Running Up That Hill
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| "Running Up That Hill" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Kate Bush | ||||||||||
| from the album Hounds of Love | ||||||||||
| B-side | "Under the Ivy" | |||||||||
| Released | August 5, 1985 | |||||||||
| Format | 7" single / 12" Single | |||||||||
| Recorded | 1984 | |||||||||
| Genre | Art rock | |||||||||
| Length | 4:56 | |||||||||
| Label | EMI- KB1 | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Kate Bush | |||||||||
| Producer | Kate Bush | |||||||||
| Kate Bush singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Running Up That Hill" is a song by the British singer/songwriter Kate Bush. It was the first single from her 1985 album Hounds of Love, released in the UK on 5 August 1985. It was her first 12" single. It was the most successful of Bush's 1980s releases, entering the UK chart at no.9 and eventually peaking at the no. 3, her second-highest single peak. The single also had an impact in the United States, providing Bush with her first chart hit there since 1978 where it reached the top 30, and featured prominently within the Dance Charts. Bush also performed the song with David Gilmour of Pink Floyd at the Secret Policeman's Ball.[1]
The B-side of the 7" single contains Bush's song "Under the Ivy". The 12-inch single is an extended remix and an instrumental version of "Running up that Hill", as well as "Under the Ivy".
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[edit] Song information
Originally titled "A Deal with God", representatives at EMI were hesitant to release the song for three years, as they feared the religious connotations of the title could have prevented radio play, especially in the United States - which also explains why the song's copyright dates back to 1982. Because the singles from her previous release, The Dreaming, had fared so poorly in the charts, Bush relented and changed the title, however the album version of the song is listed as "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)". 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 song itself has often been misinterpreted. Bush herself has said,
| “ | I was trying to say that, really, a man and a woman, can't understand each other because we are a man and a woman. And if we could actually swap each other's roles, if we could actually be in each others place for a while, I think we'd both be very surprised! [Laughs] And I think it would be lead to a greater understanding. And really the only way I could think it could be done was either... you know, I thought a deal with the devil, you know. And I thought, 'well, no, why not a deal with God!' You know, because in a way it's so much more powerful the whole idea of asking God to make a deal with you. You see, for me it is still called "Deal With God", that was its title. But we were told that if we kept this title that it would not be played in any of the religious countries, Italy wouldn't play it, France wouldn't play it, and Australia wouldn't play it! Ireland wouldn't play it, and that generally we might get it blacked purely because it had God in the title.[2] | ” |
[edit] Music video
The music video featured Bush and dancer Michael Hervieu in a choreographed performance, wearing Japanese hakamas. 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 instructor whom 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, chose not to show this video (at the time of its original release) and instead used a live performance of the song recorded at a promotional appearance on the BBC TV show Wogan.
[edit] In popular culture
The song can be heard during the final credits of the 1988 film The Chocolate War.
The song was also used as the theme tune for the 1986 BBC childrens drama "Running Scared".
The song inspired the single "Speed of Sound" by the English band Coldplay.
Dutch band Within Temptation released a cover by the same name in 2003.
The song is referred to in the Hold Steady track, "Hornets! Hornets!"
The Placebo cover of the song was featured at the end of the episode "Judas on a Pole" from the US TV series Bones. It was also featured in the fourth season episode "The Avengers" from the US TV series The O.C., the eighth-season episode of C.S.I. titled "A La Cart" and in the theatrical trailer for the 2009 feature film Daybreakers. The Placebo version was also featured in the pilot episode of The Vampire Diaries (TV series) shown at San Diego Comic Con 2009.
[edit] Track listing
[edit] 7": EMI / KB 1 / 20 0757 7 (
)
All songs written and composed by Kate Bush.
| # | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Running Up That Hill" | 4:58 |
| 2. | "Under The Ivy" | 2:07 |
[edit] 12" Maxi: EMI / 12KB 1 / 20 0758 6 ()
All songs written and composed by Kate Bush.
| # | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Running Up That Hill (Extended Version)" | 5:43 |
| 2. | "Under The Ivy" | 2:07 |
| 3. | "Running Up That Hill (Instrumental)" | 4:54 |
[edit] Charts
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia ARIA Singles Chart | 6 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 16 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 6 |
| French SNEP Singles Chart | 24 |
| German Media Control Singles Chart | 3 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 4 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart | 26 |
| UK Singles Chart | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Chart[3] | 30 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | 13 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales | 21 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 34 |
[edit] Cover versions
[edit] Blue Pearl version
| "Running Up That Hill" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Blue Pearl | |
| from the album Naked (Album) | |
| Released | 1990 |
| Recorded | 1990 |
| Genre | Techno |
| Length | 4:56 |
| Writer(s) | Kate Bush |
| Producer | Blue Pearl |
The techno duo Blue Pearl also covered this song on their 1990 album 'Naked', the duo had also covered in 1993 Gimme Shelter by Rolling Stones.
[edit] Track listings
- CD-Maxi Big Life 877 497-2 21.08.1990
- 1. Running Up That Hill 3:50
- 2. Running Up That Hill (12" Extended Mix) 6:07
- 3. Running Up That Hill (Pure Trance Mix) 6:15
- 4. Running Up That Hill (Paradise Mix) 3:42
- 7" Single Big Life 877 496-7 / EAN 0042287749678 21.08.1990
- 1. Running Up That Hill (7" Radio Mix) 3:50
- 2. Running Up That Hill (7" Instrumental) 4:07
- 12" Maxi Big Life 877 497-1 1990
- 12" Maxi Big Life BLR23T [uk] 1990
- 1. Running Up That Hill (12" Extended Version)
- 2. Running Up That Hill (Massey's Bob Jazz Mix)
- 3. Running Up That Hill (Instrumental Mix)
[edit] Placebo version
| "Running Up That Hill" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Placebo | ||||
| from the album Sleeping with Ghosts (Covers Bonus Disc) | ||||
| Released | 2003, 2007 | |||
| Recorded | 2003 | |||
| Genre | Alternative Rock | |||
| Length | 4:56 | |||
| Writer(s) | Kate Bush | |||
| Producer | Placebo | |||
| Placebo singles chronology | ||||
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Alternative rock band Placebo also covered "Running Up That Hill", releasing it originally on the bonus disc of their 2003 album Sleeping with Ghosts and on the re-released Meds in 2007. Placebo's take on the song is more downbeat than the original. It has been described by Q Magazine as 'sound[ing] more like a pact with the Devil' than the original 'deal with God'.[4] Their version of the song made an appearance on the debut episode of The Vampire Diaries, "Pilot", on the Bones episode, "Judas on a Pole", and on the first episode of The O.C. Season 4, "The Avengers". It was also used during WWE's one-hour broadcast special for WrestleMania 25, and is also featured in the trailer for the upcoming movie Daybreakers.[5]
[edit] Other Cover Versions
The song has been covered by other acts in various genres. A dance remix by Levy 9 was released in the 90s, Trance and house music acts, such as Elastic Band, Infusion, and Armin Van Buuren have performed versions of the song, as have the gender-bending postmodern cabaret duo Kiki & Herb, who have performed the song throughout their career, and used the song as the closing number in their 2004 sold-out "farewell performance" at Carnegie Hall.
US Dark Wave act Faith and the Muse covered the song on their 2001 compilation album Vera Causa, and frequently perform it live.
Symphonic metal act Within Temptation has covered the song and released it as a separate single in 2003.
"Running Up That Hill" has also been incorporated into other songs by artists in live performance. American singer-songwriter Tori Amos has sung verses of the song during her live tours, often working certain lines of the song into other songs.
Fugees-collaborator John Forté released a version of the song called "Running Up That Hill" in 2009 that featured the original keyboard melody and chorus with rap verses.[6] [7]
Oregon based Chromatics covered the song on their 2007 album 'Night Drive'.
Estonian pop singer Kerli also covered this song.[8]
The two Danish bands Spleen United and The William Blakes covered this song live, together, in a Danish music program called Backstage.[9]
Irish group Ham Sandwich played tribute to "Running Up That Hill" as part of their live show having first performed it at a show in aid of Paul Newman's charity The Barretstown Gang. The live recording of this tribute was released on an album given away free with the Irish Daily Mail.
It was also covered by singer Patrick Wolf with a live version being available for download on the internet.
Recently, pop act MPHO did a cover of this song.[10]
Finnish a-cappella group Club for Five has a cover of this song in their album You're The Voice (2009).
A second Dutch group, rap act Flinke Namen, sampled the chorus for their song Wolken (Clouds). This piano and string laced rapsong reached no. 1 on the Dutch (nl:FunX) charts, with a remix version being available for download on the internet [11]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl9OKddQBRg "Running Up That Hill" featuring David Gilmour
- ^ http://gaffa.org/cloud/music/running_up_that_hill.html Radio 1 Classic Albums interview with Richard Skinner aired January 26, 1992
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?JSESSIONID=yYHcJ1JpS2hDzFQCRzRMsdvZd8WLp2m9qtLCLFg91lsQqDhvth3h!448254375&model.vnuArtistId=4209&model.vnuAlbumId=802219
- ^ Q Magazine Issue 241, August 2006
- ^ Daybreakers trailer, Daybreakers trailer.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrP2Aj5dTsI - by John Forté
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c57tQhHNWFM live version of John Fortés "Running Up That Hill"
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLewjV2gbSA
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkSIVtefQm0 Spleen United & The William Blakes - Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush) @ DR Backstage 2009.03.12
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=say9QTH4ijo "Running Up That Hill" cover MPHO "Brixton Pop Maverick" Live
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL9TYyN8UxQ
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