"There Goes a Tenner" is a song by the English 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 (song), Wuthering Heights", ...

. It was released as a single on 2 November 1982, the third to be taken from her album ''

The Dreaming The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by his co ...

''. It was released as a 7-inch single in the UK and Ireland only.

Background

"There Goes a Tenner" is often considered to be something of a "lost single" because when it was released, the single gained no interest from any radio stations nor did the song's video on music television programmes. Due to this lack of media interest, the single did not sell well and became Bush's first single to miss the top 75 in the UK, peaking at number 93. It was originally intended to be Bush's first

twelve-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

, but its disappointing sales performance caused plans for the 12-inch to be cancelled. The song's lyrics are about a bungled bank robbery as told by a fearful and paranoid perpetrator. As Bush stated;

"It's about amateur robbers who have only done small things, and this is quite a big robbery that they've been planning for months, and when it actually starts happening, they start freaking out. They're really scared, and they're so aware of the fact that something could go wrong that they're paranoid and want to go home."

Towards the end of the song, the lyrics and tone take on a dream-like state, which is reflected in the video. A review in ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'' commented that despite the comic tone of the song, the end left a rather unnerving effect. Bush sang it in what has been described as "a curious accent that seemed to veer from an

aristocrat The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Ro ...

to an

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

villain" (see ''

mockney Mockney (a portmanteau of " mock" and "cockney") is an affected accent and form of speech in imitation of cockney or working-class London speech, or a person with such an accent. A stereotypical mockney speaker comes from an upper-middle-class ba ...

'').Lorne Murdoch (1985). "Kate Bush". ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

(December 1985, No. 76)'': p.22 The B-side, " Ne t'enfuis pas" ("Don't Run Away") is spelt incorrectly on the actual single as "Ne T'en Fui Pas", which has no meaning in French.

Personnel

– piano,

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commercial lic ...

Yamaha CS-80 The Yamaha CS-80 is an analog synthesizer released in 1977. It supports true 8-voice polyphony, with two independent synthesizer layers per voice each with its own set of front panel controls, in addition to a number of hardwired preset voice set ...

, vocals *

Del Palmer Derek Peter "Del" Palmer is an English singer, songwriter, bass guitarist and sound engineer, best known for his work with Kate Bush, with whom he also had a long-term relationship between the late 1970s and early 1990s. He released his first so ...

– bass guitar * Stuart Elliott – drums *

Dave Lawson Dave Lawson (born 25 September 1978) is an Australian comedian, actor, and TV and radio personality. He is a regular performer on the stand up comedy circuit, and at one time participated in a talk back radio segment on the commercial radio st ...

–

Synclavier The Synclavier is an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation manufactured by New England Digital Corporation of Norwich, Vermont. It was produced in various forms from the late 1970s into the early 1 ...

References

{{Authority control Kate Bush songs 1982 singles Songs written by Kate Bush EMI Records singles 1982 songs Novelty songs