The Red Shoes is the seventh studio album by English art pop musician Kate Bush, released in 1993 through EMI in the UK and Columbia Records in the US. Coming out four years after her previous effort, 1989's The Sensual World, this album marked a shift to a more pop-oriented approach influenced by Bush's desire to make an album that could translate more effectively to live performances. Consequently, much of the studio-centric traits present across prior albums were absent, with the Fairlight CMI trickery being deemphasized in favor of standard synthesizers and live instruments. To facilitate this, Bush worked with a large number of collaborators, including Eric Clapton, Michael Kamen, Jeff Beck, and even Prince.
Contrary to its poppy, upbeat sound, the album was recorded during a tense period in Bush's personal life. Longtime collaborator Alan Murphy and The Tour of Life backing dancer Gary "Bubba" Hurst respectively died in 1989 and 1990, both from complications of AIDS, her relationship with Del Palmer disintegrated (though the two would remain coworkers), and her mother, Hannah, fell deathly ill, ultimately passing away just before the album's release. These difficulties played a role in the album's lengthy production, taking three years to put together; in the interim, she put out the discography-spanning Boxed Set "This Woman's Work" and a Cover Version of Elton John's "Rocket Man", for the tribute album Two Rooms. The latter project ended up being her last work with Murphy before his death. The losses Bush faced in her personal life would influence the lyrics of the album, with many songs carrying undercurrents of both longing and grief.
Upon release, The Red Shoes was a substantial commercial success in the UK, where it peaked at No. 2, became the 32nd best-selling album of the year, and was certified platinum. In the US, where Bush's following was more limited, it only peaked at No. 28, but still out-charted both Hounds of Love and The Sensual World; it would also be certified gold in Canada. However, where Bush would go from here would go unanswered, as an intended one-year hiatus turned into twelve as the production of the follow-up album, Aerial, dragged on. In the meantime, she would have a son, Albert McIntosh, devoting her time to raising him. Aerial would eventually release in 2005.
The Red Shoes was supported by five singles: "Rubberband Girl", "Eat the Music", "Moments of Pleasure", "The Red Shoes", and "And So Is Love". Bush aimed to support the album with an expansive world tour, which would've been her first since The Tour of Life in 1979. However, these plans never materialized; instead, she recorded the short film The Line, the Cross and the Curve, which featured music videos for "Rubberband Girl", "And So Is Love", "The Red Shoes", "Moments of Pleasure", "Eat the Music" and "Lily". In 2011, Bush included re-recorded versions of "Song of Solomon", "Lily", "The Red Shoes", "Moments of Pleasure", "Top of the City", "And So Is Love", and "Rubberband Girl" on her ninth studio album, Director's Cut, together with re-recorded songs from The Sensual World.
Tracklist:
- "Rubberband Girl" (4:42)
- "And So Is Love" (4:16)
- "Eat the Music" (5:08)
- "Moments of Pleasure" (5:16)
- "The Song of Solomon" (4:27)
- "Lily" (3:51)
- "The Red Shoes" (4:00)
- "Top of the City" (4:14)
- "Constellation of the Heart" (4:46)
- "Big Stripey Lie" (3:32)
- "Why Should I Love You?" (5:00)
- "You're the One" (5:52)
Every old sock meets an old trope:
- Alternate Music Video: Two music videos were recorded for "Rubberband Girl". The first
, featured as part of The Line, the Cross and the Curve, depicts Bush rehearsing the song with her backing band and a dancer who puppeteers her. The second video, shot for the US market, depicts Bush performing the song in a dance studio, in a dark hallway with a light at the end, and on a flight of stairs, intercut with clips from The Line, the Cross and the Curve. - Archangel Gabriel: Gabriel is one of many archangels namedropped in the chorus of "Lily", with Bush specifically stating that he's "before [her]" as part of an incantation calling upon the archangels for protection, tying in with the lyrics' focus on spirituality.
- Archangel Michael: In the chorus of "Lily", which takes the form of an incantation summoning divine protection, Bush mentions that Michael is "to my right."
- Archangel Raphael: In the chorus of "Lily", Bush states that Raphael is "behind me" as part of an incantation for divine protection.
- Archangel Uriel: In the chorus of "Lily", Bush describes Uriel as being "on my left side" as part of an incantation that summons him and several other archangels for divine protection.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: The protagonist of the Title Track dons the eponymous red shoes in an attempt to gain the dancing prowess of their owner, only to become imprisoned by the shoes' powers, which force her to dance constantly until she either finds a way to take them off or destroys herself from overwork.
- Break-Up Song: "You're the One" is narrated by a woman coming to the realization that her relationship with a romantic partner is not working, grieving the impending collapse of their bond.
- Call-and-Response Song: "Constellation of the Heart" revolves around vocal interplay between Bush and the backing choir.
- Call-Back: Two in "Constellation of the Heart". The line "just being alive, it can really hurt" is reprised from "Moments of Pleasure", while the line "ooh and if you see the woman with the key" recalls the line "with a kiss, I'd pass the key" from "Houdini".
- Concept Album: The Red Shoes was inspired by the famous ballet film of the same name; it was also a partial soundtrack album to the Bush-directed short film The Line, The Cross and the Curve.
- Concept Video: The Line, the Cross, and the Curve is a short film based on the film that inspired the album, starring herself, Miranda Richardson, and Bush's favorite choreographer, Lindsay Kemp.
- Genre Roulette: The album shifts between Hard Rock, World Music, piano ballads, Trip Hop, Folk Rock, and Funk, among other styles, all glued together by a pop rock core.
- Grief Song: "Moments of Pleasure" eulogizes The Tour of Life backing dancer Gary "Bubba" Hurst, guitarist Alan Murphy, film director Michael Powell (who directed the film that inspired the album, and who Bush attempted to collaborate with), and The Tour of Life lighting director Bill Duffield. Hurst and Murphy died from complications of AIDS in 1990 and 1989, respectively, while Powell died of cancer in 1990. Duffield, meanwhile, was killed in a stage accident during The Tour of Life in 1979 and was previously memorialized on Bush's 1980 song "Blown Away (For Bill)". All four men are namedropped at the end of the song.
- In Touch with His Feminine Side: The narrator of "Eat the Music" states that part of what draws her to her love interest is that "he's a woman at heart."
- Jungles Sound Like Kookaburras: In "Big Stripey Lie", Bush briefly mimics the call of a kookaburra after the lines "Oh my God it's a jungle in here; you've got wild animals loose in here."
- Longest Song Goes Last: The album ends with the nearly six-minute "You're the One", the closest it ever gets to Epic Rocking; the next-longest track, "Moments of Pleasure", doesn't even crack five and a half.
- Men Don't Cry: In "Eat the Music", the narrator notes that her love interest bottles up his emotions thanks to patriarchal gender norms that look down on men showing emotion. She notes that "he's a woman at heart" and that "not only women bleed," expressing a desire to help him open up about his feelings by forming a relationship with him.
- Mountain of Food: The back cover and liner notes depict a wall of assorted fruits, alluding to the lyrics of "Eat the Music".
- New Sound Album: The album shifts to pop rock with a heavy focus on live instruments and synthesizers, influenced by Bush's desire to make music that could be easily performed on stage after four studio-centric records. The Fairlight CMI that defined her previous albums is still present, but to a much smaller degree. The album is also Bush's first (and only) album to be digitally recorded, which she attributed to industry pressure from the rise of the Compact Disc as the dominant format for music.
- Ode to Food: Done metaphorically on "Eat the Music", which lavishly describes the process of gorging oneself on fruit as an analogy for romantic and sexual intimacy.
- One-Woman Song: "Lily", about the spiritual guru Lily Cornford.
- Rearrange the Song: Bush's 2011 album Director's Cut includes re-recordings of just over half the album, with "Song of Solomon", "Lily", "The Red Shoes", "Moments of Pleasure", "Top of the City", "And So Is Love", and "Rubberband Girl" all receiving new renditions.
- Sacred Flames: In "Lily", the title character teaches the narrator to protect herself from evil by drawing a circle with fire to summon Archangel Gabriel, Archangel Raphael, Archangel Michael, and Archangel Uriel as bodyguards.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: In The Line, the Cross and the Curve, toward the end:Miranda Richardson: We have a lot in common, you and I. It took me years to be rid of those shoes! You are so weak. So stupid. So...
Kate Bush: You're scared. You're scared, because you know you're losing your power over me. - Special Guest: Loads.
- Michael Kamen provides orchestral arrangements for the album.
- Gary Brooker of Procol Harum provides Hammond organ parts on "And So Is Love", "Constellation of the Heart", and "You're the One".
- Eric Clapton plays guitar on "And So Is Love".
- Malagasy valiha virtuoso Justin Vali plays the instrument on both "Eat the Music" and the Title Track, additionally playing kabosy and singing backing vocals on the former song.
- Bulgarian vocal group the Trio Bulgarka feature on "The Song of Solomon", "Why Should I Love You?", and "You're the One".
- Classical and jazz violinist Nigel Kennedy plays both violin and viola on "Top of the City" and "Big Stripey Lie", also playing viola on the former song.
- Prince sings backing vocals and plays keyboards, guitar, and bass guitar on "Why Should I Love You?", co-producing the song as well. Prince's contributions to the song were so voluminous that Bush and Del Palmer had to spend two years remixing the material to "turn it back into a Kate Bush song." Bush would return the favor by providing backing vocals for Prince's 1996 song "My Computer". The song also features backing vocals from comedian and noted Prince impersonator Lenny Henry.
- Jeff Beck plays guitar on "You're the One".
- Spelling Song: "Why Should I Love You?" prominently features a repeated series of lines spelling the word "love," in which each letter represents a different trait:The "L" of the lips are open
To the "O" of the host
The "V" of the velvet
The "E" of my eye - Spoken Word in Music: "Lily" opens with a lengthy passage where spiritual guru Lily Cornford utters verses from the Gayatri Mantra and the Isha Upanishad.
- Title Track: "The Red Shoes", which adapts the film of the same name.
- Whole-Plot Reference:
- "The Song of Solomon" is named after and based on the book of the same name from The Bible, directly quoting it at points.
- The Title Track is directly adapted from The Red Shoes, with this inspiration extending to its scene in The Line, the Cross and the Curve.
- The X of Y: "The Song of Solomon", "Top of the City", and "Constellation of the Heart".
