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Post by Barry SR Gowing on Oct 11, 2011 8:23:23 GMT
(Until such time as we have formal section set up for the "50 Words For Snow" album, we can talk about this song here).
They call you an animal The Kanchenjunga demon Wild Man Metoh-kangmi
Lying in my tent I can hear your cry Echoing ’round the mountainside You sound lonely
While crossing the Lhakpa La Something jumped down from the rocks In the remote Garo Hills by Dipu Marak We found footprints in the snow
The schoolmaster of Darjeeling said We saw you by the Tengboche Monastery You were playing in the snow You were banging on the doors You climbed up on the roof Roof of the world You were pulling up the rhododendrons Loping down the mountains
They want to know you They will hunt you down Then they will kill you Run away, run away Run away
While crossing the Lhakpa La Something jumped down from the rocks In the remote Garo hills by Dipu Marak We found footprints in the snow
We found your footprints in the snow We brushed them all away
From the sherpas of Annapurna To the Rinpoche of Qinghai Shepherds from Mount Kailash to Himachal Pradesh Found footprints in the snow
You’re not a langur monkey, Nor a big brown bear You’re the wild man They say they saw you drown In the Rongbuk glacier
They want to hunt you down You’re not an animal The Lamas say You’re not an animal
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Post by Barry SR Gowing on Oct 11, 2011 8:38:50 GMT
Most of the place names are in Tibet or Northern India.
Metoh-kangmi means "Wild man of the snow". Dipu Marak is a "Yeti believer" who has spent years in search of the elusive snowman. A Rinpoche is a term applied to certain particularly esteemed Lamas and Qinghai is a province of China that borders Tibet. Rinpoche means "precious one" in Tibetan.
Interestingly, Mount Kailash (which is mentioned in the lyric) is known as "Kang Rinpoche" in Tibetan. Kang means "snow covered peak".
--Paul--
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Post by Barry SR Gowing on Oct 16, 2011 4:10:11 GMT
Here's a nice review from the New Musical Express: www.nme.com/reviews/kate-bush/12361October 10, 2011
Kate Bush, ‘Wild Man’ Producer: Kate Bush Label: Fish People
Since she re-surfaced after her 12 year hiatus with 2005's 'Aerial', Kate Bush's output has been many things including gorgeously expansive and broad. But what it hasn't been for many years is densely surreal, qualities which characterised the best of her early work. Until 'Wild Man' that is.
Pre- 'The Red Shoes' there was an unpredictability and the sense of being a passenger into the wiles of Bush's uniquely bonkers brain. Since 'Aerial' it's been more steady, calm waters. This sonic sparseness was echoed by her lyrical conceits, which shifted away from magic realism and fantasy to elemental themes of flora, fauna and , um, washing machines.
For those of us who have been secretly longing for a return to the unflinchingly bizarre and Bush's ability to conjure up strange new worlds, 'Wild Man' is a deep joy.
Lyrically we're in a literal wilderness, where the 'Wild Man' of the title is a revealed to be a Yeti-type figure roaming the wiles of the Himalayas. Bush's whispered vocal delivery of the lyrics (which are full of geographical intrigue and century old myth) is full of the right balance of fear, intrigue and empathy towards the plight of the shadowy figure ("I can hear your cry/Echoing around the mountain side/You sound lonely," she sings).
As for the the chorus, it bursts forth mid-eruption; a choir of strange voices; echoing the 'Wild Man''s own explosion out of habitation into civilization in the narrative of the song. Bush tackles this by a multiple layering of voices, creating several personas and the atmosphere of a village set adrift by the sudden intrusion. It's a style which recalls some of her most classic work.
Musically, we've moved on subtly from the pared down production of 'Director's Cut', and on 'Wild Man' a guitar riff-plays pan-Asian and ponderous, but there's also a layering of sounds in the chorus (tinkling percussion, a bedrock of organs), which suggests her 80s heyday.
Multiple listens on, the references just keep coming; there's 'Scary Monsters And Super Creeps' era Bowie and some of the 'Tusk' era Fleetwood Mac and her own 'Sensual World' and 'The Dreaming'.
After the domestic bliss of 'Aerial', it's a deep joy to have Kate roam the narrative wiles of her imagination. The result is her strongest single for decades.
Priya Elan--------------------------------------- Yes, I think I'd go along with that for the most part. Aerial was great but now that Bertie is growing up - and is about the same age that Kate was when she discovered her muse - I think that Kate is really returning to her former artistic world. Who knows, maybe Bertie even directly sparked some of this? One can imagine him asking, "Why don't you make you make more records, Mum?". Perhaps he even has some musical aspirations himself, since he does come from a rather musical family! --Paul--
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Post by Barry SR Gowing on Oct 20, 2011 11:38:40 GMT
Let me just be the first to note that it has made the UK charts. Only #73, but hey, you've got to start somewhere!
--Paul--
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Post by Barry SR Gowing on Oct 20, 2011 11:44:37 GMT
Kate's posted the official lyrics now: www.katebush.com/news/wild-man-lyricsPleased to see that my version was actually correct (all the other ones I'd seen on-line were wrong). Not that I would gloat or crow anything. --Paul--
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