| "Running Up That Hill" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Kate Bush | ||||
| from the album Hounds of Love | ||||
| B-side | "Under the Ivy" | |||
| Released | 5 August 1985 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:58 | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Kate Bush | |||
| Producer(s) | Kate Bush | |||
| Kate Bush singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Running Up That Hill" on YouTube | ||||
| Audio sample | ||||
"Running Up That Hill" (also titled "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)") is a song by the English singer-songwriter Kate Bush. It was released in the UK as the lead single from Bush's fifth studio album, Hounds of Love, on 5 August 1985 by EMI Records.
Bush wrote and produced "Running Up That Hill" using a Fairlight CMI synthesiser and a LinnDrum drum machine. The lyrics imagine a man and a woman who make "a deal with God" to exchange places. The music video features Bush performing an interpretive dance; Bush wanted to create a serious work, feeling dance had been trivialised in other videos.
In 1985, "Running Up That Hill" reached number three on the UK singles chart, Bush's highest position since her number-one 1978 single "Wuthering Heights". It was named among the year's best tracks by Melody Maker and was nominated for British Single of the Year at the 1986 Brit Awards. In 2012, a remix used in that year's Summer Olympics closing ceremony reached number six. In 2022, after it was featured in the fourth season of the Netflix series Stranger Things, "Running Up That Hill" reached number one in eight countries, including the UK. It is Bush's only US top-40 hit, reaching number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1985 and number three in 2022. In 2023, it reached a billion streams on Spotify.
Bush debuted "Running Up That Hill" in a performance on the BBC One talk show Wogan. She performed it in 1987 at the Secret Policeman's Third Ball, accompanied by the Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, and in 2014 at her Before the Dawn concerts. It has been covered by acts including Placebo, Within Temptation, St Vincent, Chromatics and Meg Myers. In 2021, Rolling Stone placed "Running Up That Hill" at number 60 in its updated list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
- ^ Campbell, Erica (2 June 2022). "Kate Bush granted 'Stranger Things' permission to use 'Running Up That Hill' because she's a fan". NME. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
- ^ Partridge, Kenneth (15 June 2022). "Kate Bush's Haunting "Running Up That Hill" Has Been Connecting With New Generations for Nearly 40 Years". Mental Floss. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
- ^ Abed, Cyrus (12 April 2022). "33 Best New Wave Songs In The World". Music Industry How To. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
- ^ "Bop Shop: Kate Bush Edition". MTV. 10 June 2022. Archived from the original on 19 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
- ^ "Kate Bush Running Up that Hill". Storyofsong. 10 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.