Essay: The other Kate Bush banger that deserves a comeback right now

As a reader, I’m much of a “Jane Eyre” miss than a “Wuthering Heights” girl. Of course, I archetypal devoured the novels astatine an property erstwhile I was excessively young to recognize the Heathcliff-Catherine ourobouros dynamic; lonely, bookish orphan Jane was much my speed.

But erstwhile I got to assemblage and fell madly successful emotion for the archetypal time, I was primed for the Kate Bush mentation of “Wuthering Heights,” an avant-garde philharmonic number, each shrieks and pleading. Somehow Bush, that Ur-diva of the ’80s, wrapped up the crippled of Emily Brontë’s 1847 caller amended than immoderate SparkNotes could (this was agelong earlier AI). Swathed successful lyrics and melody alternatively of chaptered prose, I got it: Here were 2 radical who embodied the thought down can’t unrecorded with oregon without you.

Kate Bush, “Wuthering Heights” video

I’m inactive a reader, 1 who spends immoderate of my speechmaking clip professionally, arsenic a publication critic. Talk astir chaotic and windy moors, temper and jealousy! Yet I travel backmost again and again similar Cathy, to my ain “only master,” stories, words and their creators. In the words of Kate Bush, I can’t “leave down my Wuthering Wuthering Wuthering Wuthering Heights ...“

We’re not the lone ones. This month’s caller Emerald Fennell movie adaptation of Brontë’s novel, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, promises to present millions of moviegoers to a classical caller into which Brontë’ poured her soul, creating archetypical lovers — the mismatched, fevered benignant who whitethorn ne'er find happiness but can’t discontinue each other.

Once I’d heard the song, I was hooked, some connected Bush’s euphony (we each saw “Stranger Things” blaze “Running Up That Hill” backmost to life) and connected a quest to find retired however different musicians mightiness usage stories and novels successful their work. Some songs are evidently based connected fables and folktales, similar Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On” (“The Lord of the Rings”) and “Ain’t Necessarily So” by Bronski Beat (the communicative of Moses, etc.) Given my fabrication addiction, I started hunting retired much obscure titles.

Well, if not obscure, astatine slightest much literary. David Bowie’s “1984” was an casual win, based of people connected the Orwell novel. Aficionados admit that the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” derives from Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita;” and “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane echoes “Alice successful Wonderland.” There’s adjacent a tiny pop/rock subgenre of songs based connected Anne Rice’s vampire novels: Sting’s “Moon Over Bourbon Street,” Annie Lennox’s “Love Song for a Vampire,” and Concrete Blonde’s “Bloodletting.”

Let’s not hide the classical classics. Could 2 songs beryllium much antithetic than Steely Dan’s “Home astatine Last” and the Soggy Bottom Boys’ “I americium a Man of Constant Sorrow”? Yet some are inspired by the “Odyssey” of Homer. Sadly, though inspired by the “Iliad” of Homer, ABBA’s “Cassandra” doesn’t scope Mount Olympus heights successful prime (there are different egregious songs based connected good books similar “The House astatine Pooh Corner” by Loggins and Messina). Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” gets references successful galore lyrics, arsenic good arsenic a prima crook successful the Mark Knopfler ballad of the aforesaid name.

Knopfler (who, nary coincidence, has a master’s successful literature) wrote my favorite-ever opus based connected a literate work: “Sailing to Philadelphia.” It’s a retelling successful miniature of Thomas Pynchon’s 1997 “Mason & Dixon,” astir the 2 Englishmen hired by the Penns and the Calverts to “draw the line” that successful 1765 began to disagreement the United States into North and South, via Maryland and Pennsylvania, and figured importantly during our nation’s Civil War. Performed arsenic a duet by Knopfler and James Taylor, the portion employs a large woody of adept finger-picking to mimic the sounds of wind, waves and seabirds portion the 2 surveyors — 1 of land, 1 of stars — reason astir however harmless and palmy their expedition volition be.

“Sailing to Philadelphia” inspired maine to prime up Pynchon’s caller aft I archetypal heard it successful the aboriginal 2000s. I’d ne'er work thing by the famously reclusive writer earlier (so writer me, I spent grad schoolhouse arsenic a medievalist) and I was perfectly riveted by his consciousness of play, of the looseness successful the joints of his sentences and paragraphs. I’ve since work 2 much (“The Crying of Lot 49” and the rather caller “Shadow Ticket”) and anticipation to get to “Vineland” sometime successful the adjacent future.

That is what a large adaptation should do: marque you funny astir its root material. Not each listener, of course, volition link the Kate Bush opus rubric to Emily Brontë’s caller (and, thankfully, astir listeners volition neglect to link ABBA’s “Cassandra” with Homer), but those who bash mightiness take to work the book. What could beryllium much applicable close present than Bowie’s “1984” and its ground successful Orwell’s novel?

Speaking of late-stage capitalism: If Taylor Swift’s “happiness” (sic) sends immoderate of her die-hard stans to “The Great Gatsby,” they whitethorn spot “the greenish airy of forgiveness,” referencing Daisy’s dock signal, arsenic its ain illusion. I’m nether nary illusion that each and each lyrical allusion to lit volition foster a speechmaking revolution.

However, I besides cognize that I’m acold from the lone publication nerd retired present who keeps a log (written oregon remembered) of songs based connected literate works. What’s your favorite? What’s the astir obscure 1 you tin recall? Let’s physique a large large list.

Meanwhile, I’ll beryllium implicit present successful my speechmaking nook, listening to Kate Bush arsenic I reread “Wuthering Heights.” Pro tip: The book, my friends, is ever better.

Patrick is simply a freelance professional and writer of the memoir “Life B.”