The Man with the Child in His Eyes
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2012}}
{{Infobox song
| name = The Man with the Child in His Eyes
| cover = Kate Bush - The Man with the Child in His Eyes.png
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Kate Bush
| album = The Kick Inside
| B-side = Moving
| released = {{Start date|1978|5|26|df=yes}}
| recorded = {{Start date|1975|6|df=yes}}
| studio = AIR (London, UK)
| venue =
| genre =
- Progressive pop{{Citation|last1=Breithaupt|first1=Don|last2=Breithaupt|first2=Jeff|title=Night Moves: Pop Music in the Late '70s|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kh04AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT95|year=2000|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-0-312-19821-3|page=67}}
- folk{{cite book|first=Bob |last=Stanley|title=Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop|chapter= Progressive Rock (And Simpler Pleasures)|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9emZAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT7|date=13 September 2013|publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=978-0-571-28198-5|page=367}}
| length = 2:52 (Single mix)
2:40 (LP mix)
| label = EMI
| writer = Kate Bush
| producer = Andrew Powell, David Gilmour
| prev_title = Moving
| prev_year = 1978
| next_title = Hammer Horror
| next_year = 1978
| misc = {{External music video|type=single|header=Music video|1={{YouTube|NAj8suae3WY|"The Man with the Child in His Eyes"}}}}
}}
"The Man with the Child in His Eyes" is a song by Kate Bush. It is the fifth track on her debut album The Kick Inside and was released as her second single, on the EMI label, in May 1978. The single peaked at No. 6 and spent 11 weeks on the UK singles chart.{{Cite web |date=1978-06-10 |title=MAN WITH THE CHILD IN HIS EYES |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/kate-bush-man-with-the-child-in-his-eyes/ |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=Official Charts |language=en}}
Background
Bush wrote the song when she was 13 and recorded it at the age of 16. It was recorded at AIR Studios in London, in June 1975 under the guidance of David Gilmour.The Kick Inside sleeve notes She has said that recording with a large orchestra at that age terrified her.{{cite web |url=http://gaffa.org/cloud/music/the_man_with_the_child_in_his_eyes.html |title=Kate Bush in Her Own Words - The Man with the Child in His Eyes |accessdate=2009-02-02 |publisher=Gaffaweb }}
Release
The song was Bush's second chart single in the United Kingdom, where it reached number six in the summer of 1978. In the United States, the single was released in December of the same year. It became her first single to reach the Billboard pop singles chart, peaking at number 85 early in 1979.{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p3805|pure_url=yes}} |title=allmusic – Kate Bush – Billboard singles |accessdate=2009-02-02 }} Bush performed this song in her one appearance on Saturday Night Live, singing on a piano being played by Paul Shaffer.
Composition
The single version slightly differs from the album version. On the single, the song opens with the phrase "he’s here!" and laughter echoing, an effect added after the album was released.
According to the sheet music published in Musicnotes.com by EMI Music Publishing, the song is set in the time signature of common time, with a moderate tempo of 88 beats per minute. It is written in the key of E minor.{{cite journal|title=The Man with the Child in His Eyes: Digital Sheet music|website=Musicnotes.com|publisher=Sony/ATV Music Publishing}}
In 2010, former radio and television presenter Steve Blacknell, Bush's first boyfriend, offered the original hand-written lyrics for the song for sale through music memorabilia website 991.com. The lyrics were written "in hot pink felt tip, complete with Kate Bush's own little pink circles in place of dots over the "I"'s."{{cite web|url=https://theawl.com/kate-bushs-handwriting-girly-pink-awesome-907c46183ab9#.s79o44f0s|title=Kate Bush's Handwriting: Girly, Pink, Awesome – The Awl|first=Choire|last=Sicha|date=23 September 2010|publisher=theawl.com|accessdate=24 August 2016}}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Bush has never stated who she wrote the song about, but Blacknell has stated that a person close to Bush had told him the song was written about him. It had long been assumed it was about Gilmour.{{cite web | url=https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/so-kate-carly-and-paul-who-were-you-really-singing-about/26689374.html | title=So Kate, Carly and Paul, who were you really singing about? | work=Irish Independent | first=Ed | last=Power |date=13 October 2010 | access-date=13 October 2024}}
Reception
The song received the Ivor Novello Award for "Outstanding British Lyric" in 1979.{{Cite AV media |type=Television production|title= Kate Bush at the BBC |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04f86xk |accessdate= 2014-08-22 |publisher=BBC Four |date= 2014-08-22 }}
Amy Hanson of AllMusic called it a "simple ballad", adding that "beautiful and slow and just over two and a half minutes long, the song lets pauses fall where needed and a never rushed melody unfolds as it will, culminating in a brief piece that is complex despite its utter simplicity."{{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-man-with-the-child-in-his-eyes-mt0001372284 | title=The Man With the Child in His Eyes | work=AllMusic | first=Amy | last=Hanson | access-date=13 October 2024}}
Track listing
7" single (EMI 2806) (UK)
- "The Man with the Child in His Eyes" – 2:42
- "Moving" – 3:06
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col"| Chart (1978)
! scope="col"| Peak |
|---|
| scope="row"| Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=50}}
|22 |
| {{single chart|Ireland2|3|song=The Man with the Child in His Eyes|rowheader=true|access-date=26 January 2022}} |
| {{single chart|Dutch40|27|artist=Kate Bush|rowheader=true|access-date=26 January 2022}} |
| {{single chart|Dutch100|23|artist=Kate Bush|song=The Man with the Child in His Eyes|rowheader=true|access-date=26 January 2022}} |
| {{single chart|New Zealand|23|artist=Kate Bush|song=The Man with the Child in His Eyes|rowheader=true|access-date=26 January 2022}} |
| {{single chart|UK|6|date=19780702|rowheader=true|access-date=26 January 2022}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardhot100|85|artist=Kate Bush|rowheader=true|access-date=26 January 2022}} |
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| Chart (2022)
! Peak |
|---|
| {{single chart|UKdownload|76|date=20220805|rowheader=true|access-date=5 August 2022}} |
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Kate Bush|title=The Man with the Child in His Eyes|award=Silver|relyear=2004|certyear=2023|id=19038-1990-1|access-date=9 June 2023}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Kate Bush songs}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Man with the Child in His Eyes, The}}
Category:Ivor Novello Award winners
Category:Song recordings produced by David Gilmour
Category:Song recordings produced by Andrew Powell