Follow the Nile, Deep to much deeper,
The Pyramids sound lonely tonight.
The sands run red, in Lands of the Pharoahs,
Their symmetry gets right inside me.
I cannot stop to comfort them,
I'm busy chasing up my demon,
Oh, I'm in love with Egypt.
My Pussy Queen, knows all my secrets,
I'll never fall in love again.
I drift with Dunes,
I whisper of the tombs,
They offer me Egyptian Delights.
She's got me with that feline 'guise,
Got me in those Desert eyes,
Oh, I'm in love with Egypt.
The Pyramids sound lonely tonight.
The sands run red, in Lands of the Pharoahs,
Their symmetry gets right inside me.
I cannot stop to comfort them,
I'm busy chasing up my demon,
Oh, I'm in love with Egypt.
I'll never fall in love again.
I drift with Dunes,
I whisper of the tombs,
They offer me Egyptian Delights.
She's got me with that feline 'guise,
Got me in those Desert eyes,
Oh, I'm in love with Egypt.
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Kate actually explained the meaning of this song in an interview once. It's about how people only see what they want to see. They're only seeing sunshine and ignoring the shit and sewers that are all around you. In this case someone see's Egypt as this mystical place and totally ignores the homeless and poor. etc. Saying this song is something as simple as "someone who likes egypt" is too simple for a kate bush song.
i find this song even more disturbing considering recent events
This song is pretty creepy. But it really makes no sense. Someone obsessed with Egypt? That's what the obvious would be...like a woman obsessed with a violin in "Violin." Or more?
Having been to Egypt once - I too would question why someone would be obsessed with it. However yes I think this person is - as many people do get obsessed either by their own country or about the myth or reality of another country.
No doubt, Egypt does have amazing history which has fascinated many people around the world for centuries. Many of the tombs are still there which are many centuries (even thousands of years) older than anything comparable in Europe. And because of this, the desert, the Nile etc - there is a sense of mystery and romance here which this person has fallen in love with.
Funny how she doesn't mention the street-traders hassling for custom though. Or the Cairo pollution. Or the Mummy Tummy;)
Apparently the screams at the end are supposed to symbolise the realisation that Egypt isn't all it's cracked up to be.
I've always thought this song was really under-rated. Thematically, it contrasts the myths and romantic ideals in someone's head with the scary and dangerous reality. She's singing about Egypt, but she's obviously drawing comparisons with romantic love.
The wailing voices at the end (to me) represent a sandstorm that slowly approaches and then overwhelms the listener. Very spooky, and it pre-sages the effect she used at the end of Running Up That Hill.
I love this song, because it sounds like a "bridge" between her early, piano-based work and her artistic leaps forward on the Dreaming and Hounds of Love. In other words, this was Kate testing the waters as a producer, before she just went for it 100%. As a sonic composition, I put Egypt on par with Breathing and Lord of the Reedy River.