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The Man with the Child in His Eyes

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"The Man with the Child in His Eyes"
Single by Kate Bush
from the album The Kick Inside
B-side"Moving"
Released26 May 1978 (1978-05-26)
RecordedJune 1975 (1975-06)
StudioAIR (London, UK)
Genre
Length2:52 (Single mix)
2:40 (LP mix)
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Kate Bush
Producer(s)Andrew Powell, David Gilmour
Kate Bush singles chronology
"Moving"
(1978) 		"The Man with the Child in His Eyes"
(1978) 		"Hammer Horror"
(1978)
Music video
"The Man with the Child in His Eyes" on YouTube

"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 in the UK singles chart.[3]

Background

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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.[4] She has said that recording with a large orchestra at that age terrified her.[5]

Release

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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.[6] Bush performed this song in her one appearance on Saturday Night Live, singing on a piano being played by Paul Shaffer.

Composition

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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.[5]

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.[7]

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."[8]

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.[9]

Reception

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The song received the Ivor Novello Award for "Outstanding British Lyric" in 1979.[10]

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."[11]

Track listing

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7" single (EMI 2806) (UK)

  1. "The Man with the Child in His Eyes" – 2:42
  2. "Moving" – 3:06

Charts

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Chart (1978) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[12] 22
Ireland (IRMA)[13] 3
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[14] 27
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 23
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[16] 23
UK Singles (OCC)[17] 6
US Billboard Hot 100[18] 85
Chart (2022) Peak
position
UK Singles Downloads (OCC)[19] 76

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[20] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ Breithaupt, Don; Breithaupt, Jeff (2000), Night Moves: Pop Music in the Late '70s, St. Martin's Press, p. 67, ISBN 978-0-312-19821-3
  2. ^ Stanley, Bob (13 September 2013). "Progressive Rock (And Simpler Pleasures)". Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. Faber & Faber. p. 367. ISBN 978-0-571-28198-5.
  3. ^ "MAN WITH THE CHILD IN HIS EYES". Official Charts. 10 June 1978. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  4. ^ The Kick Inside sleeve notes
  5. ^ a b "Kate Bush in Her Own Words - The Man with the Child in His Eyes". Gaffaweb. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  6. ^ "allmusic – Kate Bush – Billboard singles". Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  7. ^ "The Man with the Child in His Eyes: Digital Sheet music". Musicnotes.com. Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
  8. ^ Sicha, Choire (23 September 2010). "Kate Bush's Handwriting: Girly, Pink, Awesome – The Awl". theawl.com. Retrieved 24 August 2016.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ Power, Ed (13 October 2010). "So Kate, Carly and Paul, who were you really singing about?". Irish Independent. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  10. ^ Kate Bush at the BBC (Television production). BBC Four. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  11. ^ Hanson, Amy. "The Man With the Child in His Eyes". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  12. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 50. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  13. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – The Man with the Child in His Eyes". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Kate Bush" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Kate Bush – The Man with the Child in His Eyes" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Kate Bush – The Man with the Child in His Eyes". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  18. ^ "Kate Bush Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  20. ^ "British single certifications – Kate Bush – The Man with the Child in His Eyes". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
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