Kate Bush has given a rare radio interview about her 1985 track ‘Running Up That Hill’, which recently topped the UK singles chart and reached the US top 10 for the first time. Her chat with Emma Barnett on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour follows a series of statements expressing her excitement about the song’s resurgence thanks to its prominent inclusion in the fourth season of Stranger Things.
“It’s such a great series, I thought that the track would get some attention,” Bush said. “But I just never imagined that it would be anything like this. It’s so exciting. But it’s quite shocking really, isn’t it? I mean, the whole world’s gone mad.”
“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,” she added. “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.”
Discussing the meaning of the song, which was originally titled ‘A Deal With God’, Bush told Barnett: “I really like people to hear a song and take from it what they want. But originally it was written as the idea of a man and a woman swapping with each other. Just to feel what it was like, from the other side.”
Commenting on the song’s placement in the series, Bush said: “I think they’ve put it in a really special place. 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.”
Asked whether she revisits her older material, Bush responded: “I never listen to my old stuff. But then, when things like this come along, I’m normally involved in something like maybe doing an edit or revisiting the track for some kind of other reason, I’m working on it. So yeah, I hadn’t heard it for a really long time.”