Heathcliff, it’s me, I’m Cathy
I’ve come home, I’m so cold
Kate Bush was never big in the states. “Wuthering Heights” was her greatest work and she wrote it at the age of eighteen. If you couldn’t tell, she was a big Emily Bronte fan. The lyrics tell some of the basics of the story of Wuthering Heights, but mostly it introduces the characters Heathcliff and Cathy. You don’t hear many rock songs with “Heathcliff” in them.
The chorus is the best part of “Wuthering Heights”, and luckily, she repeats it often. We can hear Bush delight in pretending to be Cathy calling out for Heathcliff in the chorus. She creates a lot of the drama of the book in the way she uses her language throughout the song. She changes her voice a bit for the different characters—but not too much.
She also manages to capture the language of the Bronte era without overdoing it. That is, without making the language too opaque. No normal 20th century woman would say “Heathcliff, it’s me, I’m Cathy, I’ve come home.” But the actual language Bronte used in the book would sound incomprehensible in a rock song. So, we understand that she’s trying to convey to us “Old English”. Very clever.
Her vocals aren’t for everyone. Some people just can’t get past them. But she was extremely influential and she sounds great.
Wuthering Heights Lyrics
Out on the wiley, windy moors
We’d roll and fall in green
You had a temper like my jealousy
Too hot, too greedy
How could you leave me
When I needed to possess you?
I hated you, I loved you, too
Bad dreams in the night
They told me I was going to lose the fight
Leave behind my wuthering, wuthering
Wuthering Heights
Heathcliff, it’s me, I’m Cathy
I’ve come home, I’m so cold
Let me in through your window
Heathcliff, it’s me, I’m Cathy
I’ve come home, I’m so cold
Let me in through your window
Ooh, it gets dark, it gets lonely
On the other side from you
I pine a lot, I find the lot
Falls through without you
I’m coming back, love
Cruel Heathcliff, my one dream
My only master
Too long I roam in the night
I’m coming back to his side, to put it right
I’m coming home to wuthering, wuthering
Wuthering Heights
Heathcliff, it’s me, I’m Cathy
I’ve come home, I’m so cold
Let me in through your window
Heathcliff, it’s me, I’m Cathy
I’ve come home, I’m so cold
Let me in through your window
Ooh, let me have it
Let me grab your soul away
Ooh, let me have it
Let me grab your soul away
You know it’s me, Cathy
Heathcliff, it’s me, I’m Cathy
I’ve come home, I’m so cold
Let me in through your window
Heathcliff, it’s me, I’m Cathy
I’ve come home, I’m so cold
Let me in through your window
Heathcliff, it’s me, I’m Cathy
I’ve come home, I’m so cold.
written by Kate Bush