Pick four songs from any band and you can tell a lot about their sound. This summer, I’m featuring #RockBlocks, four picks from bands across various genres. They might be wildly different from each other, but what binds them together is the fact that they’re all a part of my life soundtrack.

To enter Kate Bush’s world is to have one foot stepping back into history and one foot firmly planted in the future. It’s the way she straddles the role of historian and pioneer that makes her so unique and respected in music circles. The fact that she was commercially successful in England with several hit singles tells you how much more sophisticated fans and critics are on the other side of the pond. Because these songs, including “Army Dreamers”, are not exactly the most accessible things for your ears.

Listening back to “Army Dreamers”, I’m struck by the fact that there is nothing contrived about this music. Nothing else sounds like it. Kate Bush didn’t merely write music lyrics, she wrote a post-war epic. She didn’t merely record a rock song, she composed a musical masterpiece. She showed us another way beyond synths and electric guitars, making magic out of mandolins and bodhrans.

“The weather warmer, he is colder. Four men in uniform to carry home my little soldier.”