Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)
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Artist: Kate Bush
Kate Bush's lyrically, impassioned, Running Up That Hill, the first single of the 1985, Hounds of Love. The song an amazingly, exultant, expounding on a failing relationship is often misunderstood and misconstrued. |
Commentary/Review
This is one of my favorite songs by Kate Bush. I love a number of songs by this artist, but the only other song by her, that I can think of that inspires the same emotional outpouring in me is Heads We’re Dancing—a quirky, black humor song, off her Sensual World album that is about a woman charmed and dancing with a stranger all night, only to discover he is Adolf Hitler. Both songs, just make me want to dance, admittedly in slightly different manners.
Running Up That Hill, originally titled, Deal with God, is just this wonderfully emotive song. It’s lyrically impassioned; sad, harsh, but emotionally exultant, perhaps even exuberant. Despite the fact that song deals with the demise of a relationship, it’s one of those songs that make me feel the most hopefully about love. Maybe its that marching drum beat, that just makes you want to keep going; the chanting rhythms; or the beautifully choreographed video; but I always feel inspired by both the song and the video.
Kate describes the song as being about the power of love, it can create such intense emotion that all rational thought is overpowered. She does such a wonderful job of capturing that emotion, that intensity, that feeling of being overpowered by something that inspires awe with maybe a twinge of fear. I also like what she does with this verse of the song.
“C’mon, baby, c’mon darling,
Let me steal this moment from you now.
C’mon, angel, c’mon, c’mon, darling,
Let’s exchange the experience, oh...”
Kate’s known for being somewhat of a perfectionist. Plucked by EMI for her talent at the very young age of 16, she had a pattern of taking four years between albums to write, record, produce, and tweak, tweak, tweak her albums. Her most famous song, may still be her first single, Wuthering Heights, but Running Up That Hill broke into the Top Thirty in the United States, and inspired a number of covers.
My favorite cover is by Placebo. Their cover is dark and moody; while Kate’s inspires a certain amount of unrestrained joy in me, Placebo’s allows me to wallow in the dark pain that relationships can cause. I’ve included clips to both songs, via YouTube, below.
The first clip, is the Kate Bush version of the song, compete with the original video. The music video featured Bush and dancer Michael Hervieu, in a classical performance, choreographed by Dyanne Gray, a dance teacher of Kate’s. The second clip, is the full version of the Placebo rendition of the song, set to video clips from Todd Hayne‘s Velvet Goldmine, which I should mention contains my current favorite, British, Scottish, and Irish actors—Christian Bale, Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers—and my favorite comedian, the wonderfully talented, Eddie Izzard.
YouTube Video
Rating
Lyrics
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.
Say, 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.
"C'mon, baby, c'mon darling,
Let me steal this moment from you now.
C'mon, angel, c'mon, c'mon, 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,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
With no problems.
say 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,
With no problems.
So 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,
With no problems.
So if I only could
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."
Recommendations
- Heads We'll Dance, Rocket's Tail, The Kick Inside, The Fog, Hounds of Love.
Keywords
kate, bush, deal, god, dance, choreography, Michael, Hervieu, Dyanne, Gray,
Footnotes
Running Up That Hill. A Historic Overview at Wikipedia.
Other Details
Genre: Alternative
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Viewed: 17079
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Permalink: http://www.wide-eyed.org/music/article/running_up_that_hill_a_deal_with_god/
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