Having been an English minor I guess I should have known this song was a rework of Molly Bloom's soliloquy from James Joyce's Ulysses, but I didn't. What I did know was how much I loved this song, from the first time I heard it until now. This song drips with sensuality both lyrically, Joyce was a genius after all, and musically.
Wikipedia of course has a nice piece about the soliloquy. It's interesting to read the original and then listen to how Kate Bush reworked it.
The Sensual World - Kate Bush
Lyrics from themodernworld.com
Mmh, yes,
Then I'd taken the kiss of seedcake back from his mouth
Going deep South, go down, mmh, yes,
Took six big wheels and rolled our bodies
Off of Howth Head and into the flesh, mmh, yes,
He said I was a flower of the mountain, yes,
But now I've powers o'er a woman's body - yes.
Stepping out of the page into the sensual world.
Stepping out.............
To where the water and the earth caress
And the down of a peach says mmh, yes.
Do I look for those millionaires
Like a Machiavellian girl would?
When I could wear a sunset, mmh, yes,
And how we'd wished to live in the sensual world.
You don't need words - just one kiss, then another.
Stepping out of the page into the sensual world.
Stepping out, off the page into the sensual world,
And then our arrows of desire rewrite the speech, mmh, yes,
And then he whispered would I, mmh, yes,
Be safe, mmh, yes, from mountain flowers?
And at first with the charm around him, mmh, yes,
He loosened it so if it slipped between my breasts
He'd rescue it, mmh, yes,
And his spark took life in my hand, mmh, yes,
I said, mmh, yes,
But not yet, mmh, yes,
Mmh, yes....
