Kate Bush reflects on Ukraine conflict and Queen’s death in Christmas message
Bush also looked back on the viral success of 'Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)' after the song featured in 'Stranger Things'
By Nick Reilly
Kate Bush has shared her hopes for an end to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine in her 2022 Christmas message.
The singer, who shares a message on her website every year, reflected on how life continues to be “incredibly frightening” despite the end of the pandemic.
Bush, whose 1985 hit ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)’ received a huge revival earlier this year after it featured in Stranger Things, wrote: “Every year seems to fly by a little faster. They say this happens as you get older, but there’s no doubt that the speed of life is accelerating at a greater rate than ever.”
She continued: “I don’t think any of us have ever known a year like this one. Life became incredibly frightening in the pandemic, but just as we think it might be over soon, it seems to keep going.
“It’s a bombardment. The horrific war in Ukraine, the famines, the droughts, the floods… and we lost our Queen. Many of my friends were surprised at how upset they were at her death especially as we aren’t royalists, but I think her passing became a focus for grief, for unexpressed loss that so many people had felt during the pandemic.”
Reflecting on the renewed success of her song, Bush looked back on how it secured a number of achievements including three Guinness World Records in the UK: namely the oldest female artist to reach Number One, longest time for a track to reach Number One on the UK’s Official Singles Chart, and longest gap between Number Ones.
“It’s been a crazy, roller coaster year for me. I still reel from the success of RUTH, being the No 1 track of this summer,” Bush said. “What an honour! It was really exciting to see it doing so well globally, but especially here in the UK and Australia; and also to see it making it all the way to No 3 in the US. It was such a great feeling to see so many of the younger generation enjoying the song. It seems that quite a lot of them thought I was a new artist! I love that!”
After thanking fans for supporting the track, Bush concluded: “I wonder where on earth we’ll all be at the end of next year? I hope the war will end. I hope that the nurses will be in a position where they are appreciated – they should be cherished. Let’s all hope that next year will be better than this one. I keep thinking about hope and how it was the last to fly out of Pandora’s box. Sometimes it’s all that seems to glow in the dark times we find ourselves in right now.
“I used a little robin in some of my Christmas gifts to friends this year. I felt that this humble little bird, which symbolises Christmas could also symbolise hope in the context of Emily Dickinson’s beautiful words: Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.
“I‘d like to think that this Christmas when joy is so hard to find, hope will perch in all our souls. Merry Christmas!”