"Aerial" - Kate Bush: "Pi" vs. "Bertie"
 

Here's why I think "Pi" is a far greater song about Kate's son than "Bertie" is:

"Bertie" lyrics strike me as utterly conventional & therefore not insightful & not new -- we don't get any new insights from Kate about motherhood or childhood. All we get is the pedestrian ("The most truly fantastic smile/I've ever seen") perspective -- redolent of Hallmark cards -- from the parent's view; whereas in "Pi" Kate works the minor miracle of clarifying the young child's growing intellectual grasp of his environment. In "Pi," we actually witness that uncanny Freudian point in the boy's development between the state in which all of consciousness is pragmatic & literal & the more mature state in which consciousness wobbles back & forth between that pragmatism & conceptualization: the world of ideas. What other pop song (I can't think of any) succeeds at -- or even attempts -- painting that mysterious awareness of the figurative world, the the ideational world, which marks our growth?

However, the music to "Bertie" is great!

hi
 

I am going to get the album this week so will try to contribute once I've heard both songs.

Maybe you haven't heard this interview with her... was on BBC radio last night. You can listen here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/documentaries/index.shtml

melly

Pi is an incredible listen .When I read about it before buying Aerial I was prepared not to like it but it kind of blew me away. It's like nothing Kate or anyone else for that matter has ever done before ,or least that I have ever heard.This is the first time any of the reviewers or fans on the Kate forums has surmised that it's about her child though.Interesting idea.Bertie is my least favorite song on both Sea and Sky the Elizabethian instruments are nice but call me old fashioned I'm one of those gay boys who NEVER wanted children so it's kind of difficult to get worked up over a paen to someone's kid .Even the great Kate's.

Shouldn't you rather be comparing "Bertie" with "Joanni" in order to determine which kid got the best song? ;)

I don't give that much attention to lyrics, which is easier for me because it's not my first language. It's interesting to read your ideas about them.
I think Bertie is more 'accessible' than Pi, I liked it instantly, loved the renaissance-like instrument sounds. But the more I listen to the album, the more I find myself enjoying Pi. It's one of those songs that needs some time to grow on you, perhaps. And those are usually the best songs.

still LOVE squealing along with Bertie, though.

Pi is overall a better song in my opinion. Without listening to words on either song, the music and her voice just appeals to me more on Pi.

What a gorgeous album throughout though! WOW! ( no pun intended he he)