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"Letting the Cables Sleep"
Single by Bush
from the album The Science of Things
Released	18 January 2000
Recorded	1999
Genre	Soft rock
Length	4:36 (album version) 4:33 (single version) 4:30 (edit)
Label	Trauma/Interscope
Songwriter(s)	Gavin Rossdale
Producer(s)	Clive Langer, Alan Winstanley, Gavin Rossdale
Bush singles chronology
"Warm Machine" (2000) "Letting the Cables Sleep" (2000) "The People That We Love" (2001)

"Letting the Cables Sleep" is the second single from British rock band Bush's third studio album The Science of Things, which was released in 1999. In an interview, Gavin Rossdale revealed that the song was written for a friend who had contracted HIV.

The song became a minor hit, and pushed the album to platinum status. The song was a bigger hit than its predecessor "Warm Machine", but not nearly as successful as the first single from the album, "The Chemicals Between Us." The song was featured in the film Goal II: Living the Dream and in the TV series ER, Charmed and Cold Case.

Track listing

• UK CD 1 single 4973352
  1. "Letting the Cables Sleep (single version)" - 4:33
  2. "Letting the Cables Sleep (Nightmares On Wax remix)" - 5:24
  3. "Letting the Cables Sleep (original demo)" - 4:36
• UK CD 2 single 4973362 (cardsleeve)
  1. "Letting the Cables Sleep (single version)" - 4:33
  2. "Letting the Cables Sleep (Apocalyptica remix)" - 3:57
  3. "Mouth (The Stingray Mix)" - 5:59
• EUR CD single ???
  1. "Letting the Cables Sleep " - 5:24
  2. "Mouth " - 5:59
  3. "Letting the Cables Sleep " - 4:33
• AUS promo remix single BUSHPRO700 (cardsleeve)a
  1. "Letting the Cables Sleep " - 5:24
• German single ('special classic catalogue' CD) 497 237-2
  1. "Letting the Cables Sleep " - 4:30
  2. "Everything Zen" - 4:38
  3. "Swallowed" - 4:50
  4. "Mouth " - 5:58

Music video

The music video (directed by Joel Schumacher) features Gavin looking for an apartment and finding himself in a room with a woman (played by actress Michele Hicks). She is dressed in black and does not acknowledge him until their hands meet on the wall. After this first touch, they begin to kiss and take off their clothes. This sequence is interlinked with scenes of them wordlessly putting their clothes back on after sex. She seems troubled by either regret or the desire to tell him something, but she leaves without a word. After this, she is sitting on a chair elsewhere while Gavin begins painting the wall with the lyrics about 'silence' and 'talking', seeming upset and frustrated. Afterwards, Gavin catches up with her on a sidewalk, and she uses sign language to say that she can't hear him. She is then pulled away by a concerned friend who uses sign language to ask her why she did not call.

Charts

References

1. Aquilante, Dan (26 October 1999). "Still "Looking" Good". New York Post. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
2. "Bush, Back to the Future". Archived from the original on 3 February 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2007.
3. "Bush Finishes Schumacher Video, Starts U.S. Tour". MTV. Archived from the original on 20 June 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
4. "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 17, no. 36. 2 September 2000. p. 13. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
5. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
6. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
7. "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
8. "Bush Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
9. "Bush Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
10. "Bush Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 March 2017.

External links

• "Letting the Cables Sleep" Official music video on YouTube

• 1999 songs
• 2000 singles
• Bush (British band) songs
• British soft rock songs
• Rock ballads
• Songs about death
• Songs about HIV/AIDS
• Songs about mental health
• Song recordings produced by Clive Langer
• Song recordings produced by Alan Winstanley
• Songs written by Gavin Rossdale
• Interscope Records singles
• Trauma Records singles