Running Up That Hill

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) was the first single from Kate Bush's 1985 album, Hounds of Love.

Related Topics:
Single - Kate Bush - 1985 - Album - Hounds of Love

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Written by Bush, it features highly literate 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

Related Topics:
Lyrics - Vocals - UK - August 5 - September 16 - 12" - UK singles chart - United States - 1978

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The song itself 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.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Originally titled, A Deal with God, representatives at EMI Records were hesitant to release it, as they feared the title could have prevented radio play. The executives of EMI Records initially wanted to release another song, Cloudbusting, as the lead single from the album. Bush succesfully 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 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. MTV however, decided to play a live version rather than the studio version due to the fact that there was no lip-synching.

Related Topics:
Video - Michael Hervieu - Choreographed - Classical - Dyanne Gray - MTV - Lip-synch

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The song has been described as paving the way for the experimentation apparent in 1990s rock, evident in its being covered by the pop band, Placebo. It was later covered again by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation.

Related Topics:
1990s - Rock - Covered - Pop - Dutch - Symphonic metal - Within Temptation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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".

Related Topics:
B-side - 12-inch single - Remix - Instrumental

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~