Bush began writing songs at 11. She was signed to EMI Records after Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour helped produce a demo tape. Her debut album, The Kick Inside, was released in 1978. Bush slowly gained artistic independence in album production and has produced all her studio albums since The Dreaming (1982). She took a hiatus between her seventh and eighth albums, The Red Shoes (1993) and Aerial (2005). Bush drew attention again in 2014 with her concert residency Before the Dawn, her first show since 1979's The Tour of Life.
The TV series "Stranger Things" used Bush's "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" in Season 4. As a result of the resurgence of interest, in 2022 the song reached #1 on the UK charts, 37 years after its initial release, and generated 100s of millions of streams.
Bush's eclectic and experimental musical style, unconventional lyrics, performances, and literary themes have influenced a diverse range of artists. She has been nominated for 13 British Phonographic Industry accolades, winning for Best British Female Artist in 1987, and has been nominated for three Grammy Awards. In 2002, Bush was recognized with an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. Bush was appointed a CBE in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to music. She was nominated three times for induction in the 2018, 2021, and 2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Why Should I Love You
Kate Bush Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
"Put it out of your mind"
Give it time
The fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the Sacred Heart
The gray of a ghost
To the "O" of the host
The "V" of the velvet
Of all of the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
Have you ever seen a picture
Of Jesus laughing?
Mmm, do you think
He had a beautiful smile?
A smile that healed
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
The fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the Sacred Heart
The gray of a ghost
The "L" of the lips are open
The "O" of the host
The "V" of the velvet
The "E" of my eye
The eye in wonder
The eye that sees
The "I" that loves you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
In Kate Bush's song "Why Should I Love You?", she expresses her hesitation in loving someone. The opening lines of the chapter indicate that someone (likely someone she knows) is advising her to put her thoughts of this person out of her mind but to give it time. The rest of the song is a series of metaphors, where she describes various colors and letters (purple, gold, gray, L, O, V, E, etc.) and relates them to aspects of the person she's singing about. She asks why she should love this person when there are so many people in the world to choose from. There's just something about this person that she can't quite put her finger on.
As the song moves towards its conclusion, Bush draws a comparison between this person and Jesus, and asks if anyone has ever seen a picture of Jesus laughing, and if so, whether he had a beautiful smile that could heal. She then repeats the question of why she should love this person, and answers it with "The "E" of my eye, the eye in wonder, the eye that sees, the "I" that loves you." Here, she reveals that the reason she should love this person is because she loves them with her very being.
Overall, the song is about the struggle of identifying and admitting love. It's about the fear of jumping in too deep and getting hurt, but also recognizing that sometimes love is worth the risk.
Line by Line Meaning
This chapter says
"Put it out of your mind"
Give it time
Forget about it and wait for a while
The fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the Sacred Heart
The gray of a ghost
The "L" of the lips are open
To the "O" of the host
The "V" of the velvet
Describing the vivid colors of something
Of all of the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
Questioning the reasons behind love for a particular person
Have you ever seen a picture
Of Jesus laughing?
Mmm, do you think
He had a beautiful smile?
A smile that healed
Wondering about the possibility of Jesus having a joyful smile that had healing powers
The "E" of my eye
The eye in wonder
The eye that sees
The "I" that loves you
Referring to a person's affection through a play on words with the phrase 'apple of my eye'
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
Reiterating the question about the reasons for loving someone in contrast to so many other people in the world
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: KATE BUSH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
StarSister
"Why Should I Love You"
This chapter says
"Put it out of your mind"
Mmm, give it time....
The fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the Sacred Heart
The grey of a ghost
The "L" of the lips are open
To the "O" of the Host
The "V" of the velvet
Of all of the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
Have you ever seen a picture
Of Jesus laughing?
Mmm, do you think
He had a beautiful smile?
A smile that healed
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
The fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the Sacred Heart
The grey of a ghost
The "L" of the lips are open
To the "O" of the Host
The "V" of the velvet
The "E" of my eye
The eye in wonder
The eye that sees
The "I" that loves you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
blackgargamel
The finest purple
The purest gold
The red of the sacred heart
The grey of a ghost
The "l" of the lips are open
To the "o" of the host
The "v" of the velvet
The "e" of my eye
The eye in wonder
The eye that sees
The "I" that loves you
hobbes45
This chapter says
'Put it out of your mind'
Mmm, give it timeThe fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the sacred heart
The grey of a ghost
The L of the lips are open
To the O of the host
The V of the velvetOf all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
Of all of the people in the world
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?Have you ever seen a picture
Of Jesus laughin'?
Mmm, do you think
He had a beautiful smile?
A smile that healed
doll K
This chapter says
"Put it out of your mind"
Give it time
The fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the Sacred Heart
The gray of a ghost
The "L" of the lips are open
To the "O" of the host
The "V" of the velvet
Of all of the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
Have you ever seen a picture
Of Jesus laughing?
Mmm, do you think
He had a beautiful smile?
A smile that healed
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
The fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the Sacred Heart
The gray of a ghost
The "L" of the lips are open
The "O" of the host
The "V" of the velvet
The "E" of my eye
The eye in wonder
The eye that sees
The "I" that loves you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
David Quijada Fernández
This chapter says
"Put it out of your mind"
Mmm, give it time....
The fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the Sacred Heart
The grey of a ghost
The "L" of the lips are open
To the "O" of the Host
The "V" of the velvet
Of all of the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
Have you ever seen a picture
Of Jesus laughing?
Mmm, do you think
He had a beautiful smile?
A smile that healed
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
There's just something 'bout you
There's just something 'bout you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
The fine purple
The purest gold
The red of the Sacred Heart
The grey of a ghost
The "L" of the lips are open
To the "O" of the Host
The "V" of the velvet
The "E" of my eye
The eye in wonder
The eye that sees
The "I" that loves you
Of all the people in the world
Why should I love you?
Millennial Falcon
Kate and Prince are quite possibly the most original artists of their era, hearing both of their styles blend so beautifully is something that can never be replicated.
Bryan
Kate Bush, Prince, and Lenny Henry... all born in 1958.
Virginia viola
The real magic of the era was that everyone was original..and as a result, we were spoilt for choice, really talented musicians, writers, poets and singers. Nowadays it’s just about image and sales..a literal conveyor belt of people who look the same, sound the same, sing the same songs about the same things, written by the same three writers. At least there’s YouTube I guess.
Ian Kirby
And Lenny Henry,!!
Louise Beck
Well said. This song is amazing.
surfnsunshinekat
YES!
Somalia Gullette
TWO of the greatest genius artists on the same track. You can really hear Prince's flavor in this track.
Rest In Power, Prince.
Paul Wilde
Chris, some people were saying that Lenny Henry doesn't feature on the song. He does. So what's your problem?
chris miller
@Paul Wilde "only seem to see what you want to." Classic projection..my misguided brother. 😞
BigWill2k
@mvellis it seems getting Prince in was a PR move gone wrong, because listening to the demo why on earth would you think "yeah i want some funky fresh Prince guitar and cheesy Christmas keyboards on this!" His monumental ego turned it into a Prince song featuring Kate Bush. I wish she had had the balls to tell him to do one.