Running Up That Hill
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| "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Kate Bush | ||
| from the album Hounds of Love | ||
| B-side(s) | "Under the Ivy" | |
| Released | 5 August 1985 | |
| Format | 7" single / 12" Single | |
| Recorded | 1984 | |
| Genre | Art rock | |
| Length | 4:56 | |
| Label | EMI | |
| Writer(s) | Kate Bush | |
| Producer(s) | Kate Bush | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Kate Bush singles chronology | ||
| "Ne T'enfuis Pas" (1983) |
"Running Up That Hill (1985) |
"Cloudbusting" (1985) |
"Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" was the first single from Kate Bush's 1985 album Hounds of Love.
Written by Bush, it features surreal lyrics and impassioned vocals. It was released as a single in the UK on August 5, 1985, with the album appearing on shelves on September 16, 1985. It was her first 12" single, and her second single to feature gatefold packaging. It eventually reached the number three position in the UK singles chart. The single also had a great impact in the United States, providing Bush with her first hit to chart since 1978. It reached the top 30, and featured prominently within the Dance Charts.
- Kate Bush - "Running Up That Hill" (file info) — play in browser (beta)
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The song itself has often been misinterpreted as meaning that Bush would like to swap places with God himself. Instead it deals with the trials and tribulations of a floundering relationship, telling her lover in the song that if she "...only could I'd make a deal with God and get him to swap our places." She has described the song as being about the power of love, in that it can create such intense emotion that all rational thought is overpowered.
Musically, the background vocal chants ("e-yo") are almost identical to singing in classical Japanese musical theatre such as Noh, and the prominent drumming pattern appears to be influenced by Japanese taiko. A less highbrow analysis reveals the drum pattern to bear a striking resemblance to Sylvia's 1970s R & B hit "Pillow Talk". Both songs deal quite frankly with the subject of lovemaking. The rhythm would show up again in 1987 on Fleetwood Mac's "Big Love" single, which also explores sexual politics in its lyrics.
Originally titled, "A Deal with God", representatives at EMI were hesitant to release it, as they feared the title could have prevented radio play, especially in the United States. Because the singles from her previous release, The Dreaming, had done so poorly in the charts, Bush relented and changed the title. The executives of EMI initially wanted to release another song, "Cloudbusting", as the lead single from the album. Bush successfully convinced them to release "Running Up That Hill" first, citing that it was the first song to be written for the album, and felt that it better represented the broader feel for "Hounds of Love".
The music video featured Bush and dancer Michael Hervieu, in a tightly choreographed piece. Bush felt that in most music videos, "dancing happened around the artist, but never truly involved the artist at all". She wanted the dancing in "Running Up That Hill" to be more of a classical performance, and therefore enlisted Dyanne Gray, a dance teacher Bush had been working with.
The dance draws upon contemporary dance with a repeated gesture suggestive of drawing a bow and arrow (the gesture was made literal on the image for the single in which Bush poses with a real bow and arrow). At the climax of the song, Bush's partner unexpectedly withdraws from her. In a surreal sequence, both are swept away down a long hall in opposite directions by an endless stream of anonymous figures wearing masks that are pictures of Bush and Hervieu's faces.
MTV however, decided to play a live version rather than the studio version due to the fact that there was no lip-synching.
The B-side of the 7" single contains her song "Under the Ivy". The 12-inch single is an extended remix of "Running Up That Hill", and the B-side also has an instrumental version, as well as "Under the Ivy".
[edit] Placebo version
| "Running Up That Hill" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Placebo (band) | ||
| Released | 31 October 2006 | |
| Format | Download | |
| Recorded | pre-2003 | |
| Genre | Alternative rock | |
| Length | 4:54 | |
| Label | Virgin Records | |
| Writer(s) | Kate Bush | |
| Placebo (band) singles chronology | ||
| "Meds" (2006) |
"Running Up That Hill (2006) |
|
British band Placebo covered "Running Up That Hill" in an alternative rock style, releasing it originally on the bonus disc of their 2003 album Sleeping with Ghosts.
The song had a fairly low profile for some time before attracting further attention in 2006 after Placebo began to include it in their set whilst touring to promote Meds. It was released as a single in October of 2006 and included on the rereleased version of Meds in 2007 along with 'Uneedmemorethanineedyou', a B-side.
Placebo's take on the song is more downbeat and contemplative than the original, and focuses more on instrumentation. It has been described by Q Magazine as 'sound[ing] more like a pact with the Devil' than the original 'deal with God'.[1]
Placebo's version was also used in the promotional videos and first episode of the fourth season of popular American soap opera The O.C., and the second season of Bones.
[edit] Other versions
The song has been described as paving the way for the experimentation apparent in 1990s rock. As well as being covered by the Placebo, it has also been covered by:
- Faith and the Muse (Alternative rock)
- Within Temptation (Symphonic metal), (Gothic)
- Elastic Band (Trance)
- Patrick Wolf (Folktronica)
- Infusion (Progressive House)
- Icon and the Black Roses (Love metal)
- Kiki and Herb (Cabaret) - performed throughout their career, and used as the closing number in their sold-out "farewell performance" at Carnegie Hall in 2004.
It has also been incorporated into other songs by artists in live performance:
- American alternative rock singer-songwriter and pianist Tori Amos has also sung verses of the song during her live tours, often working certain lines of the song into her cover of The Cure's "Lovesong" in her 1996 tour, and sometimes playing a part of the song before and another part after performing her own song "God" in her 2005 tour.
- Leeds quintet Four Day Hombre have incorporated lines from the song into the live performance of their hit single 'The First Word is the Hardest', which can be seen on their recent DVD release Night at The Theatre.
- Indie rock group The Hold Steady references the song on the first track on their critically acclaimed sohpomore record, Separation Sunday.
[edit] References
- ^ Q Magazine Issue 241, August 2006
