‘The Ninth Wave’ is a suite of seven songs, written as a concept piece. Originally released as side 2 of the album Hounds Of Love in 1985.

Track listing

The suite consists of the following tracks:

  1. And Dream Of Sheep
  2. Under Ice
  3. Waking The Witch
  4. Watching You Without Me
  5. Jig Of Life
  6. Hello Earth
  7. The Morning Fog

Kate about ‘The Ninth Wave’

The Ninth Wave was a film, that’s how I thought of it. It’s the idea of this person being in the water, how they’ve got there, we don’t know. But the idea is that they’ve been on a ship and they’ve been washed over the side so they’re alone in this water. And I find that horrific imagery, the thought of being completely alone in all this water. And they’ve got a life jacket with a little light so that if anyone should be traveling at night they’ll see the light and know they’re there. And they’re absolutely terrified, and they’re completely alone at the mercy of their imagination, which again I personally find such a terrifying thing, the power of ones own imagination being let loose on something like that. And the idea that they’ve got it in their head that they mustn’t fall asleep, because if you fall asleep when you’re in the water, I’ve heard that you roll over and so you drown, so they’re trying to keep themselves awake.

Richard Skinner, ‘Classic Albums interview: Hounds Of Love’. BBC Radio 1, 26 January 1992