I’m reading a Kate Bush biography by Rob Jovanovic and might also tackle Waiting for Kate Bush which sounds a bit quirky (satirical novel and music biography). Before Bjork, Tori Amos, and other female singer songwriters who flirt with the odd side, there was the mighty Kate Bush, with her spooky vocals and interpretive dance. She has inspired a range of artists, even Outkast has namechecked her.
Any book on Kate will of course talk about her legendary 1978 song Wuthering Heights (BBC Radio 2 Sold on Song article). Kate becomes Cathy – Heathcliff’s ghostly lover howling at his window. The mood and tone of Emily Bronte’s novel Wuthering Heights is conjured up in a song.
What other songs have arisen out of literature? I thought of Paul Kelly’s beautiful song Everything’s turning to white, based on the Raymond Carver story So much water so close to home - also the inspiration for the Australian movie Jindabyne. It tells the story of a wife tormented by her husband’s inaction. He and his fishing buddies find the body of a girl in the river, but leave her there while they continue their expedition.
There’s a neat database called Songs inspired by Literature (SIBL) that lists a whole lot more songs – and I followed this train of thought, ending up with The Smiths (a literary band if ever there was) and found out my favourite lyrics from Reel Around The Fountain, ”You’re the bee’s knees, but so am I” and “I dreamt about you last night, and I fell out of bed twice” are quotes from the film adaptation of A Taste Of Honey by Shelagh Delaney. Who knew?
29 January 2008 at 4:51 pm
What a great topic. I love the links that exist between all the art forms, and you’ve pointed out one that I’ve not thought much about. Of course many a book has inspired a full-blown musical show, but it’s interesting to think about specific songs based on books.
I’ve always loved Sting’s lyrics and their plentiful references to literature, Paul Bowles’ Sheltering Sky (which inspired Tea in the Sahara) and Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire (which inspired Moon over Bourbon Street), to name but a few.
On a more sombre note, many years ago I read a very disturbing biography titled I’m Eve about a woman who suffered from multiple personality disorder or more correctly, I believe, dissociative identity disorder. There had also been a movie starring Joanne Woodward called The Three Faces of Eve. I then heard a Siouxsie and the Banshees hit song titled Christine, and on listening to the lyrics more carefully I became convinced it must have been about this same woman but could not at the time prove it. Twenty years later and with the internet at my fingertips I now know my hunch was correct. Movie, book, song, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a painting somewhere.
9 October 2008 at 12:39 pm
Check out another musical adaptation of Wuthering Heights written by actor Mark Ryan
http://www.wutheringheightsmusic.com