| "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 22 September 1980 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 |
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 Pink Floyd's David Gilmour 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 solely self-written song. Her debut album, The Kick Inside, was released that same year.
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.
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"Wuthering Heights" is a song by English singer Kate Bush, released as her debut single on 20 January 1978 through EMI Records. Inspired by the 1847 Emily Brontë novel of the same name, the song was released as the lead single from Bush's debut studio album, The Kick Inside (1978). It peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart for four weeks, making Bush the first female artist to achieve a number-one single with an entirely self-penned song. It also reached the top of the charts in Australia, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, and Portugal.
"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.
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"Breathing" is a song by Kate Bush, from her 1980 album Never for Ever, with backing vocals by Roy Harper.
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