| "This Woman's Work" | ||||||||
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| Single by Kate Bush | ||||||||
| from the album The Sensual World | ||||||||
| B-side | "Be Kind to My Mistakes" "I'm Still Waiting" |
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| Released | 20 November 1989 | |||||||
| Format | 7" vinyl, 7" vinyl picture disc, 12" vinyl, CD, Cassette | |||||||
| Recorded | 1988 | |||||||
| Genre | Pop | |||||||
| Length | 3:42 | |||||||
| Label | EMI | |||||||
| Writer(s) | Kate Bush | |||||||
| Producer | Kate Bush | |||||||
| Kate Bush singles chronology | ||||||||
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"This Woman's Work" is a song written and performed by the British singer Kate Bush. It was originally featured on the soundtrack of the American film She's Having a Baby (1988). The song was released as the second single from her album The Sensual World in 1989 and peaked at 25 in the UK singles chart[1].
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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 movie She's Having A Baby,[2] director John Hughes used the song during the film's dramatic climax, when Jake (Kevin Bacon) learns that the lives of his wife (Elizabeth McGovern) and their unborn child are in danger. As the song plays, we see a montage sequence of flashbacks showing the couple in happier times, intercut with shots of him waiting for news of Elizabeth 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.[3]
The version of the song that was featured on The Sensual World was re-edited from the original version featured on the film soundtrack. The version released as a single was a third, slightly different 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 spare performance of Bush playing the piano and singing.
According to the sheet music published in Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is set in the time signature of common time, with a slow tempo of 66 beats per minute. It is written in the key of A-sharp minor with Bush's vocal range spanning from A♯3 to E5.[4]
The music video for "This Woman's Work", which was directed by Bush herself, starts with her playing the song on a piano. In the next scene, a distraught man (played by Tim McInnerny) is seen in the waiting room of a hospital. It is then revealed through flashbacks that Bush is his wife and that she had collapsed while they were having dinner at a restaurant. A nurse then appears and smiles and nods as she reassuringly puts her hand on his shoulder and tells him about his wife's situation. In the last scene of the video, Bush closes the piano keyboard.
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.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "This Woman's Work" | 3:33 |
| 2. | "Be Kind to My Mistakes" | 3:03 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "This Woman's Work (Single Mix)" | 3:33 |
| 2. | "Be Kind to My Mistakes" | 3:03 |
| 3. | "I'm Still Waiting" | 4:25 |
"This Woman's Work" was released on 20 November 1989 and reached a peak position of #25 in the UK Singles Chart. Fifteen years after its original release, in 2005, the song peaked at #3 in the UK Official Download Chart, due to it being featured in the Tamzin Outhwaite drama Walk Away and I Stumble. Due to the song's inclusion in Extras, the song entered the UK chart once again at 121 in the week ending 5 January 2008, rising to 76 the following week.
| Chart (1989) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart[1] | 25 |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 89 |
| Irish Singles Chart[5] | 20 |
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
| UK Official Download Chart | 3 |
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
| UK Singles Chart[1] | 76 |
The song was featured on the Felicity soundtrack, and has been used at key moments in episodes of Ghost Whisperer, Alias, Party of Five, Crossing Jordan, 7th Heaven, Without a Trace, The Vampire Diaries, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It was used to promote the season opener of the 2007-2008 season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Since 2006 the song has featured on two long-running TV adverts for the British charity the NSPCC.
The 2007 Special Christmas edition of the Ricky Gervais comedy series Extras, which aired 16 December in the US on HBO and 27 December on BBC One in the UK, featured two scenes using the song as a soundtrack. Due to the song's inclusion in Extras, the song entered the UK chart once again in January 2008. In June 2008, the song was played at the beginning and end of an Emmerdale episode featuring a custody battle between two sets of parents.
In 1997, American R&B musician Maxwell covered the song for the release of his album MTV Unplugged. The artist later re-recorded the song in studio for his album Now (2001). This version of the song was released as the album's second single in 2001 and peaked in the US Billboard charts at #58 (Billboard Hot 100)[6] and #16 (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)[7]. This version also appeared in the movie Love & Basketball. "This Woman's Work" was performed on season 9 of American Idol by Michael Lynche.
The music video 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 photography. One picture reveals that his lover has died. In the next scene, Maxwell sees his lover in the street and proceeds to confront her, but he falls through the street, and begins to drown. Maxwell then begins to swim across the street, and pulls himself up by holding on to the side walk. He then enters an almost-empty diner, where every one is waiting for a loved one. Throughout the music video, Maxwell sees his lover in practically every direction.
In the feature film Love and Basketball, the song is played as the main characters realize their true feelings for each other and make love. In the movie Stomp the Yard (2007), Columbus Short and Meagan Good kiss for the first time, when they decide to go out. Maxwell's cover version of the song is played in the background.
It has been used three times in the US version of So You Think You Can Dance. The first time was in an August 2006 episode, when contestant Allison Holker danced her final solo to the song. The second time was in a July 2008 episode, when contestant Katee Shean danced her solo to the song. The third time was in a July 2009 episode; choreographed by Tyce Diorio for Melissa Sandvig and Ade Obayomi, and depicting a woman's struggle with breast cancer, it brought the hosts including Mia Michaels and the audience to tears. Diorio went on to give the same song and choreography to contemporary dancer Robert White and jazz dancer Charlie Bruce on the January 24, 2010 episode of the British version of So You Think You Can Dance.
It was also used in the television show "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" on the season 6 episode "Dee Gives Birth"
Japanese singer ACO covered this song on her 2001 album Material. In 2009 Greg Laswell recorded this song on his EP Covers. In 2011 a version by Gwyneth Paltrow appeared on the Every Mother Counts album, an all-female/all-mother compilation CD released by Starbucks which accompanied No Woman, No Cry, a documentary on maternal health, directed by Christy Turlington Burns.[8]
On June 15, 1997, Maxwell taped an episode of the MTV concert series MTV Unplugged in New York City, performing his own songs as well as covers of songs by Kate Bush ("This Woman's Work").
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