This Woman's Work


"This Woman's Work" is a song written and performed by the British singer Kate Bush. It was originally featured on the soundtrack of the American film She's Having a Baby. The song was released as the second single from her album The Sensual World in 1989 and peaked at 25 in the UK Singles Chart.

Song information

The lyric of "This Woman's Work" is about being forced to confront an unexpected and frightening crisis during the normal event of childbirth. Written for the movie She's Having a Baby, director John Hughes used the song during the film's dramatic climax, when Jake learns that the lives of his wife, Kristy, and their unborn child are in danger. As the song plays, a montage sequence of flashbacks is displayed, showing the couple in happier times, intercut with shots of him waiting for news of Kristy and their baby's condition. Bush wrote the song specifically for the sequence, writing from a man's viewpoint and matching the words to the visuals which had already been filmed.
The version of the song that was featured on The Sensual World was re-edited from the original version featured on the film soundtrack. The version released as a single was a third, slightly different mix.
"This Woman's Work" is one of several songs that were completely re-recorded on her 2011 album Director's Cut. The new version features a sparse performance of Bush singing and playing piano.
Composition
According to the sheet music published in Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is set in the time signature of common time, with a slow tempo of 66 beats per minute. It is written in the key of A-flat major with Bush's vocal range spanning from A3 to E5.

Music video

The music video for "This Woman's Work", which was directed by Bush herself, starts with Bush, spotlighted in an otherwise black room, playing the introductory notes on a piano. In the next scene, a distraught man is pacing in the waiting room of a hospital. It is then revealed through flashbacks that his wife has collapsed while they were having dinner. The story blurs into a continuous scene where he carries her to the car, a desperate race to the hospital, and his wife being wheeled away on a stretcher as he races in behind her. While waiting, the husband is wracked with fear and imagines his wife in happier times, kissing him in the rain, and even imagines the nurse coming to tell him she has died. The nurse then pulls him out of his reverie, as she reassuringly puts her hand on his shoulder and tells him about his wife's situation, though we cannot hear what she is saying. The final scene of the video returns to Bush as she silently covers the piano keyboard.

Track listing

A version of the B-side "Be Kind to My Mistakes" had previously been featured in the film Castaway in 1986. The other B-side, "I'm Still Waiting", features on the 12" and CD single versions only.
7" single
12" and CD single

Charts and certifications

"This Woman's Work" was released on 20 November 1989 and reached a peak position of #25 in the UK Singles Chart. Fifteen years after its original release, in 2005, the song peaked at #3 in the UK Official Download Chart, due to it being featured in the Tamzin Outhwaite drama Walk Away and I Stumble. Due to the song's inclusion in TV series Extras, the song entered the UK chart once again at #121 in the week ending 5 January 2008, rising to #76 the following week. After it was performed by a contestant on Britain's Got Talent in April 2012, it recharted at #63 in the UK chart.
In 2017, "This Woman's Work" was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry for sales & streams in excess of 200,000 units.
Chart Peak
position
UK Singles Chart25
Irish Singles Chart20
Chart Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart89
Chart Peak
position
UK Official Download Chart3
Chart Peak
position
UK Singles Chart76
Chart Peak
position
UK Singles Chart63

Certifications

Maxwell's versions

In 1997, American R&B musician Maxwell covered the song for the release of his album MTV Unplugged. The artist later re-recorded the song in studio for his album Now. This version of the song was released as the album's third single in 2001 and peaked in the US Billboard charts at #58 and #16. This version also appeared in the movie Love & Basketball.
The song was also sung by Kether Donohue on the FX TV series You're the Worst.

Music video

The music video for Maxwell's cover of "This Woman's Work", which was directed by Sanji, begins with pictures of Maxwell and his lover in black-and-white photography. One picture reveals that his lover has died. In the next scene, Maxwell sees the ghost of his lover in the street and proceeding toward her, he falls through the street into a watery grave; seemingly drowning in his sorrow. Maxwell, then begins to swim across the street, pulling himself up by holding onto the sidewalk, he looks up to a cloud that reveals the face of his lover. The next scene shows Maxwell sitting in a diner, reminiscing about the loss of his love. Sitting next to Maxwell, are two women who—shown through flashbacks—have experienced heartache and loss of another kind. The music video ends with Maxwell walking outside of the diner, seemingly still underwater, as he sings "make it go away."

Charts

Hope for Isla and Jude cover versions

In 2014 musicians Darren Hayes, Pete Murray, Marlisa Punzalan, Nathaniel and Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers collaborated to record "This Woman's Work" as Hope for Isla and Jude. The song was recorded to bring hope to Isla and Jude; two young Australian siblings suffering from the rare and fatal disease Sanfilippo Syndrome. Proceeds from the song's went to Sanfilippo Children’s Foundation, a not-for-profit charity that dedicates their resources to progressing clinical research into the effective treatment of Mucopolysaccharidosis III, also known as MPSIII or Sanfilippo Syndrome. The song peaked at number 79 on the ARIA Singles Chart

Charts