"This Woman's Work" is a song written and performed by the British singer
Kate Bush
Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...
. It was originally featured on the soundtrack of the
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
film ''
She's Having a Baby
''She's Having a Baby'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy film directed and written by John Hughes and starring Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern. It tells the story of a young newlywed couple who try to cope with married life and their parents ...
'' (1988). The song was released as the second
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
from her album ''
The Sensual World
''The Sensual World'' is the sixth studio album by the English art rock singer Kate Bush, released on 16 October 1989 by EMI Records. It reached No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart. It has been certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (B ...
'' in 1989 and peaked at 25 in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
.
Song information
The lyric of "This Woman's Work" is about being forced to confront an unexpected and frightening crisis during the normal event of childbirth. Written for the film ''
She's Having a Baby
''She's Having a Baby'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy film directed and written by John Hughes and starring Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern. It tells the story of a young newlywed couple who try to cope with married life and their parents ...
'', director
John Hughes used the song during the film's dramatic climax, when Jake (
Kevin Bacon
Kevin Norwood Bacon (born July 8, 1958) is an American actor. His films include the musical-drama film '' Footloose'' (1984), the controversial historical conspiracy legal thriller '' JFK'' (1991), the legal drama '' A Few Good Men'' (1992), t ...
) learns that the lives of his wife, Kristy (
Elizabeth McGovern
Elizabeth Lee McGovern (born July 18, 1961) is an American actress and musician. She has received many awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, three Golden Globe Award nominations, and one Academy Award nomination.
Born in Evanston, Ill ...
), and their unborn child are in danger. As the song plays, a
montage sequence
Montage (, ''mon-TAHJ'') is a film editing technique in which a series of short shots are sequenced to condense space, time, and information.
The term has been used in various contexts. In French, the word "montage" applied to cinema simply de ...
of flashbacks is displayed, showing the couple in happier times, intercut with shots of him waiting for news of Kristy and their baby's condition. Bush wrote the song specifically for the sequence, writing from a man's (Jake's) viewpoint and matching the words to the visuals which had already been filmed.
Tarquin Gotch, who was music supervisor of ''She’s Having A Baby'', says that the
temp track for the scene was
This Mortal Coil
This Mortal Coil were a British music collective led by Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the British record label 4AD. Although Watts-Russell and John Fryer were the only two official members, the band's recorded output featured a large rotati ...
’s cover of
“Song to the Siren” by
Tim Buckley
Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years. Buckley began his career based in folk music, but his subsequent albums experimented with ...
, but they refused to license the track.
The version of the song that was featured on ''The Sensual World'' was re-edited from the original version featured on the film's soundtrack. The version released as a single was a third, slightly alternate mix.
"This Woman's Work" is one of several songs that were completely re-recorded on her 2011 album ''
Director's Cut''. The new version features a sparse performance of Bush singing and playing piano.
Composition
According to the sheet music published in Musicnotes.com by
Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is itself owned ...
, the song is set in the time signature of
common time
The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note val ...
, with a slow
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...
of 66
beats per minute
Beat, beats or beating may refer to:
Common uses
* Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area
** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols
** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men
* Battery ...
. It is written in the key of
A-flat major with Bush's
vocal range
Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of st ...
spanning from A
3 to E
5.
Music video
The
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
for "This Woman's Work", which was directed by Bush herself, starts with Bush, spotlighted in an otherwise black room, playing the introductory notes on a
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
. In the next scene, a distraught man (played by
Tim McInnerny
Tim McInnerny ( ; born 18 September 1956) is an English actor. He is known for his many roles on stage and television, including as Lord Percy Percy and Captain Darling in the 1980s British sitcom ''Blackadder''.
Early life
McInnerny was bor ...
) is pacing in the waiting room of a
hospital. It is then revealed through
flashbacks that his wife (played by Bush) has collapsed while they were having dinner. The story blurs into a continuous scene where he carries her to the car, a desperate race to the hospital, and his wife being wheeled away on a stretcher as he races in behind her. While waiting, the husband is wracked with fear and imagines his wife in happier times, kissing him in the rain, and even imagines the nurse coming to tell him she has died. The
nurse
Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...
then pulls him out of his reverie, as she reassuringly puts her hand on his shoulder and tells him about his wife's situation, though we cannot hear what she is saying. The final scene of the video returns to Bush as she silently covers the
piano keyboard
A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, sh ...
.
Use in media
Fifteen years after its original release, in 2005, the song peaked at number 3 in the
UK Official Download Chart
The UK Singles Downloads Chart is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the music industry. Since July 2015, the chart week runs from Friday to Thursday, with the chart date given as the following Thursday.
The main chart co ...
, due to it being featured in the
Tamzin Outhwaite
Tamzin Maria Outhwaite (; born 5 November 1970) is an English actress, presenter and narrator. Since playing the role of Mel Owen in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', she has starred in a number of theatre and television productions, includi ...
drama ''Walk Away and I Stumble''. Also in 2005, the song featured in an advert for the
NSPCC
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity.
History
Victorian era
On a trip to New York in 1881, Liverpudlian businessman Thomas Agnew was inspired by a visit to the New Yor ...
. In 1997, the song was featured in Season 3, Episode 21 of the series "Party of Five" (Hitting Bottom) when Bailey asks Sarah for help after crashing his jeep and injuring her. Due to the song's inclusion in
TV series ''Extras'', the song entered the UK chart once again at number 121 in the week ending 5 January 2008, rising to 76 the following week. The song also appears in Season 6, Episode 12 of ''
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and developed by McElhenney and Glenn Howerton that premiered on August 4, 2005 on FX and later FXX beginning with the ninth season in 2013. It stars Char ...
'' while Dee Reynolds (
Kaitlin Olson) emerges after giving birth to a waiting room full of former romantic acquaintances. After it was performed by a contestant on ''Britain's Got Talent'' in April 2012, it re-charted at number 63 on the UK chart. In 2015, the song was used in the first season finale of
FX comedy-drama series ''
You're the Worst
''You're the Worst'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Stephen Falk. Originally broadcast by FX, the series moved to its sister channel FXX beginning with the second season. The series follows Jimmy (Chris Geere), a self- ...
'', sung by the character Lindsay Jillian (
Kether Donohue
Kether Donohue is an American actress. She is known for her role as Lindsay on ''You're the Worst'', as a cappella leader Alice in ''Pitch Perfect,'' and as the exocomp Peanut Hamper on Star Trek: Lower Decks.
Early life
Donohue grew up on the ...
). The song features prominently in the first episode of the
second season of ''
The Handmaid's Tale
''The Handmaid's Tale'' is a futuristic dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood and published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England in a patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state known as the Republic of Gilead, which ...
'' when the lead character faces execution. In May 2021, "This Woman's Work" was featured on the second episode of ''The Pact'', a
BBC1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
drama series starring
Julie Hesmondhalgh. Following this, the track placed at 42 on the UK Official Download Chart.
Track listing
A version of the
B-side "Be Kind to My Mistakes" had previously been featured in the film ''
Castaway'' in 1986. The other B-side, "I'm Still Waiting", features on the 12" and CD single versions only.
7" single (UK)
12" and CD single (UK)
Personnel
*
Kate Bush
Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...
– vocals, piano, keyboards
*
Michael Kamen
Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, and session musician.
Biography Early life
Michael Arnold Kamen was born ...
– orchestral arrangements
Chart performance
"This Woman's Work" was released on 20 November 1989 and reached a peak position of number 25 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. In 2022, "This Woman's Work" was certified gold by the
British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...
(BPI) for sales and streams in excess of 400,000 units.
Weekly charts
Certifications
Maxwell's versions
In 1997, American
R&B musician
Maxwell cover
Cover or covers may refer to:
Packaging
* Another name for a lid
* Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package
* Album cover, the front of the packaging
* Book cover or magazine cover
** Book design
** Back cover copy, part of co ...
ed the song for the release of his album ''
MTV Unplugged
''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...
''. The artist later re-recorded the song in studio for his album ''
Now
Now most commonly refers
to the present time.
Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to:
Organizations
* Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization
* National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization
* Now ...
'' (2001). This version of the song was released as the album's third single in 2001 and peaked in the US Billboard charts at number 58 (
''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 2002) and number 16 (
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
). This version also appeared in the 2000 film ''
Love & Basketball
''Love & Basketball'' is a 2000 American romantic sports drama film written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood in her feature film directorial debut. The film is produced by Spike Lee and Sam Kit and stars Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps. It tells ...
''.
The song was featured on week 7 of
So You Think You Can Dance (American season 5) (22 July 2009). It was used as the music for a contemporary dance choreographed by
Tyce Diorio
"Tyce" Diorio (born August 22, 1970) is an American dancer and choreographer. He is best known for his work as a choreographer and guest judge on the Fox television series ''So You Think You Can Dance''. He has choreographed and performed with ...
and performed by contestants Melissa Sandvig and Ade Obayomi.
Critical reception
Larry Flick from ''
Billboard'' wrote, "Maxwell's ''"
Unplugged
Unplugged may refer to:
*Acoustic music, music not produced through electronic means
* "Unplugged" (B.A.P song), 2014
* "Unplugged" (''Modern Family''), a 2010 episode of ''Modern Family''
Albums and EPs
* ''Unplugged'' (5'nizza album), 2002
* '' ...
"'' cover of the lilting
Kate Bush
Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...
chestnut is a perfect showcase for his voice—precisely because he only takes full advantage of its depth during a few impassioned moments, teasing us with his potential. The rest of the number is done in
falsetto alongside minimalist treble pluckings, a style that expresses convincingly the longing implicit in the lyrics and the melody itself."
Music video
The
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
for Maxwell's cover of "This Woman's Work", which was directed by
Sanji, begins with pictures of Maxwell and his lover in
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...
. One picture reveals that his lover has died. In the next scene, Maxwell sees the ghost of his lover in the street and proceeding toward her, he falls through the street into a watery grave; seemingly drowning in his sorrow. Maxwell, then begins to swim across the street, pulling himself up by holding onto the sidewalk, he looks up to a cloud that reveals the face of his lover. The next scene shows Maxwell sitting in a diner, reminiscing about the loss of his love. Sitting next to Maxwell, are two women who—shown through flashbacks—have experienced heartache and loss of another kind. The music video ends with Maxwell walking outside of the diner, seemingly still underwater, as he sings "make it go away."
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Hope for Isla and Jude cover versions
In 2014 musicians
Darren Hayes
Darren Stanley Hayes (born 8 May 1972) is an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the frontman and singer of the pop duo Savage Garden until their disbandment. Their 1997 album ''Savage Garden'' peaked at number 1 in Australia, number 2 in ...
,
Pete Murray,
Marlisa Punzalan
Marlisa Ann Punzalan (born 1 October 1999), also known simply as Marlisa, is an Australian singer. She won the sixth season of '' The X Factor Australia'' in 2014, aged 15, the youngest contestant to have won the show. Punzalan su ...
,
Nathaniel
, nickname =
{{Plainlist,
* Nat
* Nate
, footnotes =
Nathaniel is an English variant of the biblical Greek name Nathanael.
People with the name Nathaniel
* Nathaniel Archibald (1952–2018), American basketball player
* Nat ...
and Flea from
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...
collaborated to record "This Woman's Work" as Hope for Isla and Jude. The song was recorded to bring hope to Isla and Jude; two young Australian siblings suffering from the rare and fatal disease
Sanfilippo Syndrome
Sanfilippo syndrome, also known as mucopolysaccharidosis type III (MPS III), is a rare autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disease that primarily affects the brain and spinal cord. It is caused by a buildup of large sugar molecules called g ...
. Proceeds from the song's went to Sanfilippo Children's Foundation, a not-for-profit charity that dedicates their resources to progressing clinical research into the effective treatment of Mucopolysaccharidosis III, also known as MPSIII or Sanfilippo Syndrome.
The song peaked at number 79 on the ARIA Singles Chart
Charts
References
{{Authority control
1988 songs
1989 singles
2001 singles
2014 singles
Kate Bush songs
Maxwell (musician) songs
Film theme songs
Songs written by Kate Bush
Music videos directed by Sanji
EMI Records singles
Columbia Records singles
Songs about parenthood
Sony Music Australia singles