If this song was purely about doing the washing, then it would be stupid (something which Kate is definitely not) My interpretation of this song is that it's about a grieving widow whose Husband probably met a grisly ending.
@Lozza263 Her husband is dead and she is remembering him whilst doing the housework, she still has his clothes and remembers their love, the shirts and blouses, but he is gone and it is a painful reminder of what has been left behind. Beautiful really.
Well, you have to admit ... it's possible that either her husband has passed away or .... or that she has murdered him in some bloody fashion, and the cleaning is a reaction to that. ' .... and it looks so white .... ', about the shirt.
I know Kate has said, or at least implied, that this is not the case.
But I wouldn't engage Mrs. Bartolozzi as my charlady without VERY good references. And I'd like to speak to Mr. B.
THis woman can write a beautiful song just about anything!!! love her since I was I was 8 in '78 hahahha still do and was so happy she returned after so many years. If you don;t speak english you might thing it is all about love hahahhaha..Thanx indeed for posting this :)
One of the best ever pieces of music created. Only a genius could come up with a song whose lyrics are so mesmerisingly beautiful. Also, the simplicity of it all - just vocals and paino - bring us back to the essence of Kate Bush's brilliance.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
ok, this coming from somebody that appreciates all musical genres. My dog can write better lyrics than this.. nothing wrong with the song, but omg please stating what you see when your washing machine spins around.. what creative genius
@MisterOverDose It's not actually ABOUT a washing machine; the true meaning is much more subtle than that. You have to look deeper rather than just dismissing it so easily :)
Have you actually listened to the whole lyrics? This is a beautiful song about grief. The woman has just lost her partner and is doing a laundry. She watches her and her man's clothers going round in washing machine and think of themselves together which makes her cry (the "waves are coming in/waves are going out" reffers to three things - washing machine, scene in woman's memories and her tears).
ciao mi dispiace soltanto che ormai che la grandissima kate bush fa uscire isuoi lavori molto raramente... comunque grazie di aver risposto... prelude è anche per me una canzone meravigliosa come del reso tutti i suoi dischi.. sono delle autentiche perle di valore inestimabile ciao alla prossima
Now that I've read the lyrics I realize i might have been wrong; although when I read "my blouse wrapping itself around your trousers" you may forgive me for interpreting it so simplistically...
Yes, I think it's about a woman mourning her husband, although I did originally think it was about a woman whose house had been broken into (her desperation to clean everything afterwards)
a quanto pare mi ritrovo unico italiano.... a commentare la voce angelica inarrivabile... della cantante che ho sognato tante volte... che ammro come la più grande.... che abbia mai deliziato le giornate della mia vita... grazie kate......
@robiacons oh guarda, in alcuni video ho commentato in inglese per prendere parte alle varie discussioni e ooohh e aaaahh generali. Ma sono italiano anch'io. Abito in Inghilterra, la patria di kate. Vorrei solo che i suoi connazionali si accorgessero della sua grandezza, soprattutto le nuove generazioni. Nella canzone 'Prelude', dove canta un pezzo in Italiano, mi sento come se confini e barriere non esistessero piu'...
REFRIGERATOOOOOOOR! "oVER THINKING, oVER ANALYZING, sEPARATES THE BODY FROM THE MIND................I embrace my desire to feel the rhythm, to feel connected enough to step aside and weep like a widow to feel inspired, to fathom the power, to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain, to swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be a human." pOETRY IS MENT TO BE TAKEN INDIVIDUALLY WITH A OPEN HEART AND MIND. IT'S ALL JUST A BUNCH OS FIGURES OF SPEECH. STOP DISSECTING KATE ROCKS
Reminds me of Simon Armitage's poem Cataract Operation; the personification of clothes on a washing line. Except Kate takes it to the next level, intertwining emotional depth through a wife's loss of her husband. The layers of meaning within that grief & reflection are so powerful. The washing machine symbolising her past, ensuing isolation, escapism, maybe even a sense of drowning, reiterating the pain/struggle of coping with her husband's death. Kate writes such vivid lyrics. So expressive.
I think it's great how everyone has their own interpretation. I personally think it has something to do with a woman questioning the path she has chosen in life, her experiences as a housewife and how one's expectations in a partner change over time...
I don't know if I read it or it's my own conclusion...but it seems to be about a widow who's washing a load of clothes which contain her late husband's clothes. She's watching the clothes tumble and remembers him and then fantasizes that they are both in the ocean. I'm pretty sure I read it somewhere...but can't remember. So uneasy but beautiful song.
Brilliant song, and thanks for combining it with images of beautiful Kate of more recent times. Its hard for me to listen to this song without getting all choked up, but some times one just needs to get all choked up. I don't dare listen to "A Coral Room" just now.
I find Aerial so difficult to listen to, but in a great way...it's very challenging. It is a record of someone older and wiser, bruised by life but surviving.
That shimmering,mercurial quality to her voice, the way she could soar or implore, in songs like "This Woman's Work" or "Moments of Pleasure" is lost forever...there's a raw, weary tone to Aerial which reminds me of artists like Marianne Faithful; the life lived comes through in the voice.
'Is it a song about a washing machine? I think it's a song about Mrs. Bartolozzi....' (2005)
'It's the idea of this woman who's kind of sitting there looking at the washing going round, tumbling around in the water, and water becomes the sea, in the clothes, and the sea and the washing machine and the kitchen...' (2006)
If you listen to the Mark Radcliffe radio interview. He says this song is about a washing machine. She replies, "is it"? and how interesting it is to let people interpret it how they want to. Who am I to disagree?!! xx
One thing I have come to appreciate about Aerial is that certain songs seem like nods to earlier albums. Pi is like The Red Shoes era, The song 'Aerial's ending is reminscent of the madcap nature of Sat in your lap or Rocket's Tail. Mrs Bartolozzi's verses are like The Kick Inside era.
sounds like she was going through or a rough time or bereavement missing her man?anyone know?
i remember when she first appeared wuthering heights sooo very different to what was around then my posse at the time thought i had lost the plot as a black dude listening to this but there you do who care Kate is beautiful and will always be
thank you.mark radcliffe did an interview with her about 2/3 years back on radio not long after the release of Aerial she has matured and still beautiful thank you
only our kb could make a symphony, a moving symph out of a washing machine.. someone' s washing her own life, but consider the melody, the harmony, the bass, the rythmn, create a circling sound with piano quivers depicting water.. next time you use your washing machine be kind,
I don't think kb is lacking of inspiration, she is simply grown up thus becoming more reflective and less immediate, easy
I think I see you standing outside But its just your shirt Hanging on the washing line Waving its arm as the wind blows by And it looks so alive Nice and white Just like its climbed right out of my washing machine Washing machine Washing machine great job...
You have so many photos I've not seen before. I am curious I see two photos here of her with Mick Hucknall from Simply Red. But, in the first photo there is another gentleman standing with them. Do you know who he is, luv?
If this song was purely about doing the washing, then it would be stupid (something which Kate is definitely not) My interpretation of this song is that it's about a grieving widow whose Husband probably met a grisly ending.
paulevans1973 1 month ago
Kate I ♥ your music
environikah 1 month ago
This song transports you from mundane and bursts into colourful fantasy. Listen and close your eyes and 'see' what happens. It's magical :)
mingepotato 8 months ago
In Aerial she sings the numbers of Py and about a new washing machine...and it's Fantastic! ;)
SqueeLumkins 8 months ago
The lyrics are a joke!!
Lozza263 10 months ago
@Lozza263 Her husband is dead and she is remembering him whilst doing the housework, she still has his clothes and remembers their love, the shirts and blouses, but he is gone and it is a painful reminder of what has been left behind. Beautiful really.
ThoseHeavyPeople 10 months ago
Well, you have to admit ... it's possible that either her husband has passed away or .... or that she has murdered him in some bloody fashion, and the cleaning is a reaction to that. ' .... and it looks so white .... ', about the shirt.
I know Kate has said, or at least implied, that this is not the case.
But I wouldn't engage Mrs. Bartolozzi as my charlady without VERY good references. And I'd like to speak to Mr. B.
TheQuietEye 10 months ago 2
oh Kate
how I'd love to let you do the hoovering and the washing up in my house...
Sharmilka 1 year ago
Layers, and layers, and layers ..... and you can enjoy it at any level.
That's art.
TheQuietEye 1 year ago
THis woman can write a beautiful song just about anything!!! love her since I was I was 8 in '78 hahahha still do and was so happy she returned after so many years. If you don;t speak english you might thing it is all about love hahahhaha..Thanx indeed for posting this :)
Aphy1970 1 year ago
A sad song about separation. A very clever song as well, one that justifies 10 years of writing - which "Aerial" took.
costellodan 1 year ago
Just got a new washing machine and had this song in my head all day! I do believe it's a work of genius. Love Kate Bush.
Enjoy it at any level you like.
dayveetea 1 year ago
One of the best ever pieces of music created. Only a genius could come up with a song whose lyrics are so mesmerisingly beautiful. Also, the simplicity of it all - just vocals and paino - bring us back to the essence of Kate Bush's brilliance.
proto1type 1 year ago
ugh...i'd make best video for this song :)
Madzho89 1 year ago
A song about a washing machine, I actually thought I misheard it when my dad played it!!! My friends are now obsessed with it!!!
xXeMokiDXxMCRXx 1 year ago
This is the saddest song ever... Beautifully written.
HypernessOverload 1 year ago
Kate Bush is the only woman who can sing "washing machine" WITHOUT sounding ridiculous.
ToccodelDestino 1 year ago 2
This comment has received too many negative votes show
ok, this coming from somebody that appreciates all musical genres. My dog can write better lyrics than this.. nothing wrong with the song, but omg please stating what you see when your washing machine spins around.. what creative genius
MisterOverDose 1 year ago
@MisterOverDose It's not actually ABOUT a washing machine; the true meaning is much more subtle than that. You have to look deeper rather than just dismissing it so easily :)
llaslah 1 year ago
@MisterOverDose
Have you actually listened to the whole lyrics? This is a beautiful song about grief. The woman has just lost her partner and is doing a laundry. She watches her and her man's clothers going round in washing machine and think of themselves together which makes her cry (the "waves are coming in/waves are going out" reffers to three things - washing machine, scene in woman's memories and her tears).
XLittleEarthquakesX 1 year ago 3
@MisterOverDose you're very dense.
annebowman 1 year ago
ciao mi dispiace soltanto che ormai che la grandissima kate bush fa uscire isuoi lavori molto raramente... comunque grazie di aver risposto... prelude è anche per me una canzone meravigliosa come del reso tutti i suoi dischi.. sono delle autentiche perle di valore inestimabile ciao alla prossima
robiacons 1 year ago
Now that I've read the lyrics I realize i might have been wrong; although when I read "my blouse wrapping itself around your trousers" you may forgive me for interpreting it so simplistically...
mcampeau11 1 year ago
Thanks to whomever posted this...have you ever heard doing the laundry sound sooo very sexy...perhaps it's the minor chords?
mcampeau11 1 year ago 4
@mcampeau11 You're welcome!
Symphonyofflowers 1 year ago
Yes, I think it's about a woman mourning her husband, although I did originally think it was about a woman whose house had been broken into (her desperation to clean everything afterwards)
michaelleacy 1 year ago
... too good to be true
dancingdustball 1 year ago
a quanto pare mi ritrovo unico italiano.... a commentare la voce angelica inarrivabile... della cantante che ho sognato tante volte... che ammro come la più grande.... che abbia mai deliziato le giornate della mia vita... grazie kate......
robiacons 2 years ago
@robiacons oh guarda, in alcuni video ho commentato in inglese per prendere parte alle varie discussioni e ooohh e aaaahh generali. Ma sono italiano anch'io. Abito in Inghilterra, la patria di kate. Vorrei solo che i suoi connazionali si accorgessero della sua grandezza, soprattutto le nuove generazioni. Nella canzone 'Prelude', dove canta un pezzo in Italiano, mi sento come se confini e barriere non esistessero piu'...
vins1979 1 year ago
oh kate, you have a way with words.
gmedia78 2 years ago
@abottN. she is anyone/everybody. just doing the day to day stuff can bring back great memories.
marshfish 2 years ago
wHO IS mRS. bARTOLOZZI?
AbottNCostello 2 years ago
yourskull 2 years ago
Reminds me of Simon Armitage's poem Cataract Operation; the personification of clothes on a washing line. Except Kate takes it to the next level, intertwining emotional depth through a wife's loss of her husband. The layers of meaning within that grief & reflection are so powerful. The washing machine symbolising her past, ensuing isolation, escapism, maybe even a sense of drowning, reiterating the pain/struggle of coping with her husband's death. Kate writes such vivid lyrics. So expressive.
CrimsonDiamond 2 years ago 2
Kate´s the best thing ever!
LadyScriabina 2 years ago
i think it,s just about the day to day drudgery of life. but the fact that even that can bring back some nice memories. love kate.
marshfish 2 years ago
I think it's great how everyone has their own interpretation. I personally think it has something to do with a woman questioning the path she has chosen in life, her experiences as a housewife and how one's expectations in a partner change over time...
8BlueSkies 2 years ago
A beautiful gem from her most recent album. Also, thanks for the more recent images of Kate.
rhbxyz 2 years ago
You're welcome.
Symphonyofflowers 2 years ago
I don't know if I read it or it's my own conclusion...but it seems to be about a widow who's washing a load of clothes which contain her late husband's clothes. She's watching the clothes tumble and remembers him and then fantasizes that they are both in the ocean. I'm pretty sure I read it somewhere...but can't remember. So uneasy but beautiful song.
styx3956 2 years ago
xxx
ktbushdan 2 years ago
Brilliant song, and thanks for combining it with images of beautiful Kate of more recent times. Its hard for me to listen to this song without getting all choked up, but some times one just needs to get all choked up. I don't dare listen to "A Coral Room" just now.
keithdeweese 2 years ago 2
You're welcome.
Symphonyofflowers 2 years ago
i could make such a great music video out of this :) great song.
Madzho89 2 years ago
This is a perfect example of a once in a generation songwriting genius.
All it needs is piano and voice and yet it tells such a vivid story about escapism from the mundane.
Its got everything. Light, shade, feel...
World class. No other words needed.
HighHopesBass 2 years ago
Thank you for uploading this... This is one simple yet powerful song...
HypernessOverload 2 years ago
You're welcome.
Symphonyofflowers 2 years ago
Thanks for posting the words, the music, the images - most appreciated!
urbanstroller 2 years ago
Dearest Clare - enjoy your day washing! (_________). your Henry XXX
pappabagge 2 years ago
I find Aerial so difficult to listen to, but in a great way...it's very challenging. It is a record of someone older and wiser, bruised by life but surviving.
That shimmering,mercurial quality to her voice, the way she could soar or implore, in songs like "This Woman's Work" or "Moments of Pleasure" is lost forever...there's a raw, weary tone to Aerial which reminds me of artists like Marianne Faithful; the life lived comes through in the voice.
A great artist
janknuckey 2 years ago 3
Very good comment.....I think I'll give Aerial another listen to with this in mind. Thanks.
latania2005 2 years ago
I love the way she completely divides opinion - either:
She's singing about washing machines, she's completely lost it!
Or:
A song about lost love, memories and laundry - only Kate Bush could write that.
And I can't use my washing machine without humming it!
arosegrowingold 2 years ago 4
This song is NOT about a washing machine if you really listen! xxx
ktbushdan 2 years ago
Well, yes and no - the poetic of the everyday - the transcendence of mundane existence...
And no one, no one, no one else can weave such magic - she is the greatest songwriter of the age....
arosegrowingold 2 years ago
She says herself, it's NOT about a washing machine but loves how everyone will have their own interpretation of the lyrics. xx
ktbushdan 2 years ago
'Is it a song about a washing machine? I think it's a song about Mrs. Bartolozzi....' (2005)
'It's the idea of this woman who's kind of sitting there looking at the washing going round, tumbling around in the water, and water becomes the sea, in the clothes, and the sea and the washing machine and the kitchen...' (2006)
arosegrowingold 2 years ago
If you listen to the Mark Radcliffe radio interview. He says this song is about a washing machine. She replies, "is it"? and how interesting it is to let people interpret it how they want to. Who am I to disagree?!! xx
ktbushdan 2 years ago
Absolutely brilliant song! Love the way she sings the words "Washing Machine" in Lydian mode. Very haunting!
VladtheEmailer 2 years ago 7
Imagine getting all your truth from this song rather than, say, "The Drudge Report?"
FSharp98012 2 years ago 4
hmm.
ErroneousClutter 2 years ago
One thing I have come to appreciate about Aerial is that certain songs seem like nods to earlier albums. Pi is like The Red Shoes era, The song 'Aerial's ending is reminscent of the madcap nature of Sat in your lap or Rocket's Tail. Mrs Bartolozzi's verses are like The Kick Inside era.
Picnicl 2 years ago 2
is that kate at 3:14-20?
sounds like she was going through or a rough time or bereavement missing her man?anyone know?
i remember when she first appeared wuthering heights sooo very different to what was around then my posse at the time thought i had lost the plot as a black dude listening to this but there you do who care Kate is beautiful and will always be
silkychief 2 years ago
No, the picture at 3:14 isn't Kate. It's taken from the cover booklet of the album. It's from a painting but I don't know which one.
And the song isn't about herself. It's about a fictional woman washing her husband's clothes.
Symphonyofflowers 2 years ago
thank you.mark radcliffe did an interview with her about 2/3 years back on radio not long after the release of Aerial she has matured and still beautiful thank you
silkychief 2 years ago
You're welcome.
Symphonyofflowers 2 years ago
"And the song isn't about herself. It's about a fictional woman washing her husband's clothes"
I think it's actually about sex, marriage and infidelity, not literally doing laundry.
I think it's about sex and marriage/relationships and fidelity...
rosabelbelieve 2 years ago 2
only our kb could make a symphony, a moving symph out of a washing machine.. someone' s washing her own life, but consider the melody, the harmony, the bass, the rythmn, create a circling sound with piano quivers depicting water.. next time you use your washing machine be kind,
I don't think kb is lacking of inspiration, she is simply grown up thus becoming more reflective and less immediate, easy
champalou 3 years ago 3
this is a writer's song.
koolaidnhemlock 3 years ago 3
This is simultaneously the worst thing I've ever heard and the Best Thing Ever.
HaroldSBloxham 3 years ago
beautiful!
ppzav 3 years ago 5
"My blouse wrapping itself around your trousers"
How romantic!
I remember how I was surprised by the topic of this video.
wildfemale 3 years ago
Great video,full of top Kate photos!!
Fabulous song from "Aerial"
Shows what great diversity,Kate has in her-
writing subject matter! great choice!!
shum65 3 years ago 8
Thank you, but I didn't choose it myself. I made it at a request from JewishVegan. But I'm glad that you like it anyway.
Symphonyofflowers 3 years ago
ibs11 3 years ago 2
You have so many photos I've not seen before. I am curious I see two photos here of her with Mick Hucknall from Simply Red. But, in the first photo there is another gentleman standing with them. Do you know who he is, luv?
JewishVegan 3 years ago
No sorry, I have no idea who he is. I found that picture on the Homeground forum.
Symphonyofflowers 3 years ago
It's Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet.
MrBartolozzi 2 years ago
OMG.
This is my favorite song from Aerial.
And you did a superb job.
I love you!
JewishVegan 3 years ago
Thank you! I worked hard on this one so I'm glad that you like it.
Symphonyofflowers 3 years ago