Kate Bush Reacts To The ‘Stranger Things’ Resurgence Of ‘Running Up That Hill’
The 1985 track is charting all over the world.
You’ve probably heard that Kate Bush’s 1985 track ‘Running Up That Hill’ is back en vogue after being featured on Stranger Things, and Bush herself has now weighed on the song’s second wind.
“You might’ve heard that the first part of the fantastic, gripping new series of Stranger Things has recently been released on Netflix,” Bush posted on her website. “It features the song, ‘Running Up That Hill’ which is being given a whole new lease of life by the young fans who love the show — I love it too!”
“Because of this, ‘Running Up That Hill’ is charting around the world and has entered the UK chart at No. 8. It’s all really exciting! Thanks very much to everyone who has supported the song. I wait with bated breath for the rest of the series in July.”
Since its Stranger Things needle drop, the popularity of the track has surged on streaming services such as Spotify which reported an 8,700 percent increase in global streams just after Season 4 was released.
The track is featured during a scene when Max (Sadie Sink), who has been tormented by suicidal thoughts since the death of her brother, struggles to break free from Vecna’s villainous grip.
Interestingly, Bush said in 1992 that she wanted to call the track ‘A Deal With God’, and for her that is still what the song is called. “I was trying to say that a man and woman can’t really understand each other because we are a man and a woman”, she told Radio 1.
“And if we could swap our roles, be in each other’s place for a while, I think we’d be very surprised! [Laughs] It would lead to greater understanding. I thought the only way it could be done was, you know, a deal with the devil. And then I thought: well no, why not a deal with God? Because that’s so much more powerful.”
She ended up changing its name to ‘Running Up That Hill’ because she was told a song called ‘A Deal With God’ wouldn’t be played in any “religious countries”, including Italy, France, Ireland, and… Australia. Wow.
“It’s something I’ve always regretted doing, I must say,” Bush said.
Watch the ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’ needle drop in Stranger Things below. Fair warning, it contains a spoiler!
Photo credit: Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music, Getty Images