Moments of Pleasure Lyrics

[Intro]
Some moments that I've had
Some moments of pleasure

[Verse 1]
I think about us lying
Lying on a beach somewhere
I think about us diving
Diving off a rock, into another moment

[Verse 2]
The case of George the Wipe
Oh God, I can't stop laughing
This sense of humour of mine
It isn't funny at all
Oh, but we sit up all night
Talking about it

[Chorus 1]
Just being alive
It can really hurt
And these moments given
Are a gift from time

[Verse 3]
On a balcony in New York
It's just started to snow
He meets us at the lift
Like Douglas Fairbanks
Waving his walking stick
But he isn't well at all
The buildings of New York
Look just like mountains through the snow
[Chorus 1]
Just being alive
It can really hurt
And these moments given
Are a gift from time

[Chorus 2]
Just let us try
To give these moments back
To those we love
To those who will survive

[Verse 4]
And I can hear my mother saying
"Every old sock meets an old shoe"
Ain't that a great saying?

"Every old sock meets an old shoe"
Here come the Hills of Time

[Outro]
Hey there, Maureen
Hey there, Bubba
Dancing down the aisle of a plane

'S Murph, playing his guitar refrain
Hey there, Teddy
Spinning in the chair at Abbey Road

Hey there, Michael
Do you really love me?

Hey there, Bill
Could you turn the lights up?

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About

Genius Annotation

“Moments of Pleasure” is the fourth track and second single from Kate Bush’s The Red Shoes. Perhaps her second most iconic piano ballad, it conveys Bush remembering various people who have impacted her life that have since passed on, most notably her mother Hannah who was sick at the time of recording.

The song also appears in the 1993 film The Line, The Cross and the Curve which depicts Bush’s character falling to the ground through snow. This section of film serves as the official music video.

It was the sole Bush single phyiscally released to not receive a 7" in the UK. Additionally, there weren’t any alternative mixes – other than the instrumental released on cassette and 12" – until it was later completely rerecorded and released again for Bush’s 2011 album, Director’s Cut.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Kate Bush say about "Moments of Pleasure"?
Genius Answer

It was written in the “old way” where I wrote it on the piano at home and kept it in my head rather than writing it onto tape. It was an attempt for me to get back to my “roots” where I had to see if I could still just sit with myself at the piano and write a song without having the outside influence of “technology”. It was interesting for me.

I feel my dearest memories have been spent with people I love, those things that still make me laugh, the people that have touched me. The song is saying thanks to those friends of mine who were fun to be with, some of whom aren’t alive any more – though they are still alive in my memories.

There was a wonderful moment when I was writing the song. I was working with the memory of visiting Michael Powell in New York when it had started to snow – I looked up while playing the song through and it was starting to snow.

Bush speaking in a letter to the fan club after a screening of the accompanying film.

Were there any b-sides for this single?
Genius Answer

An instrumental version of the song was featured on both the cassette and on the 12" alongside “Home for Christmas”.

Along with a standard CD release, a “collectors box set” CD contained “December Will Be Magic Again” and “Experiment IV”. “Show a Little Devotion” was also included on the standard CD.

Has the song been performed live?
Genius Answer

Despite “Rubberband Girl” having already been released in various territories as the lead single, Bush instead did a single lip-sync performance of the song on talk show Aspel and Company.

How was the song recorded?
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Recorded At
Abbey Road Studios, St. John's Wood, City of Westminster, Greater London, England
Release Date
November 15, 1993
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