"Babooshka" is a song by British singer Kate Bush, taken from her album Never for Ever. Released as a single on June 23, 1980 it spent 10 weeks in the UK chart, peaking at number five. The song chronicles a wife's desire to test her husband's loyalty. To do so, she takes on the nom de plume of Babooshka and writes to her husband in the guise of a young, seductive woman -- something which she fears is the opposite of how her husband currently sees her (Hence the barbed lines: "Just like his wife before she freezed on him / Just like his wife when she was beautiful...").
The trap is set when, in her bitterness and paranoia, Babooshka arranges to meet with her husband, who is attracted to the character that reminds him of his wife in earlier times. She thereby ruins the relationship due to her paranoia, according to Kate Bush's 1980 interview [1] with the Australian TV series Countdown.
Load Comments...
Discuss...
Enable JavaScript to submit a comment.