"Sat in Your Lap"
Single by Kate Bush
from the album The Dreaming
B-side"Lord of the Reedy River" (Donovan)
Released21 June 1981 (1981-06-21) (UK)
Genre
Length3:29
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Kate Bush
Producer(s)Kate Bush
Kate Bush singles chronology
"December Will Be Magic Again"
(1980)		 "Sat in Your Lap"
(1981)		 "The Dreaming"
(1982)
Music video
"Sat in Your Lap" on YouTube
Audio sample
"Sat in Your Lap"
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"Sat in Your Lap" (1981) is a song by English art rock musician Kate Bush. It was the first single to be released from her fourth studio album, The Dreaming (1982), though it was issued 15 months prior to the album, which was nowhere near completion at that time.[1] The single peaked at no. 11 on the UK Singles Chart.

Music

Musically, the single was faster and more percussive than Bush's previous releases. It features Preston Heyman on drums recorded in the stone room at the Townhouse Studio 2, London, and Paddy Bush and Preston on whip-like percussion (actually played on bamboo canes swooshing through the air rhythmically).[2] Critic Simon Reynolds called it "an avant-pop stampede of pounding percussion and deranged shrieks, a sister-song to Public Image Ltd's 'Flowers of Romance'."[3] The lyrics of the song deal with feelings of existential frustration and the quest for knowledge.[4] In his biography on Kate Bush, Graeme Thomson states that the title of the song suggests the possibility of experiencing enlightenment through sex.[5]

Release

Kate Bush stated in an early interview that the single version was remixed slightly for inclusion on The Dreaming. The vocals were raised higher and the backing track altered to fit in better with the overall feel of the album.

The demo version of "Sat in Your Lap" contains an extra verse at the start, which was later cut out of the song. As with subsequent singles from the album, a 12-inch vinyl single was planned but was eventually withdrawn.

The B-side to the single was a cover version (Bush's first) of "Lord of the Reedy River" by Donovan from his 1971 album HMS Donovan.

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1981) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[6] 93
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[7] 32
Ireland (IRMA)[8] 18
Italy (Musica e Dischi)[9] 25
Spain (Productores de Música de España)[10] 30
UK Singles Chart[11] 11

References

  1. ↑ Lindsay, Matthew (11 September 2012). "30 Years On: The Dreaming By Kate Bush". The Quietus. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  2. ↑ Lorne Murdoch (1985). "Kate Bush". Record Collector (December 1985, No. 76): p.22
  3. ↑ Simon Reynolds (21 August 2014). "Kate Bush, the queen of art-pop who defied her critics". The Guardian.
  4. ↑ "Kate Bush: 10 of the best". The Guardian. 27 August 2014. Archived from the original on 12 January 2023.
  5. ↑ Thomson, Graeme (2010). Under the Ivy: The life and music of Kate Bush. Omnibus Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-1780381466.
  6. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 50. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  7. ↑ "Kate Bush – Sat in Your Lap" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  8. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Kate Bush". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  9. ↑ "Classifiche". Musica e Dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 30 May 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Kate Bush".
  10. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  11. ↑ "Kate Bush | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
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