Watch The Wombats cover Kate Bush song ‘Running Up That Hill’
The Wombats have become the latest band to cover Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’. The group recently aired the cover at Trible J Studios for their ‘Like A Version’ segment, marking the band’s fourth appearance on the Australian radio show.
The Wombats’ first appearance on ‘Like A Version’ saw them cover Jessie J’s ‘Price Tag’. They then returned in 2015 to perform a cover of Jarryd James’ ‘Do You Remember’, and in December 2018 to deliver a rendition of Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’.
Discussing their new cover in a post-performance interview, drummer Dan Haggis said that the band had been “huge Kate Bush fans” for years, but were convinced to cover the track after ‘Running Up That Hill’ soared to the top of the charts thanks to its inclusion on the Stanger Things soundtrack.
Speaking to the Triple J hosts, Haggis recalled: “I first heard Kate Bush… in a van, on a cassette tape, driving across the south of Spain to a cousin’s wedding when I was, like, ten or something.” The drummer went on to opine that streaming has made it much easier for golden oldies to emerge: “Those great songs will resurge again,” he said.
As an example, The Wombats pointed to their own track ‘Greek Tragedy’, which was given new life when it was remixed on TikTok: “It’s nice seeing [songs] have their own little life,” said frontman Matthew Murphy. “You can leave them dormant, and then suddenly they’re back again.”
The Wombats aren’t the only group to reinterpret ‘Running Up That Hill’. The 1985 Hounds of Love single has been covered by everyone from Placebo to metal outfit Within Temptation. More recently, both Halsey and Kim Petras have delivered their own reworks. Since it featured in the latest series of Stranger Things, ‘Running Up That Hill’ has topped the charts in no less than nine countries, including the UK and Australia.
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