Suspended in Gaffa
"Suspended in Gaffa" is a song recorded by Kate Bush. It was the third single release from her album The Dreaming. "Suspended in Gaffa" was released as a single in continental Europe and Australia, but not in the UK, where "There Goes a Tenner" was released instead.
"Suspended in Gaffa" | ||||
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German 7" single cover | ||||
Single by Kate Bush | ||||
from the album The Dreaming | ||||
B-side | "Ne t'enfuis pas" | |||
Released | 2 November 1982 17 January 1983 (Australia)[1] | |||
Recorded | 1982 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:50 | |||
Label | EMI | |||
Songwriter(s) | Kate Bush | |||
Producer(s) | Kate Bush | |||
Kate Bush singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Suspended in Gaffa" on YouTube | ||||
Audio sample | ||||
"Suspended in Gaffa"
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The song lyrics are about seeing something one really wants (God in this case), then not being able to see or experience it ever again.[2] The "gaffa" of the title and chorus refers to gaffer tape, the strong matte black tape used by technicians in the film and concert industries.[3]
The B-side is the original mix of "Ne t'enfuis pas", which is misspelled on the original sleeve as "Ne T'en Fui Pas", and was only released on a handful of singles in late 1982. "Ne t'enfuis pas" is a French phrase which means "don't run away". In some countries, the B-side was "Dreamtime" (which originally appeared as the B-side to "The Dreaming").
Music video
A music video was produced for the song, which features Bush performing an interpretive dance in what appears to be a barn.
Covers
A cover of "Suspended in Gaffa" appears on Syracuse-based indie rock band Ra Ra Riot's debut album The Rhumb Line.
In popular culture
Rec.music.gaffa[4] has been the name for the Kate Bush Usenet newsgroup since 16 August 1985,[5] and is now resident at Google Groups and other Kate-Bush-related websites.[6]
"Kate Boosh" by Brooklyn-based rapper Himanshu "Heems" Suri samples the two-line post-chorus vocal of this song and co-opts it as a chorus. The song appears on Suri's 2012 mixtape Nehru Jackets.
Charts
Chart (1983) | Peak position |
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France (SNEP) | 33 |
Netherlands (MegaCharts)[7] | 50 |
Spain (AFYVE) | 38 |
References
- "Platterlog; Singles – 17 January 1983". Imgur.com (original document published by Platterlog). Retrieved 30 October 2017.
- "Kate Bush in Her Own Words". gaffa.org. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- "Kate's KBC article, Issue 16, Untitled & Interview". gaffa.org. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- http://groups.google.com/group/rec.music.gaffa/topics
- "FAQ: rec.music.gaffa - Love-Hounds - Kate Bush". faqs.org. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- "Gaffaweb - A Tribute to Kate Bush and her fans". gaffa.org. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- "dutchcharts.nl > Kate Bush – Suspended in Gaffa". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 March 2016.