Rubberband Girl
{{Short description|1993 single by Kate Bush}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Rubberband Girl
| cover = Rubberband Girl.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Kate Bush
| album = The Red Shoes
| B-side = Big Stripey Lie
| released = {{start date|1993|9|6|df=y}}{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1993/Music-Week-1993-09-04.pdf|title=Single Releases|magazine=Music Week|page=25|date=4 September 1993|access-date=29 July 2021|archive-date=6 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210706120833/https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1993/Music-Week-1993-09-04.pdf|url-status=live}}
| recorded =
| studio = Abbey Road Studios (London, England){{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-red-shoes-mw0000620846 |title=The Red Shoes – Kate Bush |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=26 July 2018 |last=Raggett |first=Ned}}
| venue =
| genre = Pop rock{{cite magazine|last=Zaleski|first=Annie|url=https://www.stereogum.com/2189383/best-kate-bush-songs/lists/10-best-songs/|title=The 10 Best Kate Bush Songs|magazine=Stereogum|date=8 June 2022|access-date=17 May 2023|quote=A few years later, Bush was still a modern rock darling, earning a top 10 airplay hit with "Rubberband Girl". Whimsical and quirky, the tune is a "silly pop song", she told Mojo in 2011...}}
| length = 4:44
| label = EMI
| writer = Kate Bush
| producer = Kate Bush
| prev_title = Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time)
| prev_year = 1991
| next_title = Eat the Music
| next_year = 1993
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|IDFy1h06ebI|"Rubberband Girl"}}}}
{{External music video|{{YouTube|BW8FvXSNhhY|"Rubberband Girl (US Version)"}}}}
}}
"Rubberband Girl" is a song by English singer-songwriter Kate Bush released on 6 September 1993, by EMI Records. It was the lead single of her seventh album, The Red Shoes (1993). The single peaked at {{abbr|No.|Number}} 12 on the UK Singles Chart and charted for five weeks. It was Bush's last top-20 hit in the UK until "King of the Mountain", which peaked at No. 4 in 2005. The song was a moderate success worldwide, reaching the top 40 in Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands and New Zealand. In the United States, it peaked at No. 88 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Versions
Three versions of "Rubberband Girl" were released commercially: an LP version, an extended mix and a remix by American DJ Eric Kupper called the US Mix, which was released towards the end of 1994 on the "And So Is Love" single. The B-side is "Big Stripey Lie" in the UK and "Show a Little Devotion" in the US.
In 2011, Kate Bush recorded a new version of the song that was included on her ninth studio album, Director's Cut.{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/directors-cut-mw0002123038|title=Kate Bush – Director's Cut|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=25 February 2021|archive-date=7 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507162752/https://www.allmusic.com/album/directors-cut-mw0002123038|url-status=live}}
Critical reception
Alan Jones from Music Week gave the song a score of four out of five and named it Pick of the Week, writing, "With Kate at the helm any single would be quirky but by her own otherwordly standards this is Ms. Bush at her most direct." He added, "It's a rhythmic, almost raunchy, workout with the occasional outburst of rock guitar, strange lyrics—'if I could twang like a rubberband, I'd be a rubberband girl' is as ordinary as it gets—and a weird vocal impression of said office accessory being stretched. It is also a very commercial rejoinder and will probably be Kate's first Top 10 solo hit since 'Running Up That Hill' hit the spot eight years ago."{{cite magazine|first=Alan|last=Jones|title=Market Preview: Mainstream - Singles — Pick of the Week|magazine=Music Week|date=28 August 1993|page=18|accessdate=30 January 2023|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1993/Music-Week-1993-08-28.pdf}} Everett True of Melody Maker felt that the song is "a little too uptempo for my tastes" and noted that he prefers Bush when she is "all dreamy and mysterious". Despite this, he added, "It still has enough kookiness to draw me under, and she's still the only artist for whom the word 'kooky' isn't an insult."{{cite magazine |last=True |first=Everett |date=11 September 1993 |title=Singles |magazine=Melody Maker |page=29 |author-link= Everett True}}
Another Melody Maker editor, Chris Roberts, praised it as "a gorgeous, daft, groovy single with a bassline to shame Bootsy Collins".{{cite magazine|first=Chris|last=Roberts|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/53006259906/|title=Albums|magazine=Melody Maker|date=30 October 1993|page=32|access-date=28 June 2023}} Terry Staunton from NME wrote, "Kate's self-doubt emerges right from the beginning on 'Rubberband Girl', the relentless one-chord single where she wishes she could learn to give, learn to bounce back on her feet."{{cite magazine|first=Terry|last=Staunton|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/53013878610/|title=Plimsoll Asylum|magazine=NME|date=6 November 1993|page=29|access-date=5 July 2023}} Parry Gettelman from Orlando Sentinel said that "Bush waxes positively perky as she struggles to forge a 'Sledgehammer' out of a flimsy tune, dopey lyrics and bouncy dance-floor beat."Gettelman, Parry (3 December 1993). "Kate Bush". Orlando Sentinel. Richard C. Walls from Rolling Stone noted the "pure pop" of "Rubberband Girl".{{cite magazine|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/katebush/albums/album/138891/review/5942769/the_red_shoes|title=Kate Bush: The Red Shoes|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=25 November 1993|access-date=2 August 2006|last=Walls|first=Richard C.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090614003009/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/katebush/albums/album/138891/review/5942769/the_red_shoes|archive-date=14 June 2009}} Tom Doyle from Smash Hits also gave the song four out of five, saying that it's "a bit of a shock because she's gone all funky with Prince-ish drums all over the shop".{{cite magazine|first=Tom|last=Doyle|title=New Singles|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/52555612147/in/album-72177720304372654/|magazine=Smash Hits|date=15 September 1993|page=51|accessdate=16 December 2022}}
Track listings
{{track listing
| headline = UK 7-inch single, UK and Canadian cassette single{{cite AV media notes|title=Rubberband Girl|others=Kate Bush|year=1993|type=UK 7-inch single sleeve|publisher=EMI United Kingdom|id=EM 280, 7243 8 80829 7 6}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Rubberband Girl|others=Kate Bush|year=1993|type=UK cassette single sleeve|publisher=EMI United Kingdom|id=TCEM 280}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Rubberband Girl|others=Kate Bush|year=1993|type=Canadian cassette single sleeve|publisher=EMI Music Canada|id=4KM 80829, 7243 8 80829 4 5}}
| title1 = Rubberband Girl
| title2 = Big Stripey Lie
}}
{{track listing
| headline = UK 12-inch picture disc{{cite AV media notes|title=Rubberband Girl|others=Kate Bush|year=1993|type=UK 12-inch picture disc|publisher=EMI United Kingdom|id=12EMPD 280, 7243 8 80829 6 9}}
| title1 = Rubberband Girl
| note1 = extended remix
| title2 = Rubberband Girl
| title3 = Big Stripey Lie
}}
{{track listing
| headline = UK CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Rubberband Girl|others=Kate Bush|year=1993|type=UK CD single liner notes|publisher=EMI United Kingdom|id=CDEM 280, 7243 8 80829 2 1}}
| title1 = Rubberband Girl
| title2 = Rubberband Girl
| note2 = extended mix
| title3 = Big Stripey Lie
}}
{{track listing
| headline = US CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Rubberband Girl|others=Kate Bush|year=1993|type=US CD single liner notes|publisher=Columbia Records|id=44K 77332}}
| title1 = Rubberband Girl
| length1 = 4:42
| title2 = Rubberband Girl
| note2 = extended mix
| length2 = 7:07
| title3 = Show a Little Devotion
| length3 = 4:50
| title4 = Home for Christmas
| length4 = 1:45
}}
{{track listing
| headline = US cassette single{{cite AV media notes|title=Rubberband Girl|others=Kate Bush|year=1993|type=US cassette single sleeve|publisher=Columbia Records|id=38T 77280, 38T77280}}
| title1 = Rubberband Girl
| title2 = This Woman's Work
}}
Personnel
- Kate Bush – vocals, keyboards
- Danny McIntosh – guitar
- John Giblin – bass guitar
- Stuart Elliott – drums, percussion
- Nigel Hitchcock – tenor and baritone saxophones
- Steve Sidwell – trumpet
- Paul Spong – trumpet
- Neil Sidwell – trombone