"Running Up That Hill", on some releases titled "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)", is a song by the English singer and songwriter Kate Bush. It was released in the United Kingdom as the lead single from Bush's fifth studio album Hounds of Love on 5 August 1985 by EMI Records.[6]
The single was a critical and commercial success in 1985. It peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart, Bush's highest chart position since her number one single "Wuthering Heights" in 1978. The song has had two further periods of success: in 2012 it reached number six on the UK Singles Chart after a remix with re-recorded vocals was used during that year's Summer Olympics closing ceremony, and in 2022 it reached number one in eight countries, including the UK, after being featured in the fourth season of the Netflix series Stranger Things.[7][8] The song is Bush's only US top 40 hit, reaching number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1985 and number three in 2022.[9]
The lyrics imagine a scenario in which a man and a woman make "a deal with God" to exchange places. Bush wrote and produced "Running Up That Hill" using a Fairlight CMI synthesiser and a LinnDrum drum machine.
"Running Up That Hill" was the first song Bush composed for her fifth album, Hounds of Love (1985).[10] She wrote it in a single evening at her home,[10] and recorded the first version onto 8-track with engineer Del Palmer, using a Fairlight CMI synthesiser and a LinnDrum drum machine looped pattern, which the vocal was built around.[10][11] Once transferred to 24-track, Bush, Palmer and the engineers Paul Hardiman and Haydn Bendall built upon this version to develop the final song, spending particular time on the Fairlight parts.[10] The main riff was played on the Fairlight using its sampled cello sound: this replaced an earlier harp sound on the Fairlight which Bush found very noisy.[12][11] The signature drone part was developed by 'freezing' a 3 or 4-note chord into a Quantec digital reverb.[11] The drummer, Stewart Elliott, overdubbed a snare part to strengthen the Linn snare, and added some 'dramatic' fills at the end combined with sounds from the Fairlight.[11]
Bush said the lyrics address the inability of men and women to understand each other. She imagined that by making "a deal with God", they could exchange places and reach a greater understanding.[13][14] The song was originally titled "A Deal with God", but representatives at EMI Records feared this would make it unpopular in more religious countries.[13] The album version of the song is listed as "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)".
Music video
The music video features Bush performing an interpretive dance with dancer Misha Hervieu.[15] The video was directed by David Garfath while the dance routines were choreographed by Diane Grey.[13] Bush and Hervieu are shown wearing grey hakama.[13] Bush wanted the dancing in "Running Up That Hill" to be more of a classical performance. She stated that dance in music videos was "being used quite trivially, it was being exploited: haphazard images, busy, lots of dances, without really the serious expression, and wonderful expression, that dance can give. So we felt how interesting it would be to make a very simple routine between two people, almost classic, and very simply filmed. So that's what we tried, really, to do a serious piece of dance."[13]
The choreography draws upon contemporary dance with a repeated gesture suggestive of drawing a bow and arrow, intercut with surreal sequences of Bush and Hervieu searching through crowds of masked strangers. At the climax of the song, Bush's partner withdraws from her and the two are then swept away from each other and down a long hall in opposite directions by an endless stream of anonymous figures wearing masks made from pictures of Bush and Hervieu's faces. MTV chose not to show this video (at the time of its original release) and instead used a playback "live" performance of the song recorded at a promotional appearance on the BBC TV show Wogan. According to Paddy Bush, "MTV weren't particularly interested in broadcasting videos that didn't have synchronized lip movements in them. They liked the idea of people singing songs."[13]
2012 remix
"Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" (2012 Remix)
"Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" (2012 Remix) (2012)
"Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)[17]" (2022)
On 12 August 2012, Bush released a remixed version of the single, "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)", via her Fish People label.[18] Subtitled "2012 Remix", it uses the backing track of the extended version of the 1985 12-inch single, over which new lead vocals were recorded. The remix was transposed down a semitone to fit Bush's current lower vocal range. The new version was premiered during the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony. Bush did not appear herself, but the recording was featured in a section of the closing ceremony, after the entry of athletes and prior to the presentation of the medals for the Marathon. The remix set the theme to a dance performance, where a 'hill' or pyramid was gradually assembled by the dancers from giant white blocks, representing each of the Olympic events.[19] The performance was not shown in the United States NBC coverage due to time constraints and tape delay issues.[20]
"Running Up That Hill" gained renewed attention in May 2022 after it was featured repeatedly in the fourth season of the Netflix series Stranger Things.[22] Bush rarely allows her songs to be licensed, but agreed because she is a fan of the show.[23]
The song subsequently appeared on several national charts, and reached number one in Australia,[24] Belgium,[25] Ireland,[26] Lithuania,[27] Luxembourg,[28] New Zealand,[29] Sweden,[30] Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.[31] The single was Bush's second UK number one after "Wuthering Heights" in 1978, making her the solo artist with the longest gap between two number one singles on the chart; the 37-year gap between the single's release and it reaching number one was also a chart record.[32][33] She also became the oldest female artist to have a number one on the UK charts at the age of 63 years and 11 months.[34]
In the United States, "Running Up That Hill" reached a peak of number three on the Hot 100 chart; this bettered its 1985 peak of number 30, which was previously Bush's highest placement on the chart.[35][36] The song also charted on Billboard's rock and Alternative Airplay charts, and peaked at number one on both Hot Alternative Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs.[37] Bush described the renewed interest in her song as "just extraordinary" and "very touching, actually.”[38]
Following the Stranger Things premiere, Spotify revealed that streams of the song increased by 9,900% in the United States,[39] and on 22 June 2023 it reached one billion total streams on the platform. In response, Bush wrote "I have an image of a river that suddenly floods and becomes many, many tributaries — a billion streams — on their way to the sea. Each one of these streams is one of you. Thank you so much for sending this song on such an impossibly astonishing journey. I'm blown away."[40][41] On 1 September 2022 "Running Up That Hill" was issued as a CD single for the first time, using its original vinyl single artwork and including the B-side "Under the Ivy".[42][43] The song ultimately sold 1,077,284 units in the UK in 2022.[44]
Critical response
The single was positively reviewed by Smash Hits in 1985, being named its "single of the fortnight" and praised for its "melodic strength" and "coolly restrained performance"[45] It was described as "nice" in an otherwise negative review in the Record Mirror.[46]NME named "Running Up That Hill" the third-best track of 1985.[47] At the 1986 Brit Awards, "Running Up That Hill" was nominated for British Single of the Year.[48]
The single has been described by Rolling Stone as an "enduring hit".[49] In rankings of Bush's output the song is typically placed highly, being placed first among her UK singles by The Guardian,[50] third overall by Mojo,[51] and first by Far Out.[52] In general lists, NME placed it at number 108 in its 2014 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time",[53] and Rolling Stone placed it at number 60 in its own 2021 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[54]NME also included the song at number 25 in its "story of NME in 70 (mostly) seminal songs", writing that Bush was "a totemic figure in sneaking left field ideas into the heart of the charts".[55] "Running Up That Hill" was nominated for Favourite Rock Song at the American Music Awards of 2022.[56]
In a retrospective review, the AllMusic journalist Amy Hanson wrote: "Always adept at emotion and beautifully able to manipulate even the most bitter of hearts, rarely has Bush penned such a brutally truthful, painfully sensual song."[57]
Influence
The Weeknd named "Running Up That Hill" as one of the songs that inspired his debut studio album Kiss Land (2013).[58]
Track listing and formats
All tracks written and produced by Kate Bush.
UK 7-inch 1985 single and limited edition 2022 CD single[59]
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. † Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.
Cover versions
"Running Up That Hill" has been covered by numerous artists. Artists whose covers have charted include:
Elastic Band, who reached number one on RPM's Canadian Dance Chart in September 1994.[176]
Within Temptation, who reached number 7 on the Dutch chart in 2003,[177] also charting in Austria, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland.[178]
Kate Bush has, on occasion, publicly praised covers of the single. In 2012 she congratulated Bo Bruce, then a contestant on The Voice UK, after Bruce performed the song,[183] and in 2022 she described a version of the song arranged by Astrid Jorgensen for Pub Choir as "utterly, utterly wonderful!".[184][185] On 3 November 2023, the song was performed by St. Vincent at Bush's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Bush herself was absent.[186]
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 202223 into search. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
