Kate Bush - "Wuthering Heights" (the song remains the same)

Simply put, Kate Bush is an amazing song writer and more artists should cover her songs. To make this point, my next few entries will cover Kate Bush songs and exemplary covers by various artists. We'll begin with "Wuthering Heights", the first single from her 1978 debut LP "The Kick Inside".

The song is from the point of view of Catherine Earnshaw from the novel "Wuthering Heights", covering her tempestuous relationship with Heathcliff. Using Emily Bronte's novel as a song topic might seem unusual, even pretentious, but for late 1970s British progressive rock that was par for the course.

In 1980, Pat Benatar would cover "Wuthering Heights" on her second LP "Crimes of Passion". And as much as I like Kate Bush, I have to confess that I like Pat's version better: it is less modish and more conventional. As far as I know, Pat never released this as a single or made a video for it. The Kate Bush videos on the other hand... well, remember it was 1978 and interpretive dance was considered good. Regardless, the song is excellent.

Kate Bush: YouTube (red dress version); YouTube (white dress version); YouTube (live 1978).

Pat Benatar: studio version, live 2005

And just for fun, Monty Python's semaphore version: YouTube (about 1:20 in).