Kate Bush gives rare BBC interview on renewed success of ‘Running Up That Hill’
'Running Up That Hill' is currently number one in the charts
By Sam Moore
Kate Bush has opened up about a new generation of fans finding her music through Stranger Things.
In a rare interview with the BBC’s Woman’s Hour, Bush talked about how ‘Running Up That Hill’ has hit number one in the UK charts after it was featured in season four of the Netflix show.
Bush told host Emma Barnett: “Well it’s just extraordinary. I mean, you know, it’s such a great series, I thought that the track would get some attention. But I just never imagined that it would be anything like this. It’s so exciting. But it’s quite shocking really, isn’t it? I mean, the whole world’s gone mad.”
She added: “What’s really wonderful I think is this is a whole new audience who, in a lot of cases, they’ve never heard of me and I love that. The thought of all these really young people hearing the song for the first time and discovering it is, well, I think it’s very special.”
It comes after Bush issued a series of statements following the renewed chart success of the song.
Bush also discussed the meaning of the song and how it has been reinterpreted by the show: “I really like people to hear a song and take from it what they want. But originally it was written as the idea of a man and a woman swapping with each other. Just to feel what it was like, from the other side.”
She also revealed that the show led her to listen to ‘Running Up That Hill’ for the first time in a long while: “I never listen to my old stuff. But then you know, when things like this come along, I’m normally involved in something like you know, maybe doing an edit or revisiting the track for some kind of other reason, I’m working on it. So yeah, I hadn’t heard it for a really long time.”
Bush then talked about her love of the sci-fi series which stars Winona Ryder and David Harbour: “Our friends kept saying have you seen Stranger Things when the first series came out. So eventually we just thought OK let’s just watch it and we’ve binge watched it and then saw every series ever since.
It’s lovely because in a similar way to Harry Potter, where in those early films they were just little kids, and then as the film has progressed, it becomes heavier and darker. And those little kids turn into really talented, young, adult actors. And you have a different connection with something that’s moved through years really of watching them grow.”
Woman’s Hour is on Radio 4 weekdays at 10am and on BBC Sounds.