| "Army Dreamers" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Kate Bush | ||||
| from the album Never for Ever | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | 22 September 1980 | |||
| Length | 3:17 (single album) 2:58 (LP version) | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Kate Bush | |||
| Producer(s) | Kate Bush, Jon Kelly | |||
| Kate Bush singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Army Dreamers" on YouTube | ||||
"Army Dreamers" is a 1980 song, the third and final single to be released from the album Never for Ever , by Kate Bush. It was a UK top 20 hit in October 1980.
"Army Dreamers" was released on the 22 September 1980[ citation needed ] and peaked at number 16 in the UK Singles Chart. [1] The song is about the effects of war and about a mother who grieves for her young adult son, who was killed on military manoeuvres. Saddened by his unnecessary death, she wrestles with her guilt over what she could have done to prevent it. The song is a waltz, which marks a change from Bush's previous singles. The version on the original single release is longer than on the album release; the album version fades, whereas the single release has a dead ending (the version of the single from The Single File , however, fades like the album release).[ citation needed ]
The single includes two B-sides, "Delius" and "Passing Through Air." "Delius" is Bush's tribute to English composer Frederick Delius. The subtitle, "Song of Summer," comes from one of Delius's works, and from a BBC film Bush saw about the composer's life. The album version is different in that the previous track "Babooshka" segues into it, whereas the single B-side version begins unobscured. "Passing Through Air" is one of Bush's earliest works, originally recorded in 1973 at David Gilmour's studio, a few weeks after her 15th birthday. [2]
The reference in the lyrics to "BFPO" refers to "British Forces Post Office," the postal system for the British armed forces.
"Army Dreamers" was one of 68 songs considered inappropriate for airplay by the BBC during the first Gulf War.
The music video opens on a closeup of Kate Bush, dressed in dark green camouflage, holding a child. She blinks in synchronisation with the song's sampled gun cocks. The camera pulls out and shows that Bush has a white-haired child on her lap. The child walks off and returns in military combat uniform, and during the first pre-chorus, as Bush responds to her bandmates' comments, the child grows up into a 20-year-old. Bush and several soldiers (two of whom, Bush included, have "KT8" or "KTB" stencilled on the butt of their rifles: "KTB" was a monogram used by Bush early in her career) make their way through woodland, amid explosions. As the song progresses, Bush reaches out for the child soldier, but he disappears. Finally, Bush is blown up.
Bush has stated that this video is one of the few examples of her work that completely satisfies her:
For me that's the closest that I've got to a little bit of film. And it was very pleasing for me to watch the ideas I'd thought of actually working beautifully. Watching it on the screen. It really was a treat, that one. I think that's the first time ever with anything I've done I can actually sit back and say "I liked that." That's the only thing. Everything else I can sit there going "Oh look at that, that's out of place." So I'm very pleased with that one, artistically. [3]
| Chart (1980) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Ireland (IRMA) [4] | 14 |
| Israel (IBA) [5] | 2 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [6] | 36 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100) [7] | 25 |
| UK Singles (OCC) [8] | 16 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI) [9] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
Catherine Bush is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK singles chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female artist to achieve a UK number one with a fully self-written song. Her debut album The Kick Inside was released that year, reaching number three on the UK Albums Chart.
Hounds of Love is the fifth studio album by English musician Kate Bush, released on 16 September 1985 by EMI Records. It was a commercial and artistic success and marked a return to the public eye for Bush after the relatively low sales of her previous album, 1982's The Dreaming. The album's lead single, "Running Up That Hill ", became one of Bush's biggest hits, giving Bush her second UK number-one single in June 2022. The album's first side produced three further singles, "Cloudbusting", "Hounds of Love", and "The Big Sky". The second side, subtitled The Ninth Wave, forms a conceptual suite about a woman drifting alone in the sea at night.
The Kick Inside is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Kate Bush. Released on 17 February 1978 by EMI Records, it includes her UK No. 1 hit, "Wuthering Heights". The album peaked at No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart and has been certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Several progressive rock musicians were involved in the album including Duncan Mackay, Ian Bairnson, David Paton, Andrew Powell, and Stuart Elliott of the Alan Parsons Project and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd.
Never for Ever is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Kate Bush, released on 8 September 1980 by EMI Records, it was Bush's first No. 1 album and was also the first album by a British female solo artist to top the UK Albums Chart, as well as being the first album by any female solo artist to enter the chart at No. 1. It has since been certified Gold by the BPI. It features the UK Top 20 singles "Breathing", "Army Dreamers" and "Babooshka", the latter being one of Bush's biggest hits. Bush co-produced the album with Jon Kelly.
The Single File is a video compilation and box set by the English musician Kate Bush. The video compilation album was released in 1983, and it contains the first twelve videos released by the artist. It was followed by a boxset, The Single File 1978~1983 containing thirteen singles on individual vinyl records.
"Running Up That Hill" (on some releases titled "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)") is a song by the English singer-songwriter Kate Bush. It was released in the UK as the lead single from Bush's fifth studio album, Hounds of Love, on 5 August 1985 by EMI Records.
"Wuthering Heights" is the debut single by the English singer-songwriter Kate Bush, released on 20 January 1978 through EMI Records. It was released as the lead single from Bush's debut album, The Kick Inside (1978). It uses unusual harmonic progressions and irregular phrase lengths, with lyrics inspired by the 1847 novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. Bush wrote it in a single evening at the age of 18.
Aerial is the eighth album by English singer-songwriter and musician Kate Bush. It was released as a double album in 2005, twelve years after her 1993 album The Red Shoes. The album peaked at No. 3 in the UK.
"Babooshka" is a song by English singer, songwriter Kate Bush, taken from her third studio album Never for Ever (1980). Released as a single in June 1980, it spent 10 weeks in the UK chart, peaking at number five. It was an even bigger hit in Australia, where it peaked at number two and was the 20th best-selling single of the year. It also peaked at number 2 in France on 28th Dec. 1980.
"King of the Mountain" is a song by British singer-songwriter Kate Bush. Taken from her eighth album, Aerial (2005), it was released on 24 October 2005 as the album's only single. The single peaked at No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart.
"Don't Give Up" is a song written by English rock musician Peter Gabriel and recorded as a duet with English singer Kate Bush for Gabriel's fifth solo studio album So (1986). The single version was released as the third single from the album in the UK on 20 October 1986 and as the fourth single in the US in March 1987. It spent eleven weeks in the UK Top 75 chart in 1986, peaking at number nine.
"Dreamer" is a hit single from British band Supertramp's 1974 album Crime of the Century. It peaked at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1975. In 1980, it appeared on the band's live album Paris. This live version was also released as a single and hit number 15 on the US charts, number 36 in the Dutch Top 40, and number one on the Canadian Singles Chart. When "Dreamer" had been released in 1974, its B-side "Bloody Well Right" was more popular in North America leading it to chart instead, at No. 35 in the US and No. 49 in Canada, with "Dreamer" only charting in Canada, that being at No. 75. "Dreamer" also appeared on Roger Hodgson's album, Classics Live, recorded on tour in 2010.
"Sat in Your Lap" (1981) is a song by English art rock musician Kate Bush. It was the first single to be released from her fourth studio album, The Dreaming (1982), issued 15 months prior to the album's release. The single peaked at no. 11 on the UK Singles Chart and spent seven weeks in the top 75.
"The Man with the Child in His Eyes" is a song by Kate Bush. It is the fifth track on her debut album The Kick Inside and was released as her second single, on the EMI label, in May 1978.
"Experiment IV" is a song by the English singer Kate Bush. It was released as a single on 27 October 1986, in order to promote Bush's greatest hits album The Whole Story. The single peaked at 23 in the UK Singles Chart, charting simultaneously with "Don't Give Up", Bush's duet with Peter Gabriel, which reached number 9.
"This Woman's Work" is a song written and performed by the English singer-songwriter Kate Bush. It was initially featured on the soundtrack of the American film She's Having a Baby (1988). The song was released as the second single from her album The Sensual World in 1989 and peaked at 25 in the UK Singles Chart.
"Cloudbusting" is a song written, produced and performed by English singer Kate Bush. It was released as a single in October 1985, and was the second single released from her fifth studio album Hounds of Love (1985). "Cloudbusting" peaked at No. 20 on the UK Singles Chart and spent eight weeks in the top 100.
"The Sensual World" is a song by English singer-songwriter Kate Bush. It was the title track and first single from her album of the same name, released in September 1989. The single entered and peaked at No. 12 on the UK Single Chart.
"Them Heavy People" is a song written and recorded by Kate Bush, from her debut album The Kick Inside. It was issued as a single in Japan only with the title "Rolling the Ball" reaching number 3, its only release worldwide as an A-side.
"Rocket Man" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin and performed by John. It was originally released on 17 April 1972 in the US, as the lead single to John's album Honky Château. The song first charted in the UK on 22 April, rising to No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 6 in the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming a major hit single for John.
