The compromise that Kate Bush regrets with her biggest hit
‘Running Up That Hill’ by the magical Kate Bush is one of few songs that can claim to be a two-time hit. First released as the lead single to Bush’s fifth studio album, Hounds of Love, in 1985, the song earned her a number three spot on the UK chart. Almost four decades later, the song was featured in Netflix’s Stranger Things. The revived interest in ‘Running Up That Hill’ led it to claim number one in eight different countries.
The song itself featured bouncy synths and Bush’s distinctive vocals contemplating relationships, gender, and divine intervention. In a 1985 interview, Bush explained the lyrics, “It’s about a relationship between a man and a woman. They love each other very much, and the power of the relationship is something that gets in the way. It creates insecurities.”
Bush figured that a Freaky Friday-esque body swap would mitigate those insecurities. The song suggests that if the couple could swap places and understand each other’s point of view, all of their problems would disappear. “I think it would lead to a greater understanding,” Bush stated. Initially, Bush could only envision this happening through a deal with a divine being.
After considering the option of a deal with the devil, Bush settled on a deal with God, suggesting that “in a way it’s so much more powerful, the whole idea of asking God to make a deal with you.” As a result, the iconic chorus to ‘Running Up That Hill’ was born.
“And if I only could, I’d make a deal with God, and I’d get him to swap our places,” Bush powerfully declares throughout the song. That central concept drives the lyricism of the track forward, so much so that Bush initially planned to name the track ‘Deal With God’. To her, that is still the name of the song.
“You see, for me it is still called ‘Deal With God’. That was its title,” she explained, “But we were told that if we kept this title that it would not be played in any of the religious countries… and that generally we might get it blacked purely because it had God in the title. I couldn’t believe this, this seemed completely ridiculous to me and the title was such a part of the song’s entity. I just couldn’t understand it.”
Still, Bush compromised on the title, swapping ‘Deal With God’ out for ‘Running Up That Hill’. Undeniably, ‘Deal With God’ is a more memorable title than ‘Running Up That Hill’, and more faithful to the song. Perhaps expectedly, this name change is a decision the songwriter has since regretted.
“I felt I had to be grown-up about this, so we changed it to ‘Running Up That Hill.’ But it’s always something I’ve regretted doing, I must say. And normally I always regret any compromises that I make,” she concluded. Despite the regretful name change, ‘Running Up The Hill’ led to an iconic television scene, remains one of Bush’s biggest hits, and one of the most well-loved songs of all time.
