Between a Man and a Woman

Album: The Sensual World (1989)
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Songfacts®:

  • Bush explained the song's meaning to NME: "It's about a relationship being a very finely balanced thing that can be easily thrown off by a third party," she said. "The whole thing really came from a line in The Godfather, during some family argument, when Marlon Brando says, 'Don't interfere, it's between a man and a woman.' It's exploring the idea of trying to keep a relationship together, how outside forces can break into it."

    The line that inspired Bush was actually spoken by Mama Corleone (Morgana King) in the film. During a family dinner scene, Sonny responds angrily when his sister's husband tells her to shut up, but Mama Corleone admonishes Sonny for interfering.
  • Bush had to play around with the order of the verses before she was finally satisfied with the song. She told International Musician in 1989: "We actually had a second verse that was similar to the first, and I thought it was really boring. I hated it, so it sat around for about six months. So I took it into a completely different section which worked much better. Just having that little bit on the front worked much better. Quite often I have to put things aside and think about them if they just haven't worked. If you leave a little time, it's surprising how often you can come back and turn it into something."

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