Kate Bush has explained the meaning behind “Running Up That Hill” to her new audience, as the song topped the UK charts 37 years after its release.
The 80s anthem saw renewed interest after it appeared in a pivotal scene in the new season of Weird things from Netflix.
It’s the longest time it took for a song to reach number one in the UK, and it also became the first Bush single to hit the US Top 10 chart.
Talking at length for the first time about the song’s newfound popularity with women’s watch On BBC Radio 4, Bush said, “I thought the song would get attention. But I never imagined it would be something like that. It’s so exciting.”
“But it’s really shocking, isn’t it? I mean, the whole world has gone crazy.”
Referring to the song’s new and younger audience, host Emma Barnett asked singer-songwriter how to describe its meanings.
“I really like people to listen to a song and take whatever they want from it. But it was originally written as the idea of a man and a woman exchanging positions with each other. Just to get a feel for what it was like from the other side.”
Bush also discussed the song’s title, which was originally going to be something different.
Kate Bush (left) and Sadie Sink as Max in Stranger Things
(Getty Images/Netflix)
“It was called ‘Deal with God.’ I think they were just worried, the record company, that it wouldn’t play on the radio.” “People felt it was a sensitive title.”
“Running Up That Hill” is heard in the first episode of the Netflix series on Max Mayfield’s Walkman (Sadie Sink) and remains an important song for the character in subsequent episodes.
On Friday, June 17, it was announced that “Running Up That Hill” had peaked at number one on the official singles chart, a feat it had never achieved when the song was first released in 1985 and peaked at number three.
women’s watch Broadcasts on Radio 4 days a week at 10am and on BBC Sounds.
“Thinker. Professional twitter fanatic. Certified introvert. Troublemaker. Unapologetic zombie maven.”