| Hounds of Love | |
| Cover: | Kate Bush - Hounds of Love.png |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Kate Bush |
| Album: | Hounds of Love |
| B-Side: |
|
| Released: | [1] |
| Recorded: | 1984 |
| Label: | EMI |
| Producer: | Kate Bush |
| Prev Title: | Cloudbusting |
| Prev Year: | 1985 |
| Next Title: | The Big Sky |
| Next Year: | 1986 |
"Hounds of Love" is a song written, produced and performed by English singer Kate Bush. It is the title track and the third single released from her No. 1 studio album Hounds of Love. The single was released in the UK on 17 February 1986. The single peaked at No. 18 and spent 5 weeks in the UK Singles Chart. [2]
It was performed live for the first time as part of the 2014 Before the Dawn residency, in which the lyrics were slightly altered.
Bush wrote the title track at her house early on in the recording process for Hounds of Love.[3] Lyrically, the song uses the imagery of an individual being chased by a pack of hounds as a metaphor for an aversion to love.[4] The words heard at the beginning of the track were sampled from the British 1957 horror film Night of the Demon and spoken by Maurice Denham.[5]
In October 2004, Q magazine placed this song at No. 21 in its list of the 50 greatest British songs of all time.[6]
A music video was made for the song, which Bush herself directed. It was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's thriller film The 39 Steps (1935) and a Hitchcock lookalike also features in the video (a nod to the director's famous cameo appearances in his movies).
All songs written and composed by Kate Bush, except "The Handsome Cabin Boy", which is a traditional composition. "Alternative Hounds of Love" is not a remix, but an early version, with slightly different lyrics.
| Chart (1986) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian Singles Chart[7] | 84 | |
| Europe (European Top 100 Singles)[8] | 63 | |
| German Singles Chart[9] | 68 | |
| Irish Singles Chart[10] | 12 | |
| UK Singles Chart[11] | 18 |
| Chart (2022) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| UK Download Chart[12] | 71 | |
| UK Sales Chart[13] | 72 |
| Hounds of Love | |
| Cover: | The Futureheads Hounds of Love single cover.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | the Futureheads |
| Album: | The Futureheads |
| B-Side: |
|
| Released: | [14] |
| Genre: | Indie rock |
| Label: | 679 Recordings |
| Producer: | Paul Epworth |
| Prev Title: | Meantime |
| Prev Year: | 2004 |
| Next Title: | Area |
| Next Year: | 2005 |
"Hounds of Love" was covered by English post-punk band the Futureheads for their self-titled debut album and was released as a single in February 2005. The single peaked at No. 8 on the UK charts in its first week[15] and was named Best Single of 2005 by NME.[16] In October 2011, NME placed it at No. 89 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[17]
The music video for the Futureheads version was filmed at a public park in Los Angeles at night. Various dog breeds run around the band throughout the video. The video was finished by Sunrise.
| Chart (2005) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Irish Singles Chart | 26 | |
| UK Singles Chart | 8 |