First Published:
10:35 AM PDT, June 22, 2022
Kate Bush has given a rare interview to BBC Radio 4 to speak about her sudden acclaim with a whole new audience that has discovered her 1985 hit “Running Up That Hill” thanks to its use in the final season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things.”
Bush, who wrote and produced the song as well as sang it, spoke to BBC 4 Radio’s “Woman’s Hour” on Wednesday and the notoriously reclusive singer said, “It’s just extraordinary.”
“It’s such a great series. I thought that the track would get some attention. But I just never imagined that it would be anything like this,” she said. “It’s so exciting. But it’s quite shocking really, isn’t it? I mean, the whole world’s gone mad.”
The song originally reached No. 3 on the British charts in 1985. Now, 37 years later thanks to the popular Netflix series, it is on the top of the charts in the U.K., BBC reported.
“What’s really wonderful, I think, is this is a whole new audience who, in a lot of cases, have never heard of me and I love that. The thought of all these really young people hearing the song for the first time and discovering it is … well, I think it’s very special,” she said.
Bush went on to explain the meaning of the song, saying it is about “the idea of a man and a woman swapping with each other. Just to feel what it was like, from the other side.”
Originally titled it “A Deal With God,” she added that her record label made her change the title, which she prefers to the original song name, Pitchfork reported.
“I think [the record company] were just worried that it wouldn’t get played on the radio. That people would feel it was a sensitive title,” she said.
She added how much she appreciates the show’s creators, the Duffer Brothers, for using the song in the series and how it applies to the character Max, Pitchfork reported.
“I think they’ve put it in a really special place,” she said. “I was already familiar with the series. And I thought, what a lovely way for the song to be used in such a positive way. You know, as a kind of Talisman for Max. I think it’s very touching.”
Earlier this month, Bush took to her website to write a touching letter to the Duffer Brothers and her new fans for making the song a hit again.
“The Duffer Brothers have created four extraordinary series of Stranger Things in which the child actors have grown into young adults. In this latest series the characters are facing many of the same challenges that exist in reality right now. I believe the Duffer Brothers have touched people’s hearts in a special way, at a time that’s incredibly difficult for everyone, especially younger people,” she wrote. “I salute the Duffer Brothers for their courage – taking this new series into a much more adult and darker place. I want to thank them so much for bringing the song into so many people’s lives.”
Bush also wrote that “I’m overwhelmed by the scale of affection and support the song is receiving and it’s all happening really fast, as if it’s being driven along by a kind of elemental force. I have to admit I feel really moved by it all. Thank you so very much for making the song a No 1 in such an unexpected way.”
The song was also featured in the final “Stranger Things” trailer, which arrived Tuesday, for the second half of season 4, hitting the small screens on July 1.
Since its release in 1985, “Running Up That Hill” has been covered by a number of artists including Placebo, The Chromatics, and Meg Myers.
