1985-0194

Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)

Kate Bush

Peak

Weeks

Score

6,558

Chart Year

2022

Scores & Rankings

Chart Performance

Peak Position3

Peak DateJul 30, 2022

Weeks at Peak2

Weeks Charted42

Weeks in Top 4023

Weeks in Top 1015

Weeks at #20

Weeks at #10

Scoring

Summary Calc2,828

Weekly Calc3,730

Total Score6,558

Rankings

Year Ranking#16

Decade Ranking#105

Billboard Year#17

Top 5000#542

Details

Album: Hounds of Love
Label: EMI Records
Genre: Art pop
Composer(s): Michael Jones
Entered Chart: Sep 7, 1985
Peak Date: Jul 30, 2022
Released: Unknown
Recorded: Unknown
Catalog #: EMI America 8285
B-Side: Under The Ivy

Music Video

The music video features Bush performing an interpretive dance with dancer Michael Hervieu. The video was directed by David Garfath while the dance routines were choreographed by Diane Grey.[16] Bush and Hervieu are shown wearing grey Japanese hakamas.[17] Bush wanted the dancing in "Running Up That Hill" to be more of a classical performance. She stated that dance in music videos was "being used quite trivially, it was being exploited: haphazard images, busy, lots of dances, without really the serious expression, and wonderful expression, that dance can give. So we felt how interesting it would be to make a very simple routine between two people, almost classic, and very simply filmed. So that's what we tried, really, to do a serious piece of dance."[18] The choreography draws upon contemporary dance with a repeated gesture suggestive of drawing a bow and arrow (the gesture was made literal on the cover for the single in which Bush poses with a real bow and arrow), intercut with surreal sequences of Bush and Hervieu searching through crowds of masked strangers. At the climax of the song, Bush's partner withdraws from her and the two are then swept away from each other and down a long hall in opposite directions by an endless stream of anonymous figures wearing masks made from pictures of Bush and Hervieu's faces. MTV chose not to show this video (at the time of its original release) and instead used a playback "live" performance of the song recorded at a promotional appearance on the BBC TV show Wogan. According to Paddy Bush, "MTV weren't particularly interested in broadcasting videos that didn't have synchronized lip movements in them. They liked the idea of people singing songs.

Notes

Running Up That Hill" (also titled "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)") is a song by the English singer-songwriter Kate Bush. It was released in the UK as the lead single from Bush's fifth studio album, Hounds of Love, on 5 August 1985 by EMI Records. Bush wrote and produced "Running Up That Hill" using a Fairlight CMI synthesiser and a LinnDrum drum machine. The lyrics imagine a man and a woman who make "a deal with God" to exchange places. The music video features Bush performing an interpretive dance. Bush debuted "Running Up That Hill" in a performance on the BBC One chat show Wogan. On its first release, it reached number three on the UK singles chart, Bush's highest position since her number-one single "Wuthering Heights" in 1978, and number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was named among the year's best tracks by Melody Maker and NME and was nominated for British Single of the Year at the 1986 Brit Awards. In 2021, Rolling Stone included it at number 60 in its 2021 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". "Running Up That Hill" has been covered by acts including Placebo, Within Temptation, St Vincent, Chromatics and Meg Myers. A remix used in the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony reached number six. In 2022, after it was featured in the Netflix series Stranger Things, "Running Up That Hill" became popular with Generation Z. It reached number one in eight countries, including the UK, and number three on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2023, it reached a billion streams on Spotify.

It doesn't hurt me
Do you want to feel how it feels?
Do you want to know, know that it doesn't hurt me?
Do you want to hear about the deal that I'm making?
You, it's you and me

And if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get him to swap our places
Be running up that road
Be running up that hill
Be running up that building
See if I only could, oh

You don't want to hurt me
But see how deep the bullet lies
Unaware I'm tearing you asunder
Ooh, there is thunder in our hearts

Is there so much hate for the ones we love?
Tell me, we both matter, don't we?
You, it's you and me
It's you and me, won't be unhappy

And if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get him to swap our places
Be running up that road
Be running up that hill
Be running up that building
Say, if I only could, oh

You
It's you and me
It's you and me, won't be unhappy

Oh come on, baby
Oh come on, darling
Let me steal this moment from you now
Oh come on, angel
Come on, come on, darling
Let's exchange the experience, oh

And if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get him to swap our places
I'd be running up that road
Be running up that hill
With no problems

Said, if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get him to swap our places
I'd be running up that road
Be running up that hill
With no problems

So if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get him to swap our places
I'd be running up that road
Be running up that hill
With no problems

Said, if I only could
I'd be running up that hill
With no problems

(If I only could, I'd be running up that hill)
(If I only could, I'd be running up that hill)

Chart History (42 weeks)

Week	Chart Date	Position	Points
1	Sep 7, 1985	95	31
2	Sep 14, 1985	90	36
3	Sep 21, 1985	82	44
4	Sep 28, 1985	72	54
5	Oct 5, 1985	70	56
6	Oct 12, 1985	63	63
7	Oct 19, 1985	57	69
8	Oct 26, 1985	47	79
9	Nov 2, 1985	42	84
10	Nov 9, 1985	39	87
11	Nov 16, 1985	35	91
12	Nov 23, 1985	31	95
13	Nov 30, 1985	30	96
14	Dec 7, 1985	43	83
15	Dec 14, 1985	58	68
16	Dec 21, 1985	68	58
17	Dec 28, 1985	75	51
18	Jan 4, 1986	75	51
19	Jan 11, 1986	91	35
20	Jan 18, 1986	99	27

Weeks 1–20 of 42

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