spiderish qualities- and that's always an image I've gotten from the sense of her complete manipulation of his affection and the dark web of a situation that cannot really bring any good, except maybe a realization of what she has done- as Paul said, 'the shattering of illusions.'
|
|
|
Post by Barry SR Gowing on Apr 8, 2008 1:49:57 GMT
Very interesting thoughts on this song. Funny, Tannis mentioned Babooshka having spiderish qualities- and that's always an image I've gotten from the sense of her complete manipulation of his affection and the dark web of a situation that cannot really bring any good, except maybe a realization of what she has done- as Paul said, 'the shattering of illusions.' Hmm, that's got me thinking about hunters and prey. I suppose there's different ways of catching the prey. Sometimes it's the hounds of love, sometimes it's the spider spinning its web. --Paul--
|
|
|
Post by tannis on Jun 23, 2008 13:06:35 GMT
Here's a suggestion from @forums about the raw inspiration for the lyrics of Babooshka and also about the title of the album, NFE, which have to do with a play of Federico Garcia Lorca called The Love of Don Perlimplin for Belisa in his Garden.
"My thirst will never be quenched," says Belisa, the young wife of Don Perplimlin. She's not talking about water, either.
The story begins with the fifty year old Don Perlimplin being pressured to marry by his maid, Marcolfa. The object of his affection is Belisa, his neighbor's daughter, who sings in the night about love and passion. The initial action takes place on their respective balconies, which look beautiful and are to the right and left of the stage, giving the impression that the audience is on the street below, watching the action. Don Perlimplin and Belisa then engage in an uproarious parody of balcony scenes from other plays. The scene ends with Belisa's mother agreeing to give her daughter away in marriage to Don Perlimplin. Belisa protests at being married to such a "funny old man," when she would prefer to be satisfied by younger men. Belisa agrees to the match because her avaricious mother persuades her that Don Perlimplín's money will make her more attractive to other men.
On their wedding night, the curtain is closed by two sprites, who keep the audience from watching as five men enter Belisa's room to satisfy her and then leave again. The curtain is opened again, and the dynamic of the play begins to shift from light comedy to tragedy. Don Perlimplin is not unaware of Belisa's affairs, but he loves her anyway. So much so, that he promises to aid Belisa in capturing the attention of a young man in a red cloak, who sends letters to Belisa that inflame her passion. Belisa receives these graphic love letters from the mysterious man in a red cape with whom she falls in love and whom she agrees to meet in the garden of Don Perlimpín's house. She goes there at the appointed time but as Belisa waits, her husband arrives, vowing to kill the man in the cloak so that Belisa can be with him forever-never worrying about rejection or anything else. Don Perlimplín reveals himself as the man in the red cloak and announces that he has taught Belisa the meaning of love before committing suicide. In actuality, by commiting suicide, Don Perlimpin is making Belisa's love for the stranger in the cloak eternal. Only by killing himself as an ideal lover can he capture Belisa's effusive yet passionate love.
"Once more using skewed perspectives, symbolic sets and props, and the stylized atmosphere of the eighteenth century, this grotesque and tragic farce presents the traditional figures of an old man married to a young woman, but after touching on impotence and rampant sensuality, it goes on to explore the relationship between fantasy and reality, the desirability of the unknown and the unattainable, and the possibility of the finding of true love in self-sacrifice." ~ The Cambridge History of Spanish Literature
|
|
|
Post by tannis on Aug 31, 2008 22:00:40 GMT
PATRICK LICHFIELD: The World's Most Beautiful Women ~ KATE BUSH i93.photobucket.com/albums/l44/PuNkEr-16/KateBush.jpg thehomegroundandkatebushnewsandinfoforum.yuku.com/reply/123036/t/Favourite-Kate-Pic.html#reply-123036 "Weird, wonderful and extremely popular singer whose unique style of singing and presentation on stage and screen has carved her a considerable niche in the pop world over the last few years. I thoroughly enjoyed photographing Kate. She came to my studio (with the Indian Headdress) and was completely happy to cooperate in every way with the make up artist and me. She's an entertainer down to her fingertips and has a very strong sense of 'image' which makes a photographic session with her more of a 'production' with everybody having great fun working together to produce the finished shot. She's diminutive and lively, with a fascinating, mobile face and reminds me nothing so much as a bright, beautiful little bird." I love this picture of Kate... the headdress and make-up are so Eastern looking and exotic. And tannis, the connection with silent film actors is well seen. So many of the videos and performances contain wonderfully exaggerated expressions and dramatic visual emotion. Jewelry of the Stars...The Lichfield 'Indian Headdress' photograph is indeed beautiful and exotic. The 'Joseff of Hollywood'-style dangly ball earring really compliments the composition, and the finished product could be a still from a silent movie... The World's Most Beautiful Women ~ BABUSHKAShe wanted to take it further, So she arranged a place to go, To see if he Would fall for her incognito. And when he laid eyes on her, He got the feeling they had met before. Uncanny how she Reminds him of his little lady, Capacity to give him all he needs, Just like his wife before she freezed on him, Just like his wife when she was beautiful. He shouted out, "I'm All yours, Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya! All yours, Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya! All yours, Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya!"Would you Adam and Eve it? In the Lichfield 'Indian Headdress' photograph, Kate Bush is incognito, wearing the BaBushKa headdress costume! And we all fell for her... Lord Lichfield: "I thoroughly enjoyed photographing Kate. She came to my studio (with the Indian Headdress) and was completely happy to cooperate in every way with the make up artist and me. She's an entertainer down to her fingertips and has a very strong sense of 'image' which makes a photographic session with her more of a 'production' with everybody having great fun working together to produce the finished shot."So it seems that KaTe was cheekily determined to get a professional finished shot of Babooshka from the Royal photographer... and to have her alter-ego BaBushKa featured in Lichfield's book of The World's Most Beautiful Women (1981)... What a coup! No wonder the session with her was more of a 'production'! "I have to keep an eye on her, you know," says Kate Bush, glancing over her shoulder. "I mustn't let her get out of hand." She looks down. "Sometimes, it's funny, I feel sort of... inferior to her, you know, and I can feel myself starting to behave like her in real life." She is talking, it turns out, about her stage self. "It's frightening," she adds. Sunday Telegraph, "The Explosive Kate Bush", July 6, 1980 gaffa.org/reaching/i80_st2.htmlCompare the Lichfield photographs with the Babooshka video:LICHFIELD: The World's Most Beautiful Women ~ KATE BUSH/BABUSHKAi93.photobucket.com/albums/l44/PuNkEr-16/KateBush.jpgthehomegroundandkatebushnewsandinfoforum.yuku.com/reply/123036/t/Favourite-Kate-Pic.html#reply-123036Kate Bush - Babooshkawww.youtube.com/watch?v=xz07Hf5htfY0:58-1:11...Interestingly... Merkaba is the divine light vehicle allegedly used by ascended masters to connect with and reach those in tune with the higher realms. "Mer" means Light. "Ka" means Spirit. "Ba" means Body. Mer-Ka-Ba means the spirit/body surrounded by counter-rotating fields of light, which transports spirit/body from one dimension to another. So Ba-Bush-Ka could mean KT's body, 'mind', and spirit!
|
|
|
Post by tannis on Sept 1, 2008 15:00:34 GMT
THE SINGLE FILE Babooshka (1)
1 - Directed by Keef, A Keefco Production Babooshka costume based on an illustration by Chris Achilleosgaffa.org/wow/k49.jpgi93.photobucket.com/albums/l44/PuNkEr-16/KateBush.jpgthehomegroundandkatebushnewsandinfoforum.yuku.com/reply/123036/t/Favourite-Kate-Pic.html#reply-123036Chris Achilleos (born 1947) is a painter and illustrator who specializes in fantasy artwork and glamour illustration. Born in Famagusta, Cyprus, his family emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1959, where he currently resides.
His work has appeared in Heavy Metal and Radio Times magazines, on book covers (including series based on the Conan the Barbarian character, TV's Doctor Who and the Fighting Fantasy gamebook series), and in collections of his own work. He has also worked on various film projects as a conceptual artist. Recently, his work has also included fetish art.
Achilleos created the controversial cover for Whitesnake's 1979 album, Lovehunter, which featured a naked woman straddling a giant serpent. Reportedly, the controversy proved troublesome for Achilleos, who subsequently refused to do album covers for many years.Raven, Swordsmistress of Chaos by Chris Achilleos (Corgi, Mar 1978)www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/images/0552106941/ref=dp_image_0/026-2030615-8849242?ie=UTF8&n=266239&s=booksFrom out of the bonds of slavery there arose a warrior… a warrior feared all across the lands, a warrior whose blade was stained with the blood of thousands – man and beast – who smiled as she killed, with hair as gold as summer sun, eyes as blue as heavens, and a body which invited only love yet dealt bloody, merciless death to her enemies. Raven, Swordsmistress of Chaos! homepage.mac.com/antallan/wwomen.htmlChris Achilleos painted the covers for Richard Kirk's Raven series. Kate's costume was inspired by the cover for Raven - Swordsmistress of Chaos, the first in the five part Raven series. She was originally a blonde and a bit less modest!The Raven series was written by Richard Kirk, a pseudonym of Robert Holdstock (Mythago Wood, etc.) and Angus Wells (Exile’s Children, etc.). The series was plotted by both authors; they collaborated on the first book, and took turns on the later ones.
Mike Ashley (Encyclopedia of Fantasy) says, “The books are sword and sorcery with more sex and violence than previously common in that genre.”
Chris Achilleos provided the covers for the original Corgi edition, in his typical “bums and boobs” style, giving Raven a fetishistic dress sense in keeping with the illustrations he was doing for Paul Raymond’s girlie magazine Men Only at this time! see more Babushka, Swordsmistress of Chaos!www.conan.com/invboard/index.php?showtopic=2981&pid=60590&st=160&
|
|
|
Post by tannis on Sept 1, 2008 17:27:04 GMT
"Its like watching a glass butterfly in a storm..... I could just burst into tears thinking about her... She is SO special" - Toyah WillcoxAnd could Achilleos have inspired Toyah Willcox?“Amazon” by Chris Achilleos homepage.mac.com/antallan/acamazon.htmlToyah - Thunder In The Mountainswww.youtube.com/watch?v=RtPj_iWln0s&feature=relatedIn 1986 the story-telling album The Lady or the Tiger?, marked her first collaboration with future husband Robert Fripp. After moving to E.G. Records, Willcox recorded Desire at Abbey Road, the first album to garner significant comparison to Kate Bush. Willcox recorded Prostitute, her most critically acclaimed and experimental work, in 1988.October 16th: Singer/songwriter, actress and TV presenter Toyah Willcox has been interviewed on the BBC website in their "Music Memories" feature in which music fans discuss memorable songs/albums and how they've affected them. In a soundclip on the site Toyah discusses how she "adores" Kate, even though she admits she was always described as "a poor man's Kate Bush" and she says she finds the "pure form of femininity" that Kate produces in her work to be wonderful. In a soundclip on the site you can hear how Toyah responded whilst driving to a tape of Moments Of Pleasure - she was so moved that she actually crashed her car! www.katebushnews.com/2001.htm
|
|
|
Post by tannis on Jan 17, 2009 16:27:24 GMT
Kate Bush Interview 1980 www.youtube.com/watch?v=syDT1MHmvOI Kate Bush Interview for Babooshka - Countdown Australia Oct 1980KT: "And the whole idea of the song is really the futility and the stupidness of humans, and how, by our own thinking and swimming round in our own ideas, we come up with completely paranoid facts. So, in her situation, she was in fact suspicious of a man who was doing nothing wrong - he loved her very much indeed - and through her own sort of suspicions and evil thoughts she's really ruined the relationship."Sophocles: "Good advice, my lord, for anyone who wants to avoid disaster. Those who jump to conclusions may go wrong."
|
|
|
Post by Barry SR Gowing on Mar 26, 2009 15:35:14 GMT
This irks me just a bit too. However, not all that much. Is she saying 'worse' or 'worst' for example - or 'choice' or 'move' It could be a mixing error (I doubt) or just hyperbole. It's funny, I though we'd discussed the slightly curious moment when she sounds like she's about to sing "She couldn't have made a worse choice" or "worse move", but instead sings something "She couldn't have made a worse chove". It occurs to me that it is common practice for vocalists to "double track" their vocals. The idea is that the vocalist sings the same part virtually identically at least twice on separate tracks and then both vocals are combined in the final mix. The effect is to make a more powerful sounding vocal. Done properly it will sound like one voice, not two separate ones. However, some vocalists have trouble remembering the words. John Lennon was notorious for slightly messing up the lyrics on Beatles songs. If you listen carefully to certain Beatles songs you'll notice that occasionally when he double tracks a vocal he sings two different words by mistake every now and then. On one song, "Slow Down", he manages to juxtapose two completely different lines "Now you don't care a dime for me" on one track and "Now you've got a boyfriend down the street" on the other at the same time. Clearly somebody thought this sounded good, otherwise he'd have been asked to redo the vocal! Well, I wonder if something similar happened with "Babooskha". What if on one take Kate sang "choice" and on the other she sang "move" ... when the vocals were combined it was decided not to let the two different words completely overlap, and so the last part of "choice" was mixed out, resulting in a hybrid word "chove". It's just a theory, and although Kate doesn't always double track her vocals, she has been known to. Also, have another look at the Babooshka video. At that point in the song what word is she lipsynching? "Choice", "move" (or "chove")? It looks a bit like "choice" to me --Paul--
|
|
|
Post by tannis on Mar 26, 2009 21:27:53 GMT
Thanks, Paul, for the info on double tracking. When I listen to the single version, I still hear "a worst move" (grammatically incorrect). But on both the demo and beatbox versions, I hear "a worse move" (grammatically correct).Babooshka - Kate Bush www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot3cVY1JESQ
Kate Bush - Babooshka (Beatbox Demo) www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkaGrDjY_No
Kate Bush - Babooshka *early demo on the pianowww.youtube.com/watch?v=U8OTdGHwpzc1 - She wanted to test her husband. 2 - She knew exactly what to do: 3 - A pseudonym to fool him. 4 - She couldn't have made a worse move.25 - Just like his wife before she freezed on himfreezing cold, chilled, chilled most to death, cold as ice, colder still, damn nigh scrammed, dithery, foundered to death, freezed, freezed stiff, freezed to death, freezed up, freezing... (p.450).
Survey of English dialects: the dictionary and grammar By Clive Upton, David Parry, John David Allison Widdowson Published by Routledge, 1994 "Containing around 17,000 headwords and detailed phonetic descriptions, this book makes available for the first time the material gathered by the historic Survey of English Dialects, fully alphabetized."
|
|
|
Post by tannis on Apr 8, 2009 21:44:07 GMT
Babooshka is similarly based on a song called Sovay Sovay. I tell her I'll listen to Roy Harper's album if she'll listen to an album called Carolanne by Carol Pegg, which includes a similar embellishment on Lucy Wan ["Carolanne", Carolanne Pegg, Transatlantic UK 1973]. Melody Maker, "Paranoia and Passion of the Kate Inside", Colin Irwin, Oct 4, 1980www.gaffaweb.org/reaching/i80_mm.htmlSovay [Trad. arr. Martin Carthy] Martin Carthy's 1965 version
Sovay, Sovay all on a day She dressed herself in man's array With a sword and pistol all by her side To meet her true love, to meet her true love, away did ride
As she was riding over the plain She met her true love and bid him stand “Your gold and silver, kind Sir,” she said “Or else this moment, or else this moment, your life I'll have”
And when she'd robbed him of his store She said, “Kind Sir, there is one thing more A golden ring which I know you have Deliver it, deliver it, your sweet life to save”
“Oh that golden ring a token is My life I'll lose, the ring I'll save” Being tender-hearted just like a dove She rode away, she rode away, from her true love
Now next morning in the garden green Just like true lovers they were seen He spied his watch hanging by her clothes Which made him blush, made him blush, like any rose
“Oh what makes you blush at so silly a thing I thought to have had your golden ring 'Twas I that robbed you all on the plain So here's your watch, here's your watch and your gold again”
“Oh I did intend and it was to know If that you were me true love or no So now I have a contented mind My heart and all my heart and all my dear is thine”Dave Swarbrick & Martin Carthy - Sovaywww.youtube.com/watch?v=pkpujKDSTToMartin Carthy commented in his original recording's sleeve notes: Sovay Sovay was a great favourite among country singers and was printed by Such, among others, under its alternative title of The Female Highwayman. Her name varies from place to place - Sovay, Silvy, Shilo, Sally, etc. - but the story remains the same being a rather involved and slightly chancy way of establishing her lover's good faith. The tune sung here was collected by Hammond in Dorset and slightly altered rhythmically by Bert Lloyd giving it a somewhat Balkan lift. The text is collated from various versions.
|
|
|
Post by tannis on Apr 9, 2009 19:27:32 GMT
...and although Kate doesn't always double track her vocals, she has been known to. This interview is certainly one of the very best ever undertaken with Kate. It is quite different from the majority of interviews conducted by the mainstream music publications, in that the main subject of discussion is actually the music, and Kate's methods of making it.Do you "chorus" your voice a lot? KT: "We have used delay machines for this on a couple of tracks, and added a very slight harmonizer effect, as well as sometimes very tight double tracking. It really does depend on the song, and how strong the lead vocal needs to be. For a more delicate song it would be wrong to put a heavy harmonizer on it--it would sound so affected. We've also been using an awful lot of compression on the new album--with nearly everything, in fact. It's interesting, the kind of dynamics you can actually create, which is what I really never understood before. Especially with voices: as you start compressing them more and more, so many different levels start coming through on it--the breath particularly. And for me, that's as important as the words: it's the space in between." Electronics & Music Maker, 1982www.gaffaweb.org/reaching/i82_emm.html
|
|
|
Post by stufarq on Jun 30, 2009 18:16:27 GMT
What if on one take Kate sang "choice" and on the other she sang "move" ... when the vocals were combined it was decided not to let the two different words completely overlap, and so the last part of "choice" was mixed out, resulting in a hybrid word "chove". Also, have another look at the Babooshka video. At that point in the song what word is she lipsynching? "Choice", "move" (or "chove")? It looks a bit like "choice" to me --Paul-- No, it's a very clear "t" sound, not a "ch". And "choice" wouldn't rhyme. Her voice doesn't sound double tracked to me. And in the video, her lips clearly make an "m" shape. She definitely sings "worst move". I suspect both this and "freezed" were simply a case of sounding better, regardless of grammar. They're a bit harsher and spikier than "worse" and "froze" and sound better with the music. Try singing the correct words and see how they compare (trying to ignore the grammatical issue).
|
|
|
Post by tannis on Sept 24, 2009 5:27:38 GMT
BABUSHKA A Russian Legend
Babushka sits before the fire Upon a winter's night; The driving winds heap up the snow, Her hut is snug and tight; The howling winds--they only make Babushka's fire more bright!
She hears a knocking at the door: So late--who can it be? She hastes to lift the wooden latch, No thought of fear has she; The wind-blow candle in her hand Shines out on strangers three.
Their beards are white with age, and snow That in the darkness flies; Their floating locks are long and white, But kindly are their eyes That sparkle underneath their brows, Like stars in frosty skies.
"Babushka, we have come from far, We tarry but to say, A little Prince is born this night, Who all the world shall sway. Come join the search; come, go with us, Who go our gifts to pay."
Babushka shivers at the door; "I would I might behold The little Prince who shall be Kings But ah! the night is cold, The wind so fierce, the snow so deep, And I, good sirs, am old."
The strangers three, no word they speak, But fade in snowy space! Babushka sits before her fire, And dreams, with wistful face: "I would that I had requested them, So I the way might trace!"
When morning comes with blessed light, I'll early be awake; My staff in hand I'll go--perchance, Those strangers I'll o'ertake; And, for the Child some little toys I'll carry, for His sake."
The morning came, and, staff in hand, She wandered in the snow, She asked the way of all she met, But none the way could show. "It must be farther yet," she sighed; "Then farther will I go."
And still, 'tis said, on Christmas Eve, When high the drifts are piled, With staff, with basket on her arm, Babushka seeks the Child: At every door her face is seen-- Her wistful face and mild!
Her gifts at every door she leaves; She bends and murmurs low, Above each little face half-hid By pillows white as snow:" And is He here?" Then softly sighs, "Nay, farther must I go."
Edith M. Thomas, 1907
|
|