"Suspended in Gaffa" is a song recorded by English

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...

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 the fourth single release 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 ...

''. "Suspended in Gaffa" was released as a single in continental Europe and Australia, but not in the UK. The song lyrics are about seeing something one really wants (

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

in this case), then not being able to see or experience it ever again. The "gaffa" of the title and chorus refers to

gaffer tape Gaffer tape (also known as gaffer's tape, gaff tape or gaffa tape as well as spike tape for narrow, colored gaffer tape) is a heavy cotton cloth pressure-sensitive tape with strong adhesive and tensile properties. It is widely used in theatre, p ...

, the strong matte black tape used by technicians in the film and concert industries. The B-side is the original mix of " Ne t'enfuis pas", which is misspelled on the original sleeve as "Ne T'en Fui Pas", and was only released on a handful of singles in late 1982. "Ne t'enfuis pas" is a French phrase which means "don't run away". In some countries, the B-side was "Dreamtime" (which originally appeared as the B-side to "

").

Music video

A music video was produced for the song, which features Bush performing an interpretive dance in what appears to be a barn.

Personnel

– vocals, piano, strings *

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, sticks *

Paddy 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 ...

– mandolin, strings *

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

Charts

Covers

A cover of "Suspended in Gaffa" appears on Syracuse-based

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

Ra Ra Riot Ra Ra Riot is an American indie rock band consisting of vocalist Wes Miles, bassist Mathieu Santos, guitarist Milo Bonacci, violinist Rebecca Zeller and drummer Kenny Bernard. History Ra Ra Riot formed in January 2006, playing at houses and ven ...

's debut album '' The Rhumb Line''. The song was also covered by

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

band

The Figgs The Figgs are a rock ‘n’ roll band formed in Saratoga Springs, New York in 1987. Originally known as The Sonic Undertones, their output includes thirteen studio albums and multiple EPs and singles. They’ve served as the backing band for rock ...

on their 2019 album ''Shady Grove''.

In popular culture

Rec.music.gaffa has been the name for the Kate Bush

Usenet newsgroup A Usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from users in different locations using the Internet. They are discussion groups and are not devoted to publishing news. Newsgroups are technically distinct ...

since 16 August 1985, and is now resident at

Google Groups Google Groups is a service from Google that provides discussion groups for people sharing common interests. The Groups service also provides a gateway to Usenet newsgroups via a shared user interface. Google Groups became operational in February ...

and other Kate-Bush-related websites. "Kate Boosh" by Brooklyn-based rapper Himanshu "Heems" Suri samples the two-line post-chorus vocal of this song and co-opts it as a chorus. The song appears on Suri's 2012 mixtape ''

Nehru Jackets ''Nehru Jackets'' is the first solo mixtape by rapper Himanshu. It was released on Himanshu's own Greedhead label on January 17, 2012. ''Rolling Stone'' named the song "Womyn" the 36th best song of 2012. About Himanshu released ''Nehru Jacke ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suspended In Gaffa 1982 singles Kate Bush songs Songs written by Kate Bush 1982 songs