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"The Man with the Child in His Eyes"
"The Man with the Child in His Eyes"
Single by Kate Bush
from the album The Kick Inside
B-side	"Moving"
Released	26 May 1978
Recorded	June 1975
Studio	AIR (London, UK)
Genre	Progressive pop; folk;
Length	2:52 (Single mix); 2:40 (LP mix)
Label	EMI
Songwriter(s)	Kate Bush
Producer(s)	Andrew Powell, David Gilmour
Kate Bush singles chronology
Music video
	"The Man with the Child in His Eyes" on YouTube

"The Man with the Child in His Eyes" is a song by Kate Bush. It is the fifth track on her debut album The Kick Inside and was released as her second single, on the EMI label, in May 1978. The single peaked at No. 6 and spent 11 weeks in the UK singles chart.^[3]

Background

Bush wrote the song when she was 13 and recorded it at the age of 16. It was recorded at AIR Studios in London, in June 1975 under the guidance of David Gilmour.^[4] She has said that recording with a large orchestra at that age terrified her.^[5]

Release

The song was Bush's second chart single in the United Kingdom, where it reached number six in the summer of 1978. In the United States, the single was released in December of the same year. It became her first single to reach the Billboard pop singles chart, peaking at number 85 early in 1979.^[6] Bush performed this song in her one appearance on Saturday Night Live, singing on a piano being played by Paul Shaffer.

Composition

The single version slightly differs from the album version. On the single, the song opens with the phrase "he’s here!" and laughter echoing, an effect added after the album was released.^[5]

According to the sheet music published in Musicnotes.com by EMI Music Publishing, the song is set in the time signature of common time, with a moderate tempo of 88 beats per minute. It is written in the key of E minor.^[7]

In 2010, former radio and television presenter Steve Blacknell, Bush's first boyfriend, offered the original hand-written lyrics for the song for sale through music memorabilia website 991.com. The lyrics were written "in hot pink felt tip, complete with Kate Bush's own little pink circles in place of dots over the "I"'s."^[8]

Bush has never stated who she wrote the song about, but Blacknell has stated that a person close to Bush had told him the song was written about him. It had long been assumed it was about Gilmour.^[9]

Reception

The song received the Ivor Novello Award for "Outstanding British Lyric" in 1979.^[10]

Amy Hanson of AllMusic called it a "simple ballad", adding that "beautiful and slow and just over two and a half minutes long, the song lets pauses fall where needed and a never rushed melody unfolds as it will, culminating in a brief piece that is complex despite its utter simplicity."^[11]

Track listing

7" single (EMI 2806) (UK)

"The Man with the Child in His Eyes" – 2:42
"Moving" – 3:06

Charts

Chart (1978)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[12]	22
Ireland (IRMA)^[13]	3
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)^[14]	27
Netherlands (Single Top 100)^[15]	23
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)^[16]	23
UK Singles (OCC)^[17]	6
US Billboard Hot 100^[18]	85