ON THIS DAY IN 1985 - KATE BUSH SANG AND DREAM OF SHEEP IN A WATER TANK—THEN NEEDED A DAY TO RECOVER FROM MILD HYPOTHERMIA

ON THIS DAY IN 1985 — KATE BUSH’S “AND DREAM OF SHEEP” BEGAN ITS VOYAGE. NEARLY THREE DECADES LATER, SHE SANG IT LIVE IN A WATER TANK—AND NEEDED A DAY TO RECOVER FROM MILD HYPOTHERMIA. 🌊

Released on September 16, 1985, Hounds of Love carried listeners from its celebrated opening songs into The Ninth Wave, an interconnected suite following a woman lost at sea. “And Dream of Sheep” opens that passage, placing its central character alone in the water as exhaustion and danger close in. 🐑

When Bush created Before the Dawn in 2014, she wanted the song’s concert film to capture that situation with physical realism. At Pinewood Studios, she entered a huge water tank wearing a life jacket and performed a new vocal live while the cameras rolled. 🎙️

This was not simply a case of recording the song safely in a studio and adding images afterward. Bush remained in the tank for the performance, embodying the lost-at-sea character while delivering the vocal that would accompany the production.

But the filming became more realistic than intended. During the first day, Bush spent so long in the water that she contracted mild hypothermia. She then took a full day away to recover before returning to the tank and continuing the shoot. ❄️

The finished film was projected above the stage during Before the Dawn, where “And Dream of Sheep” opened The Ninth Wave section of the show. It was later released separately alongside the live version of the song. 🎥

A haunting scene imagined in 1985 had become a demanding physical performance in 2014—proof that, in Kate Bush’s world, a song is never merely sung. It is entered, inhabited and lived. ✨

#musicOnOff #KateBush #HoundsOfLove #AndDreamOfSheep #BeforeTheDawn #TheNinthWave #MusicHistory