# Kate Bush and Rupert Holmes wrote the same song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [March 15, 2025, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591 "2025-03-15T02:24:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/21 "2025-03-16T05:03:22Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > I can’t remember the entire ad, but I remember its opening and closing. My favorite personals ad, I can’t remember completely either, but I will never forget the closing: “No Christians or alcoholics.” ---
**Author:** ![LUNAROXAS](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lunaroxas/32/18718_2.png) [@LUNAROXAS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LUNAROXAS)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/22 "2025-03-16T05:15:04Z")
Trivial differences, to me, because I’m an incredibly faithful person and love my partner despite attempting to sell them on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/23 "2025-03-16T08:49:40Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > In “Babooshka”, the woman knows she is writing to her husband. Then, in a very implausible ending, he doesn’t recognize his wife when they meet. I’ve always thought that she was some kind of witch, perhaps because of the slightly creepy harmonies, but the lyrics don’t back this up. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/24 "2025-03-16T09:03:20Z")
“Baboushka” is a Russian word for an elderly woman, or a grandmother, which Kate Bush was unaware of when she wrote it, thinking it was a term of endearment. So maybe that’s why you picture a witch, like a Baba Yaga kind of figure. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/25 "2025-03-16T09:28:22Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > > > For god’s sakes, turn around! > > …bright eyes. …burning like fire… ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/26 "2025-03-16T13:44:55Z")
> [@LUNAROXAS](#): > > [“Escape (The Piña Colada Song)”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zROIlspgOjM) I’m sorry, but I had to put a curse upon you and your house for inflicting this earworm on me. So if your hair starts falling out or your roof springs a leak, you’ll know why. 😠 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/27 "2025-03-16T15:03:51Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > In some circles it was mocked as the “The Penis Colitis Song.” A guy I went to high school with would sing: _"Yes I have penis and a lot of._ _And my last name is Lang._ _I’m not much into health food._ _I am into poon tang."_ As teenagers we thought it was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/28 "2025-03-17T10:05:01Z")
I’ve known the meaning of the word for a while now, so it is certainly possible that it reinforces the impression. But I didn’t when I was a kid. I’m still betting on the harmonies and weird sound effects as the explanantion for my original impression. ---
**Author:** ![FS65](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ea666f/32.png) [@FS65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FS65)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/29 "2025-03-17T18:43:00Z")
Weird Al Yankovich is safe! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591/30 "2025-03-17T22:18:33Z")
Ironic that poor Rupert Holmes is known generally for this song. He’s incredibly talented across multiple media. He wrote every episode of the great television series _Remember WENN_, the Tony-winning Broadway show _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_, classic mystery novels, and had a long recording and songwriting career. The song “Timothy” he wrote for The Buoys is probably the only hit song about cannibalism (unless you want to count Total Coelo’s catchy "I Eat Cannibals, which didn’t make the Top 40 in U.S.) That should be worth some respect. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-and-rupert-holmes-wrote-the-same-song/1015591.md?page=1)