Sat in Your Lap
{{short description|1981 song by Kate Bush}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2012}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Sat in Your Lap
| cover = Kate Bush - Sat in Your Lap.png
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Kate Bush
| album = The Dreaming
| B-side = "Lord of the Reedy River" (Donovan)
| released = {{Start date|1981|6|29|df=yes}}{{cite AV media notes |title=The Whole Story |publisher=EMI Canada |id=PWAS17242}}
| recorded =
- 1981 (single version)
- 1982 (re-recorded parts and mixing of album version)
| studio =
| genre = {{hlist|Avant-pop|progressive pop}}
| length = 3:29
| label = EMI
| writer = Kate Bush
| producer = Kate Bush
| prev_title = December Will Be Magic Again
| prev_year = 1980
| next_title = The Dreaming
| next_year = 1982
| misc = {{External music video|type=single|header=Music video|1={{YouTube|-4csr6pLZLg|"Sat in Your Lap"}}}}{{Audio sample
| type = single
| file = Kate Bush - Sat In Your Lap sample.ogg
| description = "Sat in Your Lap"
}}
}}
"Sat in Your Lap" is a song by the English art rock musician Kate Bush. It was the first single to be released from her fourth studio album, The Dreaming (1982), issued 15 months prior to the album's release.{{Cite web|url=https://thequietus.com/articles/09945-kate-bush-the-dreaming|title=30 Years On: The Dreaming By Kate Bush|last1=Lindsay|first1=Matthew|date=11 September 2012|publisher=The Quietus|access-date=3 November 2019|archive-date=21 May 2022|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220521041421/https://thequietus.com/articles/09945-kate-bush-the-dreaming|url-status=live}} The single peaked at No. 11 and spent 7 weeks in the UK Singles Chart.{{Cite web |date=1981-07-11 |title=SAT IN YOUR LAP |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/kate-bush-sat-in-your-lap/ |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=Official Charts |language=en}}
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 (played on bamboo canes swooshing through the air, rhythmically).Lorne Murdoch (1985). "Kate Bush". Record Collector (December 1985, No. 76): p.22 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'."{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/21/kate-bush-queen-of-art-pop-defied-critics-london-concerts|title=Kate Bush, the queen of art-pop who defied her critics|author=Simon Reynolds|work=The Guardian|date=21 August 2014|access-date=16 December 2016|archive-date=9 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709152152/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/21/kate-bush-queen-of-art-pop-defied-critics-london-concerts|url-status=live}} The lyrics of the song deal with feelings of existential frustration and the quest for knowledge.{{cite web |title=Kate Bush: 10 of the best |date=2014-08-27 |website=The Guardian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112193600/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/27/kate-bush-10-of-the-best |archive-date=2023-01-12 |url-status=live |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/27/kate-bush-10-of-the-best}} In his biography on Kate Bush, Graeme Thomson claims that the title of the song suggests the possibility of experiencing enlightenment through sex.{{cite book |last=Thomson |first=Graeme |date=2010 |title=Under the Ivy: The life and music of Kate Bush |publisher=Omnibus Press |page=23 |isbn=978-1780381466 }}
Release
Kate Bush stated in an early interview that the single version was remixed slightly for inclusion on The Dreaming, with some parts re-recorded for the album. The vocals were raised higher and the backing track altered to better fit the overall feel of the album.{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}}
The demo version of "Sat in Your Lap" contains an extra verse at the start, which was later cut. 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.
The video to the single was filmed in Abbey Road Studios.https://www.katebushencyclopedia.com/sat-in-your-lap/#Music_video
Personnel
- Kate Bush – lead and backing vocals; piano; Fairlight CMI
- Paddy Bush – bamboo sticks; backing vocals
- Preston Heyman – drums; bamboo sticks
- Jimmy Bain – bass guitar
- Geoff Downes – CMI trumpet section
- Stewart Arnold – backing vocals
- Ian Bairnson – backing vocals
- Gary Hurst – backing vocals
Charts
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{discogs master|28601}}
{{Kate Bush songs}}
{{Authority control}}