The Empty Bullring

[Lori]

Disappears through a window
Out of my mind
Trying to keep him at home
Out into Rome
In the early hours
Leaving me here
Like Tamlaine in her Tower
You are going
To the empty bullring
Taking your red cloak
To regain something

Oh, you rolling matador
Kill in your eyes
For the toro
That shut the door
To glory and gore
The throw of the rose
It's all you lived for
But you've lost it all

Your red streak
On the plot where many feet
Left it incomplete
But you kept the meaning
You feel him charge again
And you feel him cut you down
Right on the spot
Where you thought
You were ground for good
These flights of fantasy
Make your wounds more sore
But you've every right
To even grab at the last straw
Oh, Lord

Oh, you rolling matador
Kill in your eyes
For the toro
That shut the door
To glory and gore
The throw of the rose
It's all you lived for
But you've lost it all
But you've lost it all
But you've lost it all

[Lori]

This is one of my fave Kate songs of all. Just wish it was longer. Kate's voice is amazing in it and no-one hardly seems to talk about it

What's everyone's views?

[amy]

I like this song so much. Her voice is lovely because it isn't technically perfect. I think her recent voice is becoming a lot less polished than it used to and as a result sounds much nicer as though there's a real person singing into the mic. I like to hear the singer breathing.

I just thought though, did/do they have bullrings and matadors in Rome? I associate them with Spain. She could have rhymed Spain with Pain and it still fit into the story?

[Barry SR Gowing]

amy said:

I just thought though, did/do they have bullrings and matadors in Rome? I associate them with Spain. She could have rhymed Spain with Pain and it still fit into the story?

Yes they did have bullfighting in Ancient Rome at the Circus Maximus. There would have someone like a matador at these events. Bullfighting was also popular in parts of Ancient Greece. Spanish bullfighting was encouraged by the Moors who invaded Spain in the 8th century and developed bullfighting into something more like the modern form.

--Paul--

[amy]

Yes, I guess the Romans had a go at anything for entertainment!

[Barry SR Gowing]

Apr 7, 2008 19:55:52 GMT amy said:

Yes, I guess the Romans had a go at anything for entertainment!

Yes, they were certainly very intent on getting some entertainment. You wouldn't have wanted to have gotten in their way when those Romans were out for a bit of fun, that's for sure.

Funny thing is, they made such bloody good roads.



--Paul--

[tannis]

"The Empty Bullring"

KB: [/b]"This is a song that I first had ideas for quite a few years ago. It is really about someone who is in love with someone who is obsessed with something that is pretty futile. They can't get the person to accept the fact that it is a futile obsession. To put it into a sort of story form: he became a matador, and got gored so badly that he couldn't carry on. But at night he climbs out of the window and runs off to a bullring, when there is no-one there, and he fights a bull that doesn't exist."
Kate's KBC article, Issue 6 (July 1980): "Convention was great!"
gaffa.org/garden/kate7.html

Who is Tamlain, mentioned in The Empty Bullring?
KB: "Tamlain is a girl in a traditional fairy story, who is locked up in an ivory tower."
Kate's KBC article, Issue 14 (Fall 1993): "Dear Friends"
gaffa.org/garden/kate16.html

Kate Bush - The Empty Bullring
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yfePF8GjLA