Eccentric, unconventional, and wholly idiosyncratic, Kate Bush has left an indelible mark on pop. While new fans may only know her ‘80s mega-hit “Running Up That Hill,” the English singer has a rich catalog that’s unparalleled when it comes to weirdness, vision, and sheer artistic expression. Ahead, from “Wuthering Heights” to 2011’s “Misty,” NYLON picked 10 of her other iconic songs to know, proving that there’s no one who does eccentricity as well as her.
All Kate Heads know “Wuthering Heights,” her sweet, unsettling debut single that’s written from the POV of a ghost haunting her former lover. One listen and you’ll know why: her voice is as electrifying as her eccentricity. (YouTube)
If you love “Running Up That Hill,” “Hounds Of Love” — the title track from the same album — feels like a different leg of that same journey: pounding drums and Bush’s signature mysticism run wild and free. (YouTube)
Another standout from Hounds Of Love, “Cloudbusting” is about a father and son shooting at clouds to incite rain. The song sounds as whimsical, stirring, and magical as you’d expect. (YouTube)
Only Kate Bush could conjure up a song about cheating as silly and delightful as “Babooshka,” in which a woman sets her husband up by sending him fake letters from a babooshka — Russian for “grandma.” (YouTube)
Not only deft at crafting stirring, fantastical creations, Bush can also write a mean tearjerker. “This Woman’s Work,” about the resilience and strength in caretaking, is as gorgeous as it is heartbreaking. (YouTube)
Usually Bush writes about characters in her songs, but on “Moments Of Pleasure,” she writes about real people from her life, paying tribute to those that have died. (YouTube)
Kate Bush spins a story about a woman falling in love with a snowman that’s both surreal and erotic. From her 2011 album 50 Words For Snow, it proves even years after her debut her odd charm hasn’t worn at all. (YouTube)
Bush’s theatrical and performative spirit is best captured on “Hammer Horror,” a growling pop song that feels like multi-act play collapsed into four minutes. (YouTube)
No one does metaphysical pop better than Kate Bush. On the above, she’s haunted by a man with a “child in his eyes,” sounding simultaneously conflicted and aroused. Mood. (YouTube)
If it’s not clear yet, Bush has never been afraid of getting weird. One of her oddest, most recent songs, “Pi,” includes her actually singing the digits of pi while weaving a tale of a woman falling in love with an obsessed mathematician. (YouTube)