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After 22 years, Kate Bush gets to record James Joyce

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Kate Bush had hoped to use the words of Molly Bloom for a track on her 1989 record, ‘The Sensual World.’ However, she was not able to get permission from the estate of James Joyce to use words from his seminal work, ‘Ulysses,’ and instead wrote song lyrics of her own.

Now, more than 20 years later, Bush has been given permission to use Molly Bloom’s soliloquy as song lyrics. ‘I am delighted I have had the chance to fulfill the original concept,’ Bush told the BBC.

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Bush has recorded ‘Flower of the Mountain’ -- the song formerly known as ‘The Sensual World’ -- with Molly Bloom’s words from ‘Ulysses.’ The song will appear on her upcoming album ‘Director’s Cut,’ slated for release May 16 in England.

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Bloomsday all over

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photos, from left: Kate Bush in 2005 (credit: Trevor Leighton); James Joyce in 1931 (credit: file).

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