Running Up That Hill
"Running Up That Hill" is a song by the English singer-songwriter Kate Bush. It was the first single from her 1985 album Hounds of Love, released in the United Kingdom on 5 August 1985. It was her first 12-inch single. It was the most successful of Bush's 1980s releases, entering the UK chart at number 9 and eventually peaking at number 3, her second-highest single peak. The single also had an impact in the United States, providing Bush with her first chart hit there since 1978, where it reached the top 30 and featured prominently in the Dance Charts. Bush also performed the song live for the first time with David Gilmour of Pink Floyd at the in 1987. The song's title for Hounds of Love and all subsequent releases was "Running Up That Hill ".
The B-side of the 7-inch single contains Bush's song "Under the Ivy". The 12-inch single contains an extended remix and an instrumental version of "Running Up That Hill", as well as "Under the Ivy". A limited 7-inch single gatefold sleeve edition was also released.
The song has been critically acclaimed. In a retrospective review of the single, 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."
The song was featured as the main theme tune for the 1986 BBC 1 gritty children's drama serial Running Scared.
Background
Representatives at EMI were hesitant to release the song with its original title of "A Deal with God" owing to possible negative reception because of its use of the word "God". Bush relented and changed the title. However, the album version of the song is listed as "Running Up That Hill ". The executives of EMI initially wanted to release another song, "Cloudbusting", as the lead single from the album. Bush successfully persuaded them to release "Running Up That Hill" first, claiming that it was the first song written for the album, and felt that it better represented the broader feel for Hounds of Love.The song itself has often been misinterpreted. Bush herself has said,
I was trying to say that, really, a man and a woman can't understand each other because we are a man and a woman. And if we could actually swap each other's roles, if we could actually be in each other's place for a while, I think we'd both be very surprised! And I think it would lead to a greater understanding. And really the only way I could think it could be done was either... you know, I thought a deal with the devil, you know. And I thought, 'well, no, why not a deal with God!' You know, because in a way it's so much more powerful the whole idea of asking God to make a deal with you. You see, for me it is still called "Deal With God", that was its title. But we were told that if we kept this title that it would not be played in any of the religious countries, Italy wouldn't play it, France wouldn't play it, and Australia wouldn't play it! Ireland wouldn't play it, and that generally we might get it blacked purely because it had God in the title.
Music video
The music video featured Bush performing an interpretive dance with dancer Michael Hervieu. The video was directed by David Garfath while the dance routines were choreographed by Diane Grey. Bush and Hervieu are shown wearing grey Japanese hakamas. 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."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 and instead used a 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."
2012 remix
On 12 August 2012, Bush released a new version of the song "Running Up That Hill ". 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 track 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 track 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. The performance was not shown in the United States NBC coverage due to time constraints and tape delay issues.The track is included in the official soundtrack album of the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony A Symphony of British Music: Music for the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
On 19 August the remix entered the UK charts at number 6. It was Bush's return to the top ten after nearly seven years, following "King of the Mountain" in 2005.
Track listing
;7" single;12" maxi single
Critical reception
The song was ranked number 3 among the "Tracks of the Year" for 1985 by NME.Personnel
- Kate Bush – vocals, Fairlight CMI
- Alan Murphy – guitar
- Del Palmer – bass guitar, LinnDrum programming
- Stuart Elliott – drums
- Paddy Bush – balalaika
Charts
Certifications
Cover versions and remixes
Elastic Band Remix (1994)
and house music acts such as Elastic Band, whose version reached number one on RPM’s Canadian Dance Chart in September 1994.Within Temptation version (2003)
"Running Up That Hill" was covered by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation in 2003. The song debuted at number 9 in the Dutch charts on 17 May 2003. It peaked at number 7 a week later.Placebo version (2003)
Alternative rock band Placebo covered "Running Up That Hill", releasing it originally on the bonus disc of their 2003 album Sleeping with Ghosts, then featuring it on Covers and the US version of Meds in 2007. Placebo's take on the song is more downbeat than the original. It has been described by Q magazine as "sound more like a pact with the Devil" than the original "deal with God". Their version of the song made an appearance on the debut episode of The Vampire Diaries, concluded an episode of ' entitled "A la Cart", and was used on Bones, ', Queer as Folk, The O.C.,, and How to Get Away with Murder entitled “We Know Everything”. It can be also heard in the movies From Paris with Love and The Heavy.The song was used as the closing credits in the BBC Three film adaptation of Sophie Lancaster's murder titled Murdered for Being Different. The song was used in a hype package for the wrestling match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker which was the main event of WrestleMania XXVI in 2010, which would turn out to be Michaels' final wrestling match as an active performer.
The song was used in the Lifetime film I Am Elizabeth Smart. Placebo also performed the song live in London for iTunes Festival in September 2014 The song was also performed at Pinkpop in Landgraaf, The Netherlands in June 2015.
Chromatics version (2007)
Electronic band Chromatics released a cover on their 2007 album Night Drive. This version was stripped back considerably and made heavy use of electronic drums, synthesizers and breathy vocals, effectively reimagining the song in the style of Italo disco.Jørn Lande version (2016)
Norwegian metal singer Jørn Lande released a hard rock version of "Running Up That Hill" on his 2016 cover album Heavy Rock Radio, stating in an interview that he hoped to pay homage to the original artist, while creating a "strong alternative version to enjoy."The Very Best Remix (2011)
remixed the song on their 2011 mixtape Super Mom.Meg Myers version (2019)
American alternative music artist Meg Myers released a cover of the song on March 6, 2019.Her cover reached number one on both the Billboard Rock Airplay chart and the Alternative Songs chart in January 2020. Meg Myers performed her cover on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on January 20th, 2020.