About The Song
“Running Up That Hill” (on some releases 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. A remix used in the 2012 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”.
“Running Up That Hill” features synthesisers, guitar, bass, a driving drum beat and the balalaika, a Russian string instrument. Classic FM described its mood as “passionate and pleading”, with uncertainty and a longing for emotional resolution.
“Running Up That Hill” uses the key of C minor, with a vocal melody focusing on the minor seventh, creating a sense of pending resolution and “lingering harmonic tension and instability”. On the word “could”, Bush sings the major seventh of A-flat major, using dissonance to create more tension.
The drummer, Stuart Elliott, said: “The tension in that track is just remarkable. Every step of the way, there’s a little twist and turn that’s different from the previous verse — an extra line or one line less, or a repeat just in the perfect places. There’s absolutely no dead space … It’s just so deceptively simple.”
Bush said the lyrics address the inability of men and women to understand each other. She imagined that by making “a deal with God”, they could exchange places and reach a greater understanding. The song was originally titled “A Deal with God”, but her record label, EMI Records, felt this was a sensitive title and could limit its radio play. Bush agreed to change it as she had not had a hit song in some time and wanted to “give the album a chance”. In 2022, Bush said she still thought of the song with its original title.
Video
Lyrics
It doesn’t hurt me (yeah, yeah, yo)
Do you wanna feel how it feels? (Yeah, yeah, yo)
Do you wanna know, know that it doesn’t hurt me? (Yeah, yeah, yo)
Do you wanna hear about the deal that I’m making? (Yeah, yeah, yo)
You
It’s you and me
And if I only could
I’d make a deal with God
And I’d get Him to swap our places
Be runnin’ up that road
Be runnin’ up that hill
Be runnin’ up that building
Say, if I only could, oh
You don’t wanna hurt me (yeah, yeah, yo)
But see how deep the bullet lies (yeah, yeah, yo)
Unaware I’m tearin’ you asunder (yeah, yeah, yo)
Oh, there is thunder in our hearts (yeah, yeah, yo)
Is there so much hate for the ones we love? (Yeah, yeah, yo)
Oh, tell me, we both matter, don’t we? (Yeah, yeah, yo)
You
It’s you and me
It’s you and me
Won’t be unhappy
And if I only could
I’d make a deal with God
And I’d get Him to swap our places
Be runnin’ up that road
Be runnin’ up that hill
Be runnin’ up that building (yo)
Say, if I only could, oh
You (yeah, yeah, yo)
It’s you and me
It’s you and me
Won’t be unhappy (yeah, yeah, yo)
Oh, come on, baby (yeah)
Oh, come on, darlin’ (yo)
Let me steal this moment from you now
Oh, come on, angel
Come on, come on, darlin’
Let’s exchange the experience (yo), oh, ooh, ooh
And if I only could
I’d make a deal with God
And I’d get Him to swap our places
I’d be runnin’ up that road
Be runnin’ up that hill
With no problems
Say, if I only could
I’d make a deal with God
And I’d get Him to swap our places
I’d be runnin’ up that road
Be runnin’ up that hill
With no problems
Say, if I only could
I’d make a deal with God
And I’d get Him to swap our places
I’d be runnin’ up that road
Be runnin’ up that hill
With no problems
Say, if I only could
I’d be runnin’ up that hill
With no problems