Kate Bush Gives Rare Interview in Wake of “Running Up That Hill” Resurgence: “The Whole World’s Gone Mad!”

Abby Jones
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The post Kate Bush Gives Rare Interview in Wake of “Running Up That Hill” Resurgence: “The Whole World’s Gone Mad!” appeared first on Consequence.

Not only has the resurgence of “Running Up that Hill (A Deal with God)” been powerful enough to propel the 37-year-old single to #1 on the UK charts; it’s also prompted the song’s ever-elusive creator Kate Bush to give a very rare interview. The avant-pop star appeared on the latest episode of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour podcast to speak with host Emma Barnett about how Stranger Things Season 4 helped the masterpiece get a delayed second wind of some well-deserved fame.

“Well it’s just extraordinary,” Bush told Barnett. “I mean, you know, [Stranger Things is] 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!”

Aside from topping the charts in her English homeland, “Running Up that Hill” has also earned Bush her first-ever Top 10 hit in the US, meaning teens across the globe are hearing it for the first time. “What’s really wonderful, I think, is that this is a whole new audience who, in a lot of cases, have never heard of me, and I love that,” Bush went on. “There’s all these really young people hearing the song for the first time and discovering it. I think it’s so special.”

Barnett went on to ask Bush about the track’s meaning — a man and woman switching places — and how Bush’s record label nixed its original title, simply “A Deal with God,” over concerns that radio stations would think the song was about a more “sensitive topic.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Bush discussed how aside from the terrible current events, she’s thrilled to be living in an “incredibly exciting” time now with advanced technology and medicine. She also discussed how her “ancient” cell phone helps her maintain a work/life balance, her thoughts about being a hero of WitchTok (the occult side of TikTok), and her favorite pastime as of late: gardening. Head over to BBC’s website to listen to the full episode — Bush begins speaking around the 14-minute mark.

Bush previously addressed the newfound “Running Up that Hill” popularity in a rare statement posted to her website earlier this month, writing: “It’s all really exciting!” Last week, the song peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, setting the record for the longest time period between a non-holiday song’s Hot 100 debut and cracking the Top 5.

Kate Bush Gives Rare Interview in Wake of “Running Up That Hill” Resurgence: “The Whole World’s Gone Mad!”
Abby Jones

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