Breathing (Kate Bush song)

"Breathing" is a song by Kate Bush, from her 1980 album Never for Ever, with backing vocals by Roy Harper.

"Breathing"
Single by Kate Bush
from the album Never for Ever
B-side"The Empty Bullring"
Released14 April 1980
GenreProgressive rock
Length4:52 (Video edit)
5:30 (Album version)
LabelEMI 5058
Songwriter(s)Kate Bush
Producer(s)Kate Bush, Jon Kelly
Kate Bush singles chronology
"Strange Phenomena"
(1979)		 "Breathing"
(1980)		 "Babooshka"
(1980)
Music video
"Breathing" on YouTube

The single was issued on 14 April 1980 as the album's lead single and reached number 16 in the UK charts, remaining in the charts for seven weeks.[1] It was the first single by Bush to feature a non-LP track on its B-side, "The Empty Bullring".

Content

"Breathing" is about a foetus, very much aware of what is going on outside the womb and frightened by nuclear fallout, which implies that the song is set either during a nuclear war scare or a post-apocalyptic birth.[2] The lyrics also refer to the unborn baby absorbing nicotine from the mother's smoking. In an interview that year Bush described the song as her "little symphony", adding that she considered it her best work to date.[3] Bush stated that the information within the song mostly came from a documentary she had seen about the effects of nuclear war, while the tone of the song was inspired by Pink Floyd's The Wall (side three in particular).[4] The song was recorded over three days in early 1980.

The track includes spoken words describing the flash from a nuclear bomb.

The music video features Bush in a womb portraying a foetus.[5] Bush performed the song live in a benefit concert for Comic Relief in April 1986. In 1985, Bush donated the song as her contribution to the multi-artist compilation Greenpeace – The Album.

Charts
Chart (1980) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[6] 16
Netherlands (Tipparade)[7] 14
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[8] 44

See also

References
  1. "Kate Bush - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  2. "Kate Bush – Breathing Lyrics | Genius Lyrics". 15 April 2019. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  3. Lorne Murdoch (1985). "Kate Bush". Record Collector (December 1985, No. 76): p.21
  4. Melody Maker, 10 October 1980
  5. "Kate Bush - Breathing". 1 March 2007 – via YouTube.
  6. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  7. "Tipparade-lijst van week 21, 1980" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  8. "Kate Bush – Breathing" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
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