I had a poster of this on my wall in college. I stared at it for years, endlessly fascinated. Not only is it a beautiful picture, but it ties in directly with one of the songs on the album.
The song, “Houdini”, is about the magician Harry Houdini. He also spent a lot of his time debunking spiritual/mystical frauds. He arranged a secret code with his wife Bess so that if he could indeed communicate with her from beyond death that she’d know it was really him.
In the picture, Kate is Bess. She’s got a key in her mouth because that’s how Houdini would do his escape act. He’d kiss his wife before he went into the tank and she’d smuggle the key into his mouth.
All of this is brilliantly reflected in the lyrics to the song as well. (“With a kiss I’d pass the key, and feel your tongue teasing and receiving.”)
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Kate Bush is just amazing, the artistry she puts into every aspect of her work is breathtaking