released 38 years ago today ~ “the dreaming” is the first album in her discography entirely produced by kate bush herself! it peaked at number 3 in the uk charts and is considered to be her most experimental release

the album itself was thought to have underperformed, as it only spent 10 weeks in the uk charts and was her lowest selling album. it has been certified silver by the bpi!

it received mixed reception at the time of its release, with many critiquing the album’s unconventionality. however, overtime the album’s experimental approach has received much more appreciation and has been cited as an influential record for many musicians!

it was the first album from kate to have an impact in the us, peaking at no. 157 on the billboard 200

the first single released from “the dreaming” was “sat in your lap”, which peaked at no. 11 in the uk charts! it was released 15 months prior to the album, which was still incomplete at the time

the song is described by kate as being about “a search for knowledge. and about the kind of people who really want to have knowledge but can't be bothered to do the things that they should in order to get it”

the second single to be released from the album was the title track “the dreaming” which it peaked at 48 in the uk charts

kate has stated the inspiration for the song was the destruction of land belonging to the indigenous australian population by white australians trying to harvest weapons-grade uranium. the title of the single, and the album, is inspired by aboriginal beliefs

“there goes a tenner” was the third single released from “the dreaming”, but was only released in the uk & ireland. it charted at no. 93 in the uk charts

due to the lack of radio and television play, the single was pretty much abandoned with plans to make a 12-inch single scrapped. it was released simultaneously with “suspended in gaffa”, which was pushed in europe and australia and saw slightly better success

“suspended in gaffa” is also considered to be the third single released from “the dreaming”. it peaked at 33 in france, 38 in spain, and 50 in the netherlands

“the night of the swallow” is the final single from “the dreaming”! released only in ireland, it was noticeably influenced by irish trad music and featured many prominent irish musicians performing on the record

the cover of the album shows kate, in the role of houdini’s wife, passing him a key via a kiss. it serves as a reference to the lyrics in the song “houdini”: “with a kiss / i'd pass the key”

it also features the famous “kt” symbol (found on all her albums) hidden on her sleeve!

on the album liner notes, it says “this album was made to be played loud”