Moments of Pleasure

"Moments of Pleasure" is a song written and recorded by British musician Kate Bush, released in November 1993 by EMI as the third single from Bush's seventh studio album, The Red Shoes (1993). The song peaked at number 26 on the UK Singles Chart.

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Composition

In this song, Bush remembers friends and family who have died, including her aunt Maureen, dancer Gary Hurst (Bubba), guitarist Alan Murphy (Smurph), Abbey Road sound engineer John Barrett (Teddy), film director Michael Powell, and lighting engineer Bill Duffield. Composer and musician Michael Kamen arranged and conducted the orchestra, expanding on Bush's original piano accompaniment. Bush wrote the chorus "to those we love, to those who will survive" for her mother, who was sick at the time of recording. She died a short time later. The Director's Cut version features the chorus without lyrics.

Critical reception

In his review of the song, Ben Thompson from The Independent remarked, "A smile and a tear from the Welling siren."^[2] Chris Roberts from Melody Maker said, "'Moments of Pleasure' is The Big Literary Effort, Kate at her very tremble-inducing, vocal-range-like-the-Pyrenees best."^[3] Alan Jones from Music Week gave the song four out of five and named it Pick of the Week, writing, "Beautiful and traditional Bush fare with expansive orchestrations, poignant vocals and off-her-trolley lyrics. As subtle as 'Rubberband Girl' was direct, and probably as big a hit."^[4] Terry Staunton from NME commented, "Her personal exorcisms reach new heights on 'Moments of Pleasure', a deceptively simple ballad with a swooping chorus and a coda where she namechecks the people who've been important to her over years. It's a song that may baffle the world at large, but it wasn't written for us; Kate's just decided to share it."^[5]

B-sides

Prior to its inclusion in The Other Side 2, part of the 2018 Remastered collection, B-side "Show a Little Devotion" was one of Bush's more elusive songs, only appearing on a small handful of CD singles that were released just prior to Christmas 1993. The version of "December Will Be Magic Again" that appears on this release is slightly different from all the other mixes previously released. It is essentially the same as the original single mix, but it is brighter, and the percussion instruments are different. The CD release also includes "Experiment IV" which was released in 1986. The 12-inch and cassette releases contain an instrumental version of "Moments of Pleasure", which has yet to be released on CD, and a third track entitled "Home for Christmas", which was also released on the US "Rubberband Girl", CD single. This was the first and only Kate Bush single (that received a physical release) not to be issued on 7-inch vinyl in the United Kingdom.

Track listings

12-inch
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Moments of Pleasure"	5:13
2.	"Moments of Pleasure" (instrumental)	5:13
3.	"Home for Christmas"	1:44

CD
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Moments of Pleasure"	5:19
2.	"Show a Little Devotion"	4:18
3.	"December Will Be Magic Again"	4:48
4.	"Experiment IV"	4:23

Collectors CD box set (includes four colour prints)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Moments of Pleasure"	5:19
2.	"December Will Be Magic Again"	4:48
3.	"Experiment IV"	4:23

Cassette
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Moments of Pleasure"
2.	"Moments of Pleasure" (instrumental)

Personnel

Kate Bush – vocals, piano
Michael Kamen – orchestral arrangements

Charts

Chart (1993–1994)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)^[6]	119
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)^[7]	38
UK Singles (OCC)^[8]	26

References

^ "Single Releases". Music Week. 13 November 1993. p. 25.
^ Thompson, Ben (21 November 1993). "Records". The Independent.
^ Roberts, Chris (30 October 1993). "Albums". Melody Maker. p. 32. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
^ Jones, Alan (20 November 1993). "Market Preview: Mainstream - Singles — Pick of the Week" (PDF). Music Week. p. 14. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
^ Staunton, Terry (6 November 1993). "Plimsoll Asylum". NME. p. 29. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
^ "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 2015-07-15". Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015 – via Imgur.
^ "Eurochart Hot 100" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 49. 4 December 1993. p. 11. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
^ "Kate Bush: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 November 2022.

v t e Kate Bush
Discography Awards and nominations
Studio albums	The Kick Inside Lionheart Never for Ever The Dreaming Hounds of Love The Sensual World The Red Shoes Aerial Director's Cut 50 Words for Snow
Extended plays	On Stage Kate Bush Aspects of the Sensual World Eat the Music
Singles	"Wuthering Heights" "The Man with the Child in His Eyes" "Them Heavy People" "Moving" "Hammer Horror" "Wow" "Symphony in Blue" "Strange Phenomena" "Breathing" "Babooshka" "Army Dreamers" "December Will Be Magic Again" "Sat in Your Lap" "The Dreaming" "There Goes a Tenner" "Suspended in Gaffa" "Ne t'enfuis pas" "Night of the Swallow" "Running Up That Hill" "Cloudbusting" "Hounds of Love" "The Big Sky" "Don't Give Up" "Experiment IV" "The Sensual World" "This Woman's Work" "Love and Anger" "Rocket Man" "Rubberband Girl" "Eat the Music" "Moments of Pleasure" "The Red Shoes" "The Man I Love" "And So Is Love" "King of the Mountain" "Lyra" "Deeper Understanding" "Wild Man"
Live albums	Live at the Hammersmith Odeon Before the Dawn
Compilation albums	The Single File Kate Bush The Whole Story This Woman's Work: Anthology 1978–1990 The Other Sides
Videos	Live at the Hammersmith Odeon The Single File The Hair of the Hound The Whole Story The Sensual World: The Videos The Line, the Cross and the Curve
Concerts	The Tour of Life Before the Dawn
Related articles	The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever David Gilmour

This page was last edited on 5 April 2024, at 23:40

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