Kate Bush Writes New Introduction To Lyric Book
Kate Bush has written the introduction to a new paperback edition of How To Be Invisible, her selected lyrics. The new version of the book will be published on 6 April 2023 by Faber and also features a new cover design by illustrator Jim Kay.
Buy Kate Bush vinyl and CDs at the Dig! store
A very limited number of signed copies will be available to pre-order at 9am on Friday 20th January from selected bookshops and record shops (UK only). Kate has also written a message in invisible ink in a small number of the signed copies, which will be distributed at random: the notes will be revealed to the lucky recipients when they place the signature page under an ultraviolet light.
The new introduction follows a period in which Kate has been unusually communicative. The huge success of Running Up That Hill after its use in the TV series Stranger Things sparked a series of online letters to fans, the latest of which was published at Christmas and reads:
“Every year seems to fly by a little faster. They say this happens as you get older, but there’s no doubt that the speed of life is accelerating at a greater rate than ever.
“I don’t think any of us have ever known a year like this one. Life became incredibly frightening in the pandemic, but just as we think it might be over soon, it seems to keep going. It’s a bombardment – the horrific war in Ukraine, the famines, the droughts, the floods… and we lost our Queen. Many of my friends were surprised at how upset they were at her death especially as we aren’t royalists, but I think her passing became a focus for grief, for unexpressed loss that so many people had felt during the pandemic.
“It’s been a crazy, roller coaster year for me. I still reel from the success of RUTH, being the No 1 track of this summer. What an honour! It was really exciting to see it doing so well globally, but especially here in the UK and Australia; and also to see it making it all the way to No 3 in the US. It was such a great feeling to see so many of the younger generation enjoying the song. It seems that quite a lot of them thought I was a new artist! I love that!
“Again, thank you so much to everyone who supported the track and made it a hit.
“I wonder where on earth we’ll all be at the end of next year? I hope the war will end. I hope that the nurses will be in a position where they are appreciated – they should be cherished. Let’s all hope that next year will be better than this one. I keep thinking about hope and how it was the last to fly out of Pandora’s box. Sometimes it’s all that seems to glow in the dark times we find ourselves in right now.
“I used a little robin in some of my Christmas gifts to friends this year. I felt that this humble little bird, which symbolises Christmas could also symbolise hope in the context of Emily Dickinson’s beautiful words: Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.
“I‘d like to think that this Christmas when joy is so hard to find, hope will perch in all our souls. Merry Christmas!
All best wishes,
Kate”