The Saxophone Song Lyrics
In a corner, brooding
You know that I go very quiet
When I am listening to you
There's something special indeed
In all the places where I've seen you shine, boy
There's something very real in how I feel, honey
Doo-ba-doo-ba-doo
Is throwing shadows on your saxophone
A surly lady in tremor
The stars that climb from her bowels
Those stars make towers on vowels
You'll never know that you had all of me
You'll never see the poetry you've stirred in me
Of all the stars I've seen that shine so brightly
I've never known or felt, in myself, so rightly
Chorus
As much as I like this song, no song should ever contain the word "bowels"
Ever.
This song is the young Kate Bush's homage to one of her idols - David Bowie. The song opens with "You'll find me in a Berlin bar......when I'm listening to you". This of course is a nod to Bowie who, at the time this song was written, was living in Berlin composing what would eventually be considered some of his finest work. "Tuning in on your saxophone" also alludes to Bowie in that he (Bowie) played the saxophone on all of his own songs. And in the final verse Kate expresses how much Bowie's music has meant to her and how it inspires her: "You'll never know that you had all of me/You'll never know the poetry you stirred in me/Of all the stars I've seen that shine so brightly/I've never known or felt in myself do rightly". Wonderfully subtle homage by Kate - she never states Bowie's name or makes it beyond obvious so it's like a coded message to the man recognized only by other Bowie-philes.
@Rickvee exactly what I thought having just heard this song for the first time and my partner telling me that the previous song on the album was written for Lindsay Kemp. That's how I came to be here reading your post in order to try and find out. David Bowie had the greatest influence on my life, a wonderful artist and human.
@Rickvee exactly what I thought having just heard this song for the first time and my partner telling me that the previous song on the album was written for Lindsay Kemp. That's how I came to be here reading your post in order to try and find out. David Bowie had the greatest influence on my life, a wonderful artist and human.
@Rickvee For Pete's sake! Why just don't find in an Internet what Kate ever said about this song! This is NOT about Bowie! Here's what she once said:
@Rickvee For Pete's sake! Why just don't find in an Internet what Kate ever said about this song! This is NOT about Bowie! Here's what she once said:
"The song isn’t about David Bowie. I wrote it about the instrument, not the player, at a time when I really loved the sound of the saxophone – I still do. No, I don’t know him personally, though I went to his “Farewell to Ziggy Stardust” concert and cried, and so did he." ................................................................................................................. "I wrote ‘The Saxophone Song’ because, for me, the saxophone is a truly amazing instrument. Its sound is very exciting...
"The song isn’t about David Bowie. I wrote it about the instrument, not the player, at a time when I really loved the sound of the saxophone – I still do. No, I don’t know him personally, though I went to his “Farewell to Ziggy Stardust” concert and cried, and so did he." ................................................................................................................. "I wrote ‘The Saxophone Song’ because, for me, the saxophone is a truly amazing instrument. Its sound is very exciting – rich and mellow. It sounds like a female."
Incredible combination of Kate Bush's soothing, sensual voice, and a wild saxophone. The perfect mellow, lazy evening, lounging song.
"A surly lady in tremor / those stars that climb from her bowels / those stars make towers / of her vowels"
Some fans cringe here, saying these are facile and gauche lyrics.
I don't play saxophone myself, but I've played in a band next to a live sax. To me, this is a perfect description of the sexy tones of the instrument, which can sound like a deep female voice.
My only gripe with this song is that the sax part (played by Alan Skidmore) sounds rather canned. It should have been recorded to sound as sensual as the lyric suggests.