Blow Away (For Bill)

Yes this is directly about the death of 21 year old Bill Duffield, her lighting director, who was killed in an accident during her concert in Poole on 2nd April 1979. She held a benefit concert on 12 May, with Peter Gabriel and Steve Harley at Hammersmith Odeon for his family. Some people say this is why she never toured again.

Also I think the song is about being positive about death. At first - her reaction is that it is such a waste that he and his music will be seperated and blown away. However another view is that when we see the light - our souls - want to go to heaven and don't want to remain her on Earth as it's too late. They can't be dragged back to Earth by their family - so instead of mourning for too long - it is better to let go and celebrate a life and believe that they are in a better place and having a good time - surrounded by the things they love. In Bill's case this would be music. And in this heaven - there are plenty of dead singers who are going to put on a concert for Bill to light.

I love this song for Kate's amazingly versitile voice.

One of her band members mentions that music is all he has. Kate's wondering how that's so. How can someone's life be about or centered around just one thing.

And there are undercurrents of death is this song...

It really doesn't make much sense.

Anybody else have any ideas?

this song is about her lighting director who died tragically, falling from a scaffold, while working on her only tour around 1979/80....

"One of the band told me last night/That music is all he's got in his life" (Blow Away from the new LP, Never For Ever). Is that really you, using the third person as a slender disguise? KB: "Yeah. Well done. It is..." http://gaffa.org/reaching/i80_rm.html

Please don't thump me Don't bump me Don't dump me back there Please don't thump me Don't bump me I want to stay here...

IMHO, this kinda makes life seem harsh, brutal, ominous; and the 'I want to stay here' is sung to a place of sanctuary. It reminds me of KB's "Frightened Eyes":

They've all got frightened eyes, Saying, "Leave me alone, I'm perfectly safe here inside. Please don't surprise me."

Bill Duffield was the lighting director for the Tour Of Life. He literally put out the lights. Bill is honoured in "Blow Away" and "Moments of Pleasure"...

Hey there Bill Could you turn the lights up?

Put out the light, then, put out the light Vibes in the sky invite you to dine...

..."God moves in mysterious ways!"

ACT 5, SCENE 2: A bedchamber in the castle: DESDEMONA in bed asleep; a light burning. Enter OTHELLO

Put out the light, and then put out the light: If I quench thee, thou flaming minister, I can again thy former light restore, Should I repent me: but once put out thy light, Thou cunning'st pattern of excelling nature, I know not where is that Promethean heat That can thy light relume...

This quote occurs just as Othello is preparing to murder his wife, Desdemona. First he will put out the candle, then he will put out the light of Desdemona's life. The candle's light can be restored once extinguished, but he contrasts this with Desdemona's "light" (life) which of course cannot be reillumined once quenched.

I have just finished reading Shakespeare's Othello. In the scene just before Othello kills Desdamona, he says, "Put out the light/Then put out the light." I was wondering if this means the same thing in Blow Away. KB: "You're the first person in four years to pick up on this--so, thank you." http://gaffa.org/garden/kate18.html

You read me Shakespeare on the rolling Thames That old river poet that never, ever ends...

You wouldn't make a good Lady Macbeth? KB: "Lady Macbeth? (Laughs) No. To tell you the truth, I'm not that intrigued by acting. If someone offered me something really interesting, especially someone I admired, I'd do it because I'd be crazy not to. But I'm no actress. I don't have the talent or the temperament." "Booze, Fags, Blokes And Me" (1993) http://gaffa.org/reaching/i93_q.html

Isn't it "Lights in the sky invite you to die"?

Surely lights in the sky wouldn't invite you to dine (unless of course it's a McDonald's sign)