Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) | REVIEW 

When this came out in '85 I thought it was the coolest song out there, there was else nothing like it, especially in the 80's. Took her 37 years to finally get paid and it was long overdue. Timeless.

The fact this woman wrote, co produced and sang her music from a teenager.

To write a song about a relationship slowly disintegrating and saying to her partner, 'It's you and me', there are two of us. Her solution is to make a deal with God to swap places so each of them can realise how the other person feels....with the view to mending the relationship. Such deep yet also sad lyrics. The accompanying video and dancing, choreographed by Kate, shows why we admire her as a performer because of her versatility. Although it got much airplay because of 'Stranger Things', I like to remember back in the 1980's when this was first released and being completely mesmerised. 'Cloudbusting', from the same album, is also worth a listen because it is loosely based on a real person and the accompanying video, with a guest appearance of Donald Sutherland, makes it a magical song. Keep exploring Kate Bush guys.

The video Kate Bush does all the Dancing she's Beautiful and very talented ❤️

The first song I ever heard from her is "Wuthering Heights" back in the 80s. Her voice is just unreal, almost ethereal.

This ENTIRE album is genius! From frtont to back it's excellent. She wrote and produced it all herself and played most of the insturments. Takes you on a journey.

Interesting that you didn’t choose Kate’s first hit, Wuthering Heights. It’s based on the book of the same name, and tells the tale of Cathy’s ghost haunting her lover, Heathcliff. Goes well with the Halloween theme...

Kate is a bona fide genius one of her early hits a song called The Man with the child in his eyes, is a thing of beauty . She wrote it at the age of 13, give that a listen guys and marvel at how someone so young could compose something so profound

Not just huge in the UK but all through Europe, Australia and New Zealand. I’ve been listening to her since I was 9 when her first single ‘Wuthering Heights’ came out. So many great songs. ‘This Woman’s Work’ ‘Wow’ ‘The man with a child in his eyes’ ‘Hounds of love’’Breathing’ ‘The Dreaming’ ‘Cloudbusting’ ‘Babooshka’ so many greats I wouldn’t even know where to start. So creative, so theatrical.

She does a great duet with Peter Gabriel called “Don’t Give Up”

"Is there so much hate for the ones we love?" That is just such a thought provoking line. Kate's beyond human!

I loved Kate Bush since I was in high school in the early eighties. Class of 84 😊

I still remember working in a record store in Vienna back then when i listened to the whole album the very first time and my jaw dropped - a masterpiece ;)

Kate is a true one of a kind!

She also did this song during the London Olympic Games opening ceremony. Some day please do her "Woman's work". Another great song

The video really shows off her dance & mine skills , vocals piano guitar drums & Synthesizers ,ahead of its time

She's been my all time favorite artist for 20 years now. Very special and unique.

Oddly enough, Kate’s first thought when this song began was the old saying “make a deal with the devil”, and she thought- wouldn’t it be more interesting to make a deal with God? That’s actually the true title “Deal With God”, but the record label thought it was too controversial. Kate also created the song in a studio built in her home with a synthesizer that was state of the art in 1985. She is such an absolute genius. This song changed how I listened to music in high school- it really changed me. Love, love, love Kate Bush.

While most of the attention has been given to "Running Up That Hill" on this album (deservedly so), the blow-your-mind masterpiece on Hounds of Love is the whole of side 2. It is a seven-song conceptual suite collectively called "The Ninth Wave," which tells the story of a woman shipwrecked at sea, floating alone at night and struggling to survive as she slips in and out of consciousness. It is a brilliant piece of prog music unlike anything you've heard before, and aptly displays the musical and lyrical genius of Kate Bush.

Max's face as she's running for her life gave life to this song. (again)

Listen to her Cloud Busting and her duet with Peter Gabriel Dont Give Up.

On"Stranger things-" it was one of the perfect songs for this series.

I remember hearing this for the first time when it broke into the US Top 40 (back in the Casey Kasem countdown days), I liked it so much I bought the whole album. Loved her duet with Peter Gabriel the following year “Don’t Give Up”, and “This Women’s Work” a few years later.

I grew up with Kate Bush's music (born 79). Big fan. I absolutely love Placebo's cover, well worth a listen.

We knew in our generation what this song meant!!!!! lol We knew!!! But what we didn't know is that your generation would enjoy this song and Kate Bush!!!! That was a SURPRISE!!!!

Just a reminder of her age when she wrote this. The sophistication is crazy for someone so young. And her vocals!!! No auto tune.

If you want haunting; then there's no better song than Wuthering Heights. Based on the book; the song is sung from Catherine's point of view. But Catherine is dead at this point; so we are hearing her ghost calling out to her lover. Now that's a very haunting song

This song was pretty succesful in Europe during the mid 80s - especially in the clubs. Kate was one of a few 80s artists that used the first digital sampler/synth in her songs - the Fairlight CMI - very expensive equipment those days.

Kate's voice is ethereal and haunting (in a good way 🙂 ) ... You might like another song featuring Kate, a duet with Peter Gabriel from 1986 called "Don't Give Up." It's sad but also uplifting. I recommend the official music video, a simple set-up in which Peter and Kate hug each other/cling to each other as the camera rotates slowly in circles around them. Very moving.

I knew all about Kate Bush from the start, in 1978, I was 15, and she seems the most creative artist in music of all time since the 50ties

I remember when this song came out it was great 👍

High school nostalgia time for me.

Thank you for giving Kate some love!

'The ninth wave' on side 2 of 'Hounds of love' is incredible!

Enjoy your comments. Track down the only live performance of this performed with David Gilmore. Awesome.

I remember first hearing this while I was playing the Gauntlet arcade machine at Kent State. Hell of a song.

I remember seeing her on TOTPs back in the day and was immediately impressed! Totes fab!

I listened to this album as a 19-year old in '85 and LOVED it back then!! This is one of those tunes I never got tired of. Give "Cloudbusting" a listen next... but the muted, mystical "Under Ice" might be the best suited for Halloween. Check it out!

She was HUGE in South Africa too! A FAVOURITE of mine since I was a little girl…”Wuthering Heights” & “The Man with a Child in his Eyes” & “Babooshka” were my favourites to start…she’s so beautiful & talented! ❤

Miss your reactions to 60’s & 70’s songs

Guys I don't know why you didn't have the original video playing to this. It's spectacular in it's own right. Great song. I remember when it was first released in 85.

Kate Bush is a British national treasure. And she did most of her stellar work as a teenager! Brilliant.

So I heard this song when I was a teenager and it hit home immediately in terms of the melancholia and the heavy driving drumline baseline and Kate's voice was transcendent. The line that always got me was about making a deal with God and swapping places to really really see what was being felt. The song never felt evil to me even when it was used in Stranger Things. The loss and the sacrifice is always what comes through for me. I'm really glad you guys love the song. Edited because the degradation of Voice to Text continues and it doesn't know how to capitalize anymore and cuts off ends.

So glad you finally got to this one.

I owned the album when it came out. Brings back so many memories to a certain time 😁

Very glad that Kate finally did it and crossed the Atlantic!👍She is a unique artist and has tried to make it over there ..she did it,she deserved it absolutely..

Always loved her voice...Highly talented. I had her poster in my bedroom as a teen. They used this song at the 2012 London Olympics.

Drummer for this track was Stewart Elliott. The synth sounds came from a Fairlight synthesizer. "The lyrics imagine a scenario in which a man and a woman make "a deal with God" to exchange places with each other. Bush wrote and produced "Running Up That Hill" using a Fairlight CMI synthesiser and a LinnDrum drum machine. She retained all copyright to the composition."

Yes, Kate was a genius. She was actually huge globally, not just in the UK. It was really just America where she didn’t fully take off, for a number of reasons really - never toured there, lack of promotion from her American distributor for her early albums, and no clear fit for Kate’s style of music on America’s format driven radio back then. She did however have a relatively small cult following in America, which was due almost entirely.y to college radio. No, David Gilmour was not playing on that track. Alan Murphy was the guitarist.

I was 19 when this came out. Growing up in London we had so many bands and musicians close by. But Kate Bush was different from all the others. She was unique. When this song came out, I bought the vinyl single and I played it to death. It’s a song i go back to constantly over the years. I’m 57 now and still listen to Kate regularly. She is a family favourite 💗

Love it. It reminds me of some dream world. Perfect for Sci-fi or fantasy films.

Great reaction guys. Kate Bush is briljant storyteller. All her songs is a story and/or has deeper meaning. Her song Hammer Horror would fit perfectly in your Halloween theme. Hope to see more Kate Bush songs on yoyr channel.

I am from Sweden and I remember when this song came out. I always saw it as a song were he questioned her for not being so strong even if she does everything she can. So if they swop, she can do all that he can. Understanding the difference.

I so appreciate your effort to dive into the depths of Kate's creativity, art and skills as a singer, composer, lyricist, producer. Kate, early in her career at 19, 20 years old, made sure she stayed in control over her work. She quickly picked up the influence of the 'men in power' and knew that was not the way to go. She and her relatives fulfilled all aspects needed to stay in control. This album was her major commercial success. Although other albums deserved the honour as well. Never For Ever (1980) was her third album and the first where Kate was co-producer. It also was her last. She produced her fourth album (The Dreaming, 1982) on her own and that one was really something else. Nothing like it existed before or after. The same goes for each following album. No song is alike. She always chose a different angle for each album. Many people had a hard time understanding where she was coming from, but at the same time this made her even more interesting as an artist. Last year was really good to her, only by the influence of Stranger Things regarding the reception this track got, by this series. Good for Kate (and her bank account).

If you are interested in another fantastic TV/music combo, Stevie Nicks doing Seven Wonders for American Horror Story: Coven is the best storyline combination in my opinion.

Kate Bush - *This Womans Work* amazing song

Time for Al Stewart!,😂😂😂

Such an amazing artist that I'm constantly stunned wasn't as big in the US. Makes me glad to be European 😄 It's great that more people were introduced to her through Stranger Things and she's finally getting the recognition she deserves across the pond. Other favourites are Wuthering Heights, Hounds of Love, and The Sensual World.

Dave only played guitar on the live version. He played guitar on "Rockets Tail" and "Love and Anger" off "The Sensual World" 1989. Plus backing vocals on "Pull Out The Pin" 1982. A song about a Viet Cong fighter in the Vietnam war, stalking an American soldier.

If you want to have your musical minds truly blown, listen to The Ninth Wave - side 2 of this album. It is a suite and should be listened to as a whole. Don't forget she is the producer.

Kate Bush is amazing. I loved the Hounds Of Love record and I really loved when this song went back to number 1 in the charts again after Stranger Things. It was so refreshing to see so many new people introduced to her music.

The video is as cool as the song! LOVE Kate Bush! I hope you do more!

My brothers brought home a lot of music and one of them got this back when it came out originally. You mentioned Halloween. Right on this album, "waking the witch". Edit: if you're collecting Halloween songs, it might be a little off the beaten path, but try Gretchen Parloto, "juju". She's a jazz artist, so not top 40 stuff, but it has an eeriness to it.

If you really want a Kate Bush Hallowe’en track,there are so many, but “Get out of my House” the last track on her album The Dreaming, is inspired by “The Shining”!

GREAT REACTION guys!!! Loved it.❤ Glad you all appreciate the amazing talent, creativity and originality of the superb Kate Bush! Please explore her more, you wont be disappointed. "CloudBusting" is a brillant masterpiece - you must watch the video though too! 🤩😍❤

I was 30 years old in 1985. I’d been a fan (Her songs a big hit in the clubs here in the US) of Kate Bush since 1978. When this album was released in 1985 I played it so many times the needle ground through the vinyl.

Kate Bush composed/arranged/produced/sung and did the layering of crazy backing vocals etc. The beat was originally done by the Bass player Del Palmer programmed on a Linn-Drum machine. Alan Murphy was the guitarist on this track not Dave Gilmour (he does play on a couple of KB tracks) On any Kate Bush track it is usually Kate herself playing keyboards synth or piano. The full cast here are Kate Bush: Fairlight synth, vocals Drums: Stuart Elliot Del Palmer: Bass (original Linn-Drum programming) Alan Murphy: Guitar Paddy Bush: Balalaika

The one live version kicks ass, Gilmour replaces the synth parts with his lead, the bass and drums are way more punchy.

Kate has written many great songs - Wuthering Heights, This Womans' Work, The Man with the Child in his Eyes and loads more

I was intrigued by her track "Hello Earth" when it was used in the Miami Vice episode "Bushido".

She is certainly one artist you should play the video for!

Dudes, love you guys, always have always will...especially since the connection with Al Stewart! But, anyway, yeah, we are all just really, walking dichotomies, and yes I agree! EPIC!! and yeah, as I watch the review further, hell yeah! You guys are wise beyond your years, as I often find with reactors! For Halloween vibes as I have and always will suggest, it's Aerosmith, Seasons of Wither, unplugged!

There's a live performance. On youtube where David plays the synthesizer run on his guitar

Such a great song.

Actually; she has quite the following in the US. 80s rock legend Pat Benatar was a big. On ĥer second studio album; Pat performed Wuthering Heights, a song that was very divisive with Kate's fans. In the song All Fired Up; off net 8th album, there's a line that goes "Gonna feel the Kick Inside". This is a reference to Kate's first album The Kick Inside. BTW; I'm one of those fans

Kate was discovered and mentored by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd fame. She’s likely one of the most brilliant artists ever.

This Woman’s Work is another song of hers you would have probably heard before but as a cover by Maxwell.

She’s influenced a lot of musicians and she definitely has a devoted fan base on this side of the pond as well. She definitely has her own sound and style that’s quite unique and she’s also a very prolific artist with a large discography that is well worth exploring.

Do yourselves a favour and listen to the album (Hounds of Love) with headphones… especially The Ninth Wave. Kate’s a genius. Her songwriting, production, voice and story telling hit me emotionally.

Before Stranger Things, The Handmaid's Tale featured her song "Cloudbusting". Fantastic song!!!

Kate is a deep deep well. Loads of great hits - and great album tracks too. Her lyrics are always intriguing - this one I take to be woman who - during sex - says to her partner "If I could I'd swap our places so that you know how it feels to me and I know how it feels to you!" Some of the lyrics definitely suggest that. This album and her debut "The Kick Inside" are both worth full album reviews. My favourite of her songs her astonishing early track "The Man With the Child in His Eyes" which she wrote as a fifteen-year-old. A good Hallowe'en track from her would be "Hammer Horror" or "Waking the Witch".

Guys..Keep your headphones on, close your eyes and listen to the entire album... But be careful! It's a hard drug.😉

Gotta watch Stranger Things if you haven’t. The series brought this song back to number 1 during season 4.

I believe that she is in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. She had a lot of songs from the 70s/80s. She played on MTV and radio a lot in the 80s in the USA.

Thank You guys so much. So glad you finally got round to Kate Bush. She is totally Amazing. Please, please explore more of her material. Try 'Breathing' or 'Night Of The Swallow', in fact there is so much brilliant stuff. She is a total legend. Cheers....

Kate Bush is my favorite artist.

Brings back memories off 1985. One off the best music years ever.

Great as this song is, it's barely half way up my list of favourites from the album, which really needs to be heard in it's entirety - particularly side two.

I pray you and your family find happiness here in the US. We need all the faith, prayers and people willing to help stand up for God's Word to be ruling our misguided country. Be safe and happy travels.

Kate's previous worldwide smash hit was her debut single "Wuthering Heights" (based on the novel of same name by Emily Bronte) unlike anything like it in the charts at the time back in 1978. Since she's singing a Cathy who is at this point a ghost, very suitable for this time of year. Interesting fact: Kate Bush and Emily Bronte share the same Birthday.

This woman was just a genre of our own. mind when we privileged to be born when she was around.

The drums remind me of galloping.. this is an 80’s song.

The amazing power of 80s music

You guys ROCK! Here’s a request you’ve probably never gotten before…Squonk by Genesis

Kate is iconic. Good seeing you guys again~ 😊❤👍

Thanks, guys. Thanks, “Stranger Things”, for introducing the song to the younger generations.That said, in keeping with your Halloween theme, I wish that you had chosen Kate’s “Experiment IV” (with its creepy video). ✌🏽

The label forced her to rename the song out of concern with a potential backlash in the US. She managed to extract a compromise and keep the original title in parentheses. This album was the first she recorded in her own fully equipped recording studio, and what is special about it is it relies heavily on the Fairlight CMI, the first commercially available sampler. Kate was one of the first (and few) who got one of those, after encountering one when collaborating with Peter Gabriel. It’s evident on this track, with its programmed backing track, and the chilly 80s sampler timbre. Through all the accolades she has received for her songwriting, singing and musicianship, people often overlook the fact that she produced these albums herself. Which was not only unheard of for a female artist back then, but she crushed it, every time.

LOVED this song since I was around 16 in 1985.

I also was going to mention the video which has Kate dancing. She’s great 👍🏽!!

Hi guys! What a great pick! Kate Bush is amazing and this song is TOTAL FIRE! 🔥🔥🔥