Bush, Kate - Mrs. Bartolozzi Lyrics

Kate tells us to remember our consciousness and remember that we are all the result of an ecological washing machine!!!!

How many of us feel this... yet never 'sing' about it??

Washing Machine!!!!

I wonder if its a whirlpool

a song about a washing machine from an album called aerial, lmao

I found a book on how to make those dirty stains become invisible
Take a pinch of keyhole..

Grande Artiste.

Slooshy sloshy slooshy sloshy
Get that dirty shirty clean
Slooshy sloshy slooshy sloshy
Make those cuffs and collars gleam
Everything clean and shiny

Makes me look at my Hotpoint Aquarius in a different light 😀

Love this song. Up there with 'A Coral Room' as two of the great tracks on a flawless album. There's such a connection with nature on 'Aerial' . The part where she sings 'Oh and the waves are coming in' 'Oh and the waves are going out' is totally mesmeric. You can almost hear the waves coming in and going out in her voice. Just perfectly paced and beautiful, as always.

Das beste Lied, von meinem zweit Besten Schatz,

This song always makes my so sad. It is like I am mourning a person’s death I didn’t even know. It makes me afraid of the day my husband might pass away. 😢

This song just came on my playlist and when she gets to that chorus I just really teared up , cos I really felt her grieve such a powerful and emotional song . Very beautiful.

Enjoy the simple every day repetition and you will be happy.

Fans of both artists note a definite "kindredness" between Kate Bush and Laura Nyro. There is definitely a "washing machine" connection. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egFezSPH4D8

this song pretty reliably gets me teary-eyed. i'm pretty sure it's about the avoidance part of grief and that's why it seems like information is missing through the whole thing. she's trying not to think about it but the effort falters for that moment with the shirt blowing in the breeze. it looks so alive.

d1jezek can’t stop crying when I listen to this song

Mais que contient la machine à laver de la voisine de Bexleyheath ?

REACHED..................sorry for poor typing.

This late in the game and she may have produced her finest work with Aerial. Her voice and themes have reaches full maturity. Any agreements? Email me if you agree please.

Deeply moving. Kate is such a HUGE influence on so many individual artists that have followed, yet none of them carry her EMOTIONAL gravitas. The market won't have it and it's a shame. because attention spans are so damn narrow these days that no one who feels these feelings wants to relive them through as effectively as only she can convey them. Only number 48 on the U.S. charts on debut,while disposable rubbish prevails. It's a travesty. This album will outlast anything today her best moments make me CRY.and there are many.

Well said William..in total agreement with you..

a 7 course meal, in a good way

exelent singer....

WASHING MACHINE

metaphoric genius.

A clear influence from Joni Mitchell's "The last time I saw Richard"... which is good.

+BoxOfFrogs Kate has stated that Joni had an influence on her. But also take a listen to the piano progression of both songs. There is certainly a link between them... at least to my ears :)

that is OUT OF ORDER, good grief

What do you mean?

kostasxrysogelos calling Joni a 'hag'

Master .

This song conjures up a wonderful, melancholy mood - I think it's about widowhood - the washing machine is a metaphor for her having to clean up after the man in Mrs. Bartolozzi's life passes away. Magical songwriting.

+Jeremy Buddle Yes, yes, I see that. But it may be even darker.

+Flo Jo You're everywhere in all her videos, you're like Zorro leaving marks on a lot of her videos

+Vinny Ah yes, and now you've brought me back to 'Mrs. Bartolozzi', to which I have not listened for many months. So thanks for that.

"Who WAS that masked man?" Oh no, wait... that wasn't Zorro, was it? When I was a kid, I had a Zorro sword (chalk on the end, so you could leave your mark on walls) and the mask, and the hat, and the cape ..... I also watched The Lone Ranger ("Bad men coming, Kimosabe!") with Jay Silverheels, and "Davy Crockett' (Chingachcook - "Last of the Mohicans!"), although I never had the raccoon hat. So guess my age and whether I am male or female.

There may be a small prize.

And now a feel a 'Kate Bush' day coming on ........ I have been caught up with her more recent stuff for too long.

If you like Kate Bush, go find some videos of the cover band 'Cloudbusting' - even better, go and see them.

No problem. I guess you're in your 40's and male

+Vinny Close, but no cigar. Right on one aspect but oooh, I wish I was still in my 40s! I would have thought the Zorro stuff would have given it away - I was watching TV in the fifties/sixties. Which makes me ancient. Too old to contemplate, frankly.

@Symphonyofflowers Ditto "A Coral Room."  Peace.

I see I commented on this three years ago, under another ID.  I would like to be able to talk to that guy, and warn him about the next few years, but .... alas.  However, I could have cheered him up by telling him that Kate Bush would resume live performance and that YES, you lucky bastard, you're going to get tickets to the opening night!  The downside .... she is not going to do 'Coral Room' or 'How to be Invisible' .... but it it is going to be the most amazing night of your musical life.  Try to behave, and don't forget it.

It was, I did, and I haven't.  Don't have anything much more on my bucket list.

I was just leaving a comment here elsewhere about screaming hello at the past. gr*! i see you everywhere in kate bush comments

Flo Jo how amazing

I'm gonna sing this whenever someone mentions a washing machine...

@LPSPiesAndLies Washing machine.

WASHING MACHIIIIIIINE

WAAAHH - SHIIIIIIING

MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE

+3lisa splishy sploshy splish sploshy

This song is so personal to me. I love Kate.

This is a haunting song.. astonishingly beautiful.  Thank you Kate...

Just another hidden gem from Kate, thanks for all the great images. And a special thank you to The Goddess for all the incredible music that comes out of that Beautiful Head.

Yep it could be. I'd love to have the chance to ask her. Not that she'd ever say. She'd just say it means what it does to you and thats that. :-) I mean, as a widower myself, I cant imagine why you'd be washing your dead partner's clothes with your own, unless you were taking them down the charity shop... unless you were having real trouble coming to terms with the loss. And if that was the case, I think the song would be an awful lot darker than what it is. Eitherway... she's brilliant. :-)

That's it, I'm not letting anyone else do my laundry from now on! :)

Brilliant, brilliant storytelling from Kate. I think its more about the mundane and being transported away to a fantasy scene, a daydream, as against the widow... this lady is just... world class. A once in a generation artist who it has been a total pleasure to watch develop over the last 30 years. Genius.

Kate I ♥ your music

This song transports you from mundane and bursts into colourful fantasy. Listen and close your eyes and 'see' what happens. It's magical :)

In Aerial she sings the numbers of Py and about a new washing machine...and it's Fantastic! ;)

Well, you have to admit ... it's possible that either her husband has passed away or .... or that she has murdered him in some bloody fashion, and the cleaning is a reaction to that. ' .... and it looks so white .... ', about the shirt.

I know Kate has said, or at least implied, that this is not the case.

But I wouldn't engage Mrs. Bartolozzi as my charlady without VERY good references. And I'd like to speak to Mr. B.

Layers, and layers, and layers ..... and you can enjoy it at any level.

That's art.

Just got a new washing machine and had this song in my head all day! I do believe it's a work of genius. Love Kate Bush.
Enjoy it at any level you like.

A song about a washing machine, I actually thought I misheard it when my dad played it!!! My friends are now obsessed with it!!!

@MisterOverDose

Have you actually listened to the whole lyrics? This is a beautiful song about grief. The woman has just lost her partner and is doing a laundry. She watches her and her man's clothers going round in washing machine and think of themselves together which makes her cry (the "waves are coming in/waves are going out" reffers to three things - washing machine, scene in woman's memories and her tears).

@MisterOverDose It's not actually ABOUT a washing machine; the true meaning is much more subtle than that. You have to look deeper rather than just dismissing it so easily :)

Kate Bush is the only woman who can sing "washing machine" WITHOUT sounding ridiculous.

she's also the only woman who can totally gut you by singing the words 'washing machine'.

ok, this coming from somebody that appreciates all musical genres. My dog can write better lyrics than this.. nothing wrong with the song, but omg please stating what you see when your washing machine spins around.. what creative genius

Congrats........yours is easily the dumbest comment on this thread. You're American, aren't you.......!?

ciao mi dispiace soltanto che ormai che la grandissima kate bush fa uscire isuoi lavori molto raramente... comunque grazie di aver risposto... prelude è anche per me una canzone meravigliosa come del reso tutti i suoi dischi.. sono delle autentiche perle di valore inestimabile ciao alla prossima

@robiacons oh guarda, in alcuni video ho commentato in inglese per prendere parte alle varie discussioni e ooohh e aaaahh generali. Ma sono italiano anch'io. Abito in Inghilterra, la patria di kate. Vorrei solo che i suoi connazionali si accorgessero della sua grandezza, soprattutto le nuove generazioni. Nella canzone 'Prelude', dove canta un pezzo in Italiano, mi sento come se confini e barriere non esistessero piu'...

Now that I've read the lyrics I realize i might have been wrong; although when I read "my blouse wrapping itself around your trousers" you may forgive me for interpreting it so simplistically...

Thanks to whomever posted this...have you ever heard doing the laundry sound sooo very sexy...perhaps it's the minor chords?

Yes, I think it's about a woman mourning her husband, although I did originally think it was about a woman whose house had been broken into (her desperation to clean everything afterwards)

... too good to be true

a quanto pare mi ritrovo unico italiano.... a commentare la voce angelica inarrivabile... della cantante che ho sognato tante volte... che ammro come la più grande.... che abbia mai deliziato le giornate della mia vita... grazie kate......

oh kate, you have a way with words.

wHO IS mRS. bARTOLOZZI?

REFRIGERATOOOOOOOR!
"oVER THINKING, oVER ANALYZING, sEPARATES THE BODY FROM THE MIND................I embrace my desire to
feel the rhythm, to feel connected
enough to step aside and weep like a widow
to feel inspired, to fathom the power,
to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain,
to swing on the spiral
of our divinity and still be a human."
pOETRY IS MENT TO BE TAKEN INDIVIDUALLY WITH A OPEN HEART AND MIND. IT'S ALL JUST A BUNCH OS FIGURES OF SPEECH.
STOP DISSECTING
KATE ROCKS

Reminds me of Simon Armitage's poem Cataract Operation; the personification of clothes on a washing line. Except Kate takes it to the next level, intertwining emotional depth through a wife's loss of her husband. The layers of meaning within that grief & reflection are so powerful. The washing machine symbolising her past, ensuing isolation, escapism, maybe even a sense of drowning, reiterating the pain/struggle of coping with her husband's death. Kate writes such vivid lyrics. So expressive.

Kate´s the best thing ever!

A beautiful gem from her most recent album. Also, thanks for the more recent images of Kate.

I don't know if I read it or it's my own conclusion...but it seems to be about a widow who's washing a load of clothes which contain her late husband's clothes. She's watching the clothes tumble and remembers him and then fantasizes that they are both in the ocean. I'm pretty sure I read it somewhere...but can't remember. So uneasy but beautiful song.

If you listen to the Mark Radcliffe radio interview. He says this song is about a washing machine. She replies, "is it"? and how interesting it is to let people interpret it how they want to. Who am I to disagree?!! xx

She says herself, it's NOT about a washing machine but loves how everyone will have their own interpretation of the lyrics. xx

This song is NOT about a washing machine if you really listen! xxx

Brilliant song, and thanks for combining it with images of beautiful Kate of more recent times. Its hard for me to listen to this song without getting all choked up, but some times one just needs to get all choked up. I don't dare listen to "A Coral Room" just now.

This is a perfect example of a once in a generation songwriting genius.

All it needs is piano and voice and yet it tells such a vivid story about escapism from the mundane.

Its got everything. Light, shade, feel...

World class. No other words needed.

Dearest Clare - enjoy your day washing! (_________). your Henry XXX

I find Aerial so difficult to listen to, but in a great way...it's very challenging. It is a record of someone older and wiser, bruised by life but surviving.

That shimmering,mercurial quality to her voice, the way she could soar or implore, in songs like "This Woman's Work" or "Moments of Pleasure" is lost forever...there's a raw, weary tone to Aerial which reminds me of artists like Marianne Faithful; the life lived comes through in the voice.

A great artist

coming from the living room where some easy listening piano back to my bedroom where this is playing, i was struck by the difference in received emotion between the incredibly particular emotion evoked by kate bush compared to the featureless and bland 'easy listening', and was just thinking how challenging music is so much better than easy listening. anyway, you wrote this 8 years ago. i find this very interesting, screaming hello at the past

Imagine getting all your truth from this song rather than, say, "The Drudge Report?"

this is a writer's song.

This is simultaneously the worst thing I've ever heard and the Best Thing Ever.

beautiful!

I think I see you standing outside
But its just your shirt
Hanging on the washing line
Waving its arm as the wind blows by
And it looks so alive
Nice and white
Just like its climbed right out
of my washing machine
Washing machine
Washing machine
great job...