"This Woman's Work" | ||||
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Single by Kate Bush | ||||
from the album The Sensual World | ||||
B-side |
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Released | 20 November 1989 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1988 | |||
Genre | Art pop | |||
Length | 3:33 | |||
Label | EMI | |||
Songwriter(s) | Kate Bush | |||
Producer(s) | Kate Bush | |||
Kate Bush singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"This Woman's Work" on YouTube |
"This Woman's Work" is a song written and performed by the British singer 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. [2]
"This Woman's Work" is about being forced to confront an unexpected and frightening crisis during childbirth. Written for the film She's Having a Baby , [3] director John Hughes used the song during the film's dramatic climax when Jake (Kevin Bacon) learns that the lives of his wife, Kristy (Elizabeth McGovern), and their unborn child are in danger. As the song plays, a montage sequence of flashbacks shows the couple in happier times, intercut with shots of him waiting for news of Kristy and their baby's condition. Bush wrote the song specifically for the sequence, writing from a man's (Jake's) viewpoint and matching the words to the visuals which had already been filmed. [4]
Tarquin Gotch, who was music supervisor of She's Having a Baby, says that the temp track for the scene was This Mortal Coil's cover of "Song to the Siren" by Tim Buckley, but they were unable to obtain legal rights to use the song. [5] [6]
The version of the song featured on The Sensual World was re-edited from the original version featured on the film's soundtrack. The version released as a single was listed as "Single Mix".
"This Woman's Work" is one of several songs that were re-recorded on her 2011 album Director's Cut . The new version features a sparse performance of Bush singing and playing piano.
According to the sheet music published in Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is set in the time signature of common time, with a slow tempo of 66 beats per minute. It is written in the key of A-flat major with Bush's vocal range spanning from A♭3 to E♭5. [7]
The music video for "This Woman's Work", directed by Bush herself, starts with Bush, spotlighted in an otherwise black room, playing the introductory notes on a piano. In the next scene, a troubled man (played by Tim McInnerny) is pacing in the waiting room of a hospital. It is then revealed through flashbacks that his wife (played by Bush) has collapsed while they are having dinner. The story blurs into a continuous scene where he carries her to the car, a desperate race to the hospital, and his wife is wheeled away on a stretcher as he races in behind her. While waiting, the husband is wracked with fear and imagines his wife in happier times, kissing him in the rain, and even imagines the nurse coming to tell him she has died. The nurse then pulls him out of his reverie, reassuringly putting her hand on his shoulder, smiling and nodding, and telling him about his wife's situation, though we cannot hear what she is saying. The video's final scene returns to Bush as she silently covers the piano keyboard.
Upon its release as a single, Chris Roberts of Melody Maker praised "This Woman's Work" as "a luscious, spiritually elevating ballad" which is "ecstatic with wintry tragedy" and "sort of 'The Man with the Child in His Eyes' as interpreted by Leonora Carrington". [8] David Giles of Music Week stated, "Bush is at her most potent when she's in her reflective, late-evening mood, and her fragile, delicate voice combines with sparse piano and Michael Kamen's spot-on orchestral arrangement to create what almost amounts to a lullaby." [9]
It was used as a part of the soundtrack from the 2000 film Love & Basketball .[ citation needed ] Fifteen years after its original release, in 2005, the song peaked at number 3 in the UK Official Download Chart due to it being featured in the Tamzin Outhwaite drama Walk Away and I Stumble. Also in 2005, the song featured in an advert for the NSPCC. [10] In 1997, the song was featured in season 3, episode 21 of the series Party of Five ("Hitting Bottom") when Bailey asks Sarah for help after crashing his jeep and injuring her.[ citation needed ] The song was featured in the Alias episode "So It Begins" (2001). It plays while Sydney is in the bathtub reflecting on her relationship with her murdered fiancé.[ citation needed ] Due to the song's inclusion in Extras, the song entered the UK chart once again at number 121 in the week ending 5 January 2008, rising to 76 the following week. The song appears in Season 6, Episode 12 of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia while Dee Reynolds (Kaitlin Olson) emerges after giving birth to a waiting room full of former romantic acquaintances. After it was performed by a contestant on Britain's Got Talent in April 2012, it re-charted at number 63 on the UK chart. In 2015, the song was used in the first season finale of FX series You're the Worst , sung by the character Lindsay Jillian (Kether Donohue). [11] The song features prominently in the first episode of the second season of The Handmaid's Tale when the lead character faces execution. [12] In May 2021, "This Woman's Work" was featured on the second episode of The Pact, a BBC1 drama series starring Julie Hesmondhalgh. [13] [14] Following this, the track placed at 42 on the UK Official Download Chart. [15] The song is featured in the 2022 film A Man Called Otto . [16] After the release of the Netflix film The Mother in May 2023, in which "This Woman's Work" is heavily featured at the climax of the film, [17] the song saw a chart resurgence; in the United Kingdom, the track charted at number 39 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart. [18] The song appears in Season 2, Episode 3 of Our Flag Means Death during a heartfelt reunion and dreamscape moment between Stede Bonnet and Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard. [19]
A version of the B-side "Be Kind to My Mistakes" had previously been featured in the film Castaway in 1986. The other B-side, "I'm Still Waiting", features on the 12" and CD single versions only.
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "This Woman's Work" | 3:33 |
2. | "Be Kind to My Mistakes" | 3:03 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "This Woman's Work" (single mix) | 3:33 |
2. | "Be Kind to My Mistakes" | 3:03 |
3. | "I'm Still Waiting" | 4:25 |
"This Woman's Work" was released on 20 November 1989 and reached a peak position of number 25 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2022, "This Woman's Work" was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales and streams of over 400,000 units.
Chart (1989) | Peak position |
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Irish Singles Chart [20] | 20 |
UK Singles (OCC) [2] | 25 |
Chart (1990) | Peak position |
Australian ARIA Singles Chart [21] | 89 |
Chart (2008) | Peak position |
UK Singles Chart [22] | 76 |
Chart (2012) | Peak position |
UK Singles Chart [22] | 63 |
Chart (2014) | Peak position |
UK Singles Chart [22] | 80 |
Chart (2021–23) | Peak position |
UK Sales Chart [23] | 19 |
US Digital Song Sales ( Billboard ) [24] | 24 |
US Alternative Digital Song Sales [25] | 1 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United Kingdom (BPI) [26] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
"This Woman's Work" | ||||
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Single by Maxwell | ||||
from the album Now | ||||
Released | 15 January 2002 | |||
Recorded | 2000–2001 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:01 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Kate Bush | |||
Producer(s) |
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Maxwell singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"This Woman's Work" on YouTube |
In 1997, American R&B musician Maxwell covered the song for the release of his album MTV Unplugged . The artist later re-recorded the song in studio for his album Now (2001). This version of the song was released as the album's third single in 2001 and peaked in the US Billboard charts at number 58 (Billboard Hot 100 in 2002) [27] and number 16 (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs). [28] This version also appeared in the 2000 film Love & Basketball .
The song was featured on week 7 of season 5 of So You Think You Can Dance (22 July 2009). It was used as the music for a contemporary dance choreographed by Tyce Diorio and performed by contestants Melissa Sandvig and Ade Obayomi. It was featured on week 10 of season 21 of Strictly Come Dancing (25 November 2023), where it was used as the music for a contemporary dance performed by contestants Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell.
Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "Maxwell's Unplugged cover of the lilting Kate Bush chestnut is a perfect showcase for his voice—precisely because he only takes full advantage of its depth during a few impassioned moments, teasing us with his potential. The rest of the number is done in falsetto alongside minimalist treble pluckings, a style that expresses convincingly the longing implicit in the lyrics and the melody itself." [29]
The music video for Maxwell's cover of "This Woman's Work", which was directed by Sanji, begins with pictures of Maxwell and his lover in black-and-white photography. One image reveals that his lover has died. In the next scene, Maxwell sees the ghost of his lover in the street, and proceeding toward her, he falls through the street into a watery grave, seemingly drowning in his sorrow. Maxwell then begins to swim across the street, pulling himself up by holding onto the sidewalk; he looks up to a cloud that reveals his lover's face. The next scene shows Maxwell sitting in a diner, reminiscing about the loss of his love. Sitting next to Maxwell are two women who—shown through flashbacks—have experienced heartache and loss of another kind. The music video ends with Maxwell walking outside the diner, seemingly still underwater, as he sings, "make it go away."[ citation needed ]
Chart (2000–2002) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Billboard Hot 100 [30] | 58 |
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) [31] | 16 |
Chart (2012) | Peak position |
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UK Singles Chart | 41 |
UK R&B Chart | 14 |
Chart (2002) | Position |
---|---|
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard) [32] | 72 |
"This Woman's Work" | |
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Single by Hope for Isla and Jude | |
Released | 5 December 2014 [33] |
Recorded | 2014 |
Length | 3:48 |
Label | Sanfilippo Children's Foundation / Sony |
In 2014 musicians Darren Hayes, Pete Murray, Marlisa Punzalan, Nathaniel Willemse and Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers collaborated to record "This Woman's Work" as Hope for Isla and Jude. The song was recorded to bring hope to Isla and Jude, two young Australian siblings suffering from the rare and fatal disease Sanfilippo Syndrome. Proceeds from the songs went to Sanfilippo Children's Foundation, a not-for-profit charity that dedicates its resources to progressing clinical research into the effective treatment of Mucopolysaccharidosis III, also known as MPSIII or Sanfilippo Syndrome. [34] The song peaked at number 79 on the ARIA Singles Chart.
Chart (2014) | Peak position |
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Australia (ARIA Charts) [35] | 79 |
Catherine Bush is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. 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 self-written song. Bush has since released 25 UK Top 40 singles, including the Top 10 hits "The Man with the Child in His Eyes", "Babooshka", "Running Up That Hill", "Don't Give Up", and "King of the Mountain". All nine of her studio albums reached the UK Top 10, with all but one reaching the top five, including the UK number one albums Never for Ever (1980), Hounds of Love (1985) and the greatest hits compilation The Whole Story (1986). She was the first British solo female artist to top the UK album charts and the first female artist to enter the album chart at number one.
"I'm a Believer" is a song written by Neil Diamond and recorded by American band the Monkees in 1966 with the lead vocals by Micky Dolenz. The single, produced by Jeff Barry, hit the number-one spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending December 31, 1966, and remained there for seven weeks, becoming the last number-one hit of 1966 and the biggest-selling single for all of 1967. Billboard ranked the record as the number-five song for 1967. While originally published by Screen Gems-Columbia Music (BMI), it is now published by Stonebridge Music/EMI Foray Music (SESAC), with administration passed to Sony Music Publishing and Universal Music Publishing Group.
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Gerald Maxwell Rivera, known mononymously as Maxwell, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to prominence following the release of his debut studio album Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite (1996), which received widespread acclaim and spawned the hit singles "Ascension " and "Sumthin' Sumthin'". Through the album and its follow ups, Maxwell has been cited—along with Lauryn Hill, D'Angelo, and Erykah Badu—for ushering in the neo soul movement and its sensibilities into mainstream popular music during the late 1990s.
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