Vocal Coach Reacts to Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill (Stranger Things) 

Hi I am 53 and this track came out when I was 16. Kate Bush is OG English art school performance music. Her style and crafting of both vocals and visual statements was groundbreaking. She was one of the first people to compose using the Fairlight CMI synth, sampler workstation. As I understand she used Peter Gabriel’s (Genesis) I think they cost in the 10s of thousands when first released and very few were available. Much of the layering and composition probably more visible on other tracks on the ‘Hounds if Love’ album highlight the style. Coupled with her extraordinary vocal technique she has created a brilliant catalog that has stood the test of time. I will stop stanning now.

Kate Bush fan here! 05:20 This song is actually about being in a relationship and willing to put yourself in the other person's shoes to try and understand things from _their_ perspective. In order to achieve that, she would have to make a deal not with the Devil, but with God, and get Him to swap their [lovers'] places, so they could run up each other's hills, feel how it feels, exchange the experience, etc etc.

Stranger Things' music team needs more recognition. All of the song they used since the beginning of the show and in their trailers are just absolutely masterpieces!!🦋🖤

This was her biggest radio hit in North America. I love everything Kate Bush does, Cloudbusting and Wuthering Heights are amazing.

Yeah kate bush was one of the og "weird" and experimental artists her whole catalogue is phenomenal

This scene was really one of the best in the show with the music in the background and Max’s montage of memories.

I'm getting used to getting old and the fact that not everyone lived through the 80s but this song has multiple major cover versions and it blows my mind that so many people had never heard it before it appeared on Stranger Things.

This song has finally gotten the attention it deserves since it's release ages ago. So addictive

Some perspective: When this song was released, Kate was 27 and just released her 5th album, The Hounds of Love, which is arguably among the top musical recordings of all time (in my opinion). She not only sang almost all of the vocal parts and played all of the keyboards, she also wrote, arranged and produced it by herself in her own recording studio. Again, she was only 27. And it was 1985, a time when no other female recording artists exerted this level of artistic autonomy. I remember many a night as a teenager listening to "The Ninth Wave" suite with headphones thinking, what insane genius came up with this stuff?

This song is actually number one and I think it was for at least a couple weeks, can you imagine what Kate Bush is feeling right now? She's got to be so proud of her music

This season really making me revisit the magic of Kate Bush. This show is so good! Song is iconic and hits very well

"Even weird for the 80s". Yup. The best kinda weird ever! Grew up listening to Kate Bush. Her voice is like no other.

I wonder what Tristan would think of Wuthering Heights or the really wild Kate Bush songs like Babushka 😂. Kate Bush is an icon in the UK, I guess she wasn't as idolised in the US in the 70s, 80s, 90s (and to this day in the UK). The song is about a man and a woman in a relationship and if they could swap places and see each other's point of view as man and woman in this relationship, they might be able to save the relationship.

The lyrics to this song are real sad and it goes hand I hand to how Max is mourning the loss of her brother Billy. She's also dealing with depression and survivors guilt.

The song is about wishing god could swap the places of a husband and wife that love each other so that they could fully understand each other’s perspective and where they are coming from.

Kate Bush is such a legend ❤️ Fun fact; AURORA named Kate Bush to be one of her inspirations. I think that here and there you do hear it in AURORA her songs/productions and in her singing as well. I looooove the bombastic, melancholic, cinematic, mellow, dreamy, raw and imperfect kind of pop music. There’s a perfect balance between the rhythm, the percussive elements and longer, orchestral, ‘floaty’ soundscape-ish sounds. Those songs feel like watching a movie, a whole experience in and of itself.

Kate Bush was THE popular weirdo female pop artist of the late 20th century, though her being so artsy and weird was a detriment to her success in the US, she was and still is REVERED over here in the U.K. where she’s from but she’s gained quite a big cult fan base all over the world even back in the 70’s that’s only grown since

I'm 27 and always astounded when people haven't heard of Kate Bush! Check out Wuthering Heights it's iconic. Kate Miller-Heidke has similar vibes, check out her eurovision performance

The song is about a question lovers have been asking for hundreds of thousands of years. "What does it feel like to be you?" It's the album opener for Hounds of Love, her 5th album, which knocked Madonna from number 1 on the British charts. . The album was heard on university radio stations in the US and the hipper commercial rock stations , I was lucky to have two nearby so I certainly heard it. Kate was all over MTV with her dance videos. That is her dancing btw. She was the first British female artist to hit number 1 on the UK charts with her first single that she wrote. She was 19 when she did that. She would have been a much bigger star than she became but for two characteristics. She's a perfectionist who could go years between albums and she hated touring. There was one world tour in 1979 and nothing else live till a legendary concert residency in London in 2014. I'm using past tense because I assume at this point she's effectively retired.

If you haven't heard of Kate Bush before, you must react to Wuthering Heights, that song came out on the late 70's and know one knew what to make of it because it was so different.

That guy playing the ‘ headless guitar ‘ is the amazing David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. He discovered Kate bush in the 70s as a teenager and produced 2 tracks on her debut album. You should react to some of his live stuff his guitar solos are god like

Being the artist she is, Kate is hopefully impressed with how her song was used in such a powerful scene.

Kate's mother was an Irish folk singer (amateur) and she grew up around that music. You hear the influence in her phrasing and inflection.

Fun fact - running up that hill has now officially reached number 1 on the UK charts this week : )

And now an entire generation, a new generation of fans will be fans of Kate Bush

My father had such a crush on her, as a young lad that he fell in love with my mother because she was similar to her. We had posters of her in the house, as both my parents were her fans and I grew up thinking some of them were pics of my mother.

Kate Bush was never on regular American radio, just British. Only College stations and new wave stations played her stuff. I was 22 in 1985 and had all of her albums. I felt special!

She is almost revered in the UK - ( also every school boy's dream , when she was younger ) - where she is akin to a national treasure . But not so in America , where I think most people thought she was just plain crazy . ( Running Up That Hill ' was her only charting single ) . Is that a knock on America , YES it is . I have loved Kate Bush and her very creative music since day one . Maybe though the series , 'Stranger Things ' her music will have a renaissance. Similar to the way Nick Drake's music became popular decades after his death because his song 'Pink Moon ' was used on a German Volkswagen commercial , now you will find a bin for Nick in every vinyl music store .

I'm glad you found Kate Bush - she really is the definition of a true artist. Her music is artwork and completely original to her. She is a renowned perfectionist both in the studio and creatively when working on her videos. As with any true artist, it can be argued what produced her work came from outside of her direct awareness and worked through her, hence why her music transcends generations and resonates with the collective human condition- its probably one of the reasons why she stopped producing and performing to an extent - she gifted the world with her full creativity and knew when she had finished with what she wanted to say.

I think she was pretty unique back in the day too! I love her technique tho!! Cool video as always big T

it´s not weird things with the voice, it´s emotions and vocal stylism

So I never knew that Placebo actually covered this, and it wasn't their own song! I love the Placebo version. This is wild that it came it out in the 80s...

Stranger Things was thought and written out so well, I loved the way they connected the song into Max’s feelings. It makes the song have such a deep emotion attached to it. Love this song!🔥

I first heard this song as a cover by Placebo. It was featured in a scene from Season 2 of the tv show Bones. That version is the one I’m familiar with & I get goosebumps every time I hear it.

She was always very experimental and out there even for the 80s. Pat Benatar did a cover of one of Kate Bush’s earlier efforts called ‘Wuthering Heights.’ You might enjoy a compare and contrast of those two. It really showcases the distinction between what was happening musically in Britain vs. the US, and how they culminated in the ‘New Wave’ sound of the early 80s that merged the two.

I fell in love with this song a few years ago when Meg Meyers did a cover of it (she does it justice!). It was consistently played on Alternative radio. I remember being in the car and, as soon as I safely could, looking it up and listening to the original by Kate Bush.

I'm 31 and I've literally never been more excited about a TV show and or theme song to the show in my entire life

Funnily enough, I actually first learned about this song way back in the mid-2000s thanks to BONES, the old procedural crime drama. A cover of this by Placebo was used in an incredibly important and emotional scene in the series. So happy to see the original making a resurgence and being introduced to a whole new generation

I find that with this 'hole' way of singing, which Tristan mentioned, she actually mimics 'running up a hill'. As if almost it takes more effort to let some words out and other words more easily. This creates an effect as if she is struggling whilst singing. Therefor she also can't stay in one vowel or get really loud, because of this struggle. Which makes it feel like she is actually running up a hill while singing. Amazing song

Kate is one of the most influential female artists, that doesn't get enough credit ❤ Don't ask me why The States essentially slept on her but especially here in the UK she is very loved, which is why this song is featured in the 2012 Olympics (as well as her being British) She's an artist that is inspired by so much of the arts, she also really isn't in the limelight because of her own reasons and still manages to keep inspiring new generations to her music. I wasn't even born when this song came out (I was born 10 years later) but I have listened to Kate's music for at least half my life and everytime I hear THIS song inn particular I always try and do my own version of the contemporary dancing in the music video 😂 She rarely gives permission for Film and Television to use her music so her giving Stranger Things the rights, tells you how much she must love Stranger Things. I would recommend the whole of Hounds of Love album but literally Kate has a whole discography that could have something for everyone. When people think of a "weird" artist they think of Kate but that is the charming thing about her!

A few Kate Bush tracks that really show off her amazing voice: "Wuthering Heights" (her breakout hit-- she was still a teenager) "Breathing" "Night of the Swallow" "Get Out Of My House" "And Dream of Sheep" She's truly a unique talent, and very influential. Tori Amos, Bjork, Imogen Heap, and heaps more all sing her praises (and sometimes her phrases).

To really hear her unique vocal technique you need to listen to “This Woman’s Work” - she is insane in a good way.

I hope this makes you interested in older music. I'm shocked you've never heard of Kate Bush (YES IT WAS PLAYED ON THE RADIO AND MTV) and can't believe you didn't know that's Dave Gilmour on guitar with her live. and if you don't know who he is, please look it up. you'll want to know. you will be glad you know.

_Wuthering Heights_ and _This Woman's Work_ are absolute classics with Kate Bush. Played on the Swedish radio now and then during the 80s/90s.

It's great seeing young people discovering the great singers from back in the day but also funny when we know how big and massive this song was at the time and what a huge artist Kate Bush is. Can't wait to see what you make of Wuthering Heights if you think this was strange. lol Also This Woman's Work is a classic and would be surprised if you never heard it.

I only found her 15 or so years ago, and she immediately became my favorite artist and that has yet to change since. I am so overjoyed at this resurgence in her music, she is so extremely talented and I know how important her music became for me. Music is my life though, I constantly have things playing. :)

There is a duet by Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel titled Don't Give Up. This was a popular song and played on the radio. This is a GenX song. Not a boomer song. Us GenX are always overlooked. This is our music from our childhood.

This had me in tears, I love you! 😂😍❤

I remember it being a popular song with the goths and alternative dance groups.

One of my all time favourite songs, weird to think you haven’t known her until now. I think you summarised how a lot of current music is different from more real sounding older music, although I hadn’t thought about it until now.

I would like to see Tristan’s reaction to Placebo’s version of this song. I’m in love with that version as well.

Gen Z discovering Kate Bush because of Stranger Things reminds me of Millennials discovering Kate Bush because of The OC

I love Kate so much, she was such a pioneer. I'm a gen z but have been a fan for three years now! I'm so glad she's getting more fans my age! You should react to the entire live performance, it's amazing. Also the one played at the olympics was a new version she recorded, worth a listen or reaction video even to analyse how her voice has aged, it's still stunning but different. If you think she's doing interesting stuff with her voice now...just wait until you hear more of her songs, especially the stuff from The Dreaming...you wouldn't believe your ears and I'd literally do anything to see your reaction to that. But your next reaction should be Wuthering Heights because she sings so incredibly high and I think you will be impressed. She's such a legend.

Kate has made a few songs that are masterpieces, this song, and "this woman's work" being some of the best

Yes. You heard the range, beauty and power of the artists voice. No distortion or auto tune. An artist sounded the same live as they did in studio.

Wuthering Heights has been one of my all time fav Kate Bush songs since my dad introduced it to me when I was 8 (back in 1988). This is a close 2nd after the Max scene 😍

This is the 1st song I ever heard from her. Back in the 80's my radio station had a show called " For Headphones Only" The played this one late night and I was hooked. I can rec "Army Dreamers" and "Experiment IV". Haunting and magic.

Im beyond happy youre reviewing this song. My heart

This song absolutely was played on the radio back then. Im 51 and I remember both this song and Cloudbusting (another song off the same album) being played. I'm in the Detroit area, so maybe not as big of a market for new music as LA or NYC, but bigger than some others. And I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm pretty sure I still have a cassette somewhere where I recorded it off the radio, as you did.

I’m surprised people found this song from Stranger Things for the first time. I found this song from the series Pose. I did get really emotional when I heard it on Stranger Things because it’s a very good song.

You should totally listen to wuthering heights then, she does a lot of interesting acrobatics with her voice there

Kate Bush is AMAZING!!! You should definitely listen to "This Woman's Work."

I'm 27 years old and I've been a fan of Kate Bush for years and it still amazes me that a lot of people don't know who she is!

Loved watching this! I was in elementary school when it came out and it’s been a favorite since-so glad it’s getting noticed by your generation!

Some of us remember this song from when it came out. I'm glad you (and Stranger Things I guess) are introducing younger audiences to this amazing song!

‘What are they doing? I guess it’s dancing’ oh my sweet summer child, you need to watch some more KB. Weird dancing is kind of her thing. The Wuthering Heights dance is epic.

Loved this song since I was a teenager and I almost screamed when I heard it pop up in ST4. Also this music video is what made me fall in love with modern and interpretive dance.

I actually just finished the last season a few hours ago and was amazed by the scene. Love the vids!

After watching the scene with Max, I absolutely love this song. I always feel more throat tighten like I’m about to cry. Seeing Max fight for her life with this as the soundtrack is so impacting because I think about how she has gone through so much. She’s depressed and doesn’t know how to find it, but her friends helped her found her way. So beautiful.

tristan im shocked you've never listened to kate bush before. she is a genius and I'm so glad people are still so appreciative of her

Can't believe this song is so big now. I remember listening to Kate when in was I kid. My mom had this on vinyl and I remember it being amazing as a child. Glad she is finally getting the recognition she deserves

Kate Bush was a main feature on the radio all through the 80s in Australia. That song was on the charts her as was Wuthering Heights, rubber band girl, and many others, and her duet with Peter Gabriel, Don’t Give Up you probably would really appreciate because of the singing, but also because of the time signature.

so iconic!!! it's amazing that the show brought this back!! loved your sweeny todd reaction please could you check out "epiphany" johnny really kills it!! and are you continuing adeles one night only?? LOVE YOUR CHANNEL

I just discovered that Kate wrote This Woman's Work.Sad that I am just now hearing her rendition,Hauntingly beautiful!! Thanks for bring the attention! xx

I really thought this was a placebo song. I never heard of Kate bush. It’s awesome. But I see what you mean - it sounds so real, makes me think we don’t really get raw vocals these days, ever.

I've been obsessed with this song forever so it's good to see it getting some love after being used in that absolutely epic scene. I also really like the cover by Placebo.

The live version "headless guitar" was played by David Gilmour (Pink Floyd).

i’ve been waiting for you to react to this

After seeing that episode I've almost cried every time I've listened to the song

She was unique, she was on the radio all the time in the 80s. It was David Gillmore from pink Floyd the guy playing that headless guitar in the last clip, he gave her her first break.

I’m 56 and from Southern California. It was played on KROQ which, at the time, was not bought out and they played weird stuff. She was hugely popular in other countries but her sound wasn’t what was happening at that time so a few of us became Obsessed with her but most people in the US didn’t know who she was even then. There are some cool mini documentaries that talk about just how innovative her music and (not yet named lyrical) dance was and talk about how she and Peter Gabriel were doing things with sound that no one was doing. I think about this music like I think about what happened when someone mixed Suzanne Vegas song and a whole new type of music was launched. The album is called hounds of love so picking up on demonic vocals was right on point and a perfect pick for max running for her life from mind torture. Listen to withering heights. There are so many versions and a few are totally creepy. Also army dreamers. Babushka…nothing about her music was ever normal

She is amazing. ‘This Woman’s Work’ famously covered by Maxwell and ‘Cloudbusting’ are definitely worth a visit.

Tristan would you do some reviews of 80’s music like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, etc. Would love to hear your thoughts on their vocal techniques and styles.

All the music in this season of Stranger Things is awesome! They did a great job! Love this song in particular 💜

THIS SONG IS LITERALLY PHENOMENAL AND SOOO CATCHY ❤️❤️🥰🥰

It’s so weird seeing this song on Stranger Things and getting super popular cause I started listening to it just last year. Dated a guy who basically has an 80s-90s alt rock/indie (like The Smiths or Muse but also Bjork and Kate Bush) music thing

You should listen to her 2012 re-record or the 2014 live performance of the song. She performed it a half step lower than she originally did and it's incredible to hear how her voice hasn't changed too much.

this song has been in my playlist since 1999, cassette tapes, vinyls, taped off the radio, now streamed, everything about this song is kinda spiritual, it's very personal in the struggle sorta way. i connected with it and to this day, it's so unique and dark and spirtual, to this day, sorry for ranting, im happy you did this on her

Placebo's cover of this song is awsome one of my Favs

Kate Bush stood out from the crowd, because of her and made immediate impact with Wuthering Heights her debut single in 1978, which got to #1 in the UK, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal and Australia, it also charted highly in other countries but not America. Kate admitted that she pushed her voice to get an greater range than her usual, which was already impressive, because it fitted with the subject matter of the song. BTW Kate was 19 when her debut single and album "The Kick Inside" she had been writing songs from about 11. Kate is a singer/song writer (she writes all her own songs), musician, dancer (she was the dancer in the music video), producer (co-produced her 3rd album "Never For Ever", then from her fourth album "The Dreaming" onwards, she has produced all her albums) and video director. If you want to sample her early work then I suggest the following single releases: Wuthering Heights, The Man with the Child in His Eyes, Hammer Horror and Wow. Non single track Coffee Homeground For her third album the song arrangements are distinctly different from those on the first two albums so: Babooshka, Army Dreamers, Breathing - as non single track is The Wedding List The fourth album "The Dreaming" is the 1st album that she produced herself, there's increasing use of the Fairlight CMI was used in parts in the previous album, Katw had been introduced to the Fairlight when she worked with Peter Gabriel on two songs on his PG3/Melt/Melted Face cover album. Anyway "The Dreaming" is an experimental "out there" album and EMI wasn't happy when she presented to them as there weren't any "commercial" tracks in the album at all, however some singles were released from it: Sat In Your Lap (released a year before the album), Suspended In Gaffa, The Dreaming and There Goes a Tenner Kate's fifth album "Hounds Of Love" from which Running Up That Hill comes is split in half, the "a-side" contains all the commercial songs, the b-side entitled "The Ninth Wave" and starting with "And Dream Of Sheep" is a suite of songs which form a concept album, some tracks on that side are creepy/scary. In addition to Running Up That Hill the following single releases are recommended: Hounds Of Love, Cloudbusting and The Big Sky. At this point there are five studio albums left plus duet with Peter Gabriel, commissions for films and cover versions of Elton John hits in order to celebrate his music. So there's plenty of material left, but I'm going to stop there because you have to dive into. Kate does exhibit one characteristic when she's performing a song, but I won't mention it until you have reacted to a few songs. I hope that you have fun listening to more of Kate's music.

Very interesting, I never fully noticed all these little details, but you pointed them put in great detail.

Love this!! You should absolutely do more Kate Bush - she does some insane stuff with her voice (I'd recommend wuthering heights (this one is one vocal take start to finish) , babooshka and get out of my house) she is an insane artistic genius

Man, I hear someone's never heard of Kate Bush & I'm reminded what a music nerd bubble I'm in sometimes lmao. Anyway if you wanna check out more, I'd highly recommend "Wuthering Heights" next, if nothing else because it's so damn WEIRD vocally for a pop hit (yes, even more so than "Running Up That Hill"). Especially for 1978, when it became her surprise breakthrough hit in the UK. Also it's amazing but hey that's just me

In Switzerland this song was very often played on the Radio that I usually listen to. It's now again No1 in my country and I think this is so fantastic. Now people finally seems to get why I'm so into Kate Bush

AHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHH I LOVE YOU SO MUCH FOR COVERING THIS SONG! Omg omg omg omg youre hilarious Tristan! Ahaha thanks so much love watching your reactions!

She is a Queen ....

I just watched the scene and it was amazing

In Argentina, this song and most of Kate Bush's songs were already considered 'special' during the 80s, my teen years. We're not really talking about plain pop music in here, but about a fusion of art rock and experimental pop. Ten years after RUTH was launched, I worked as a presenter on an FM music radio station and this particular song was on the 'classics' category and was aired at least once a month + whenever the listeners asked us to play it. Tristancito, how come you didn't know Ms. Bush? Running Up That hill has had interesting covers like the one by Placebo. Cheers!

LITERALLY MY FAVOURITE SONG EVERRRR!!! ITS SO ADDICTING ALSO STRANGER THINGS IS THE BEST ❤️❤️❤️❤️

80's child here and yeah Kate Bush was amazing and weird even back then. The Man With The Child In His Eyes is my favorite song by her.