Wuthering Heights was what attracted me to the music of Kate Bush. Back in 1978, the British teenager came out with a song titled Wuthering Heights and in her five octave-ranged soprano sang lines lifted out of the classic novel of doomed romance by Emily Bronte.
“Heathcliff, it’s me, I’m Cathy/ I’ve come home, I’m so cold/ Let me in your window/ too long I roam in the night/ I’m coming back to his side, to put it right/ I’m coming home to Wuthering, Wuthering/ Wuthering Heights.”
Bush channeled Cathy Earnshaw as she sang and that was enough to launch a career that would last to this day. Of course, I am sure that many of you have only recently heard of Bush. She is not the usual pop star. She is known for recording her songs alone, shunning publicity and not conforming to the current music trends.
If I am not mistaken, the genre art-pop was coined because of Bush. They could not classify her song structures then because those leaned more towards the classical than pop. She also had the predilection of finding themes for her songs in classic literature.
Aside from Wuthering Heights, there were also The Red Shoes from the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale and later the classic Moira Shearer movie and The Ninth Wave, a 20-minute piece based on Lord Alfred Tennyson’s Idylls of the King. Hence, Bush became art-pop.
That is how literary Bush is and although she has her share of hits and awards, including the Commander of the British Empire (CBE) honor, this generation is only hearing her music now and learning how remarkable an artist she is.
By the way, do make sure that aside from listening to her songs, you also watch her videos. She also creates her own videos and these are mostly other worldly films that go so well with her songs, eerie but at the same time, mesmerizing.
Now, why are we hearing so much about Kate Bush these days? Why are kids, the kind glued to the screens watching Netflix, suddenly talking about Bush? This is because Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God), a song that Bush released in 1985 has emerged as the favored tune in the soundtrack of the Season 4 of the blockbuster sci-fi horror series Stranger Things.
Set in the ‘80s era, the music of Stranger Things has always hewn close to the period and most of the time uses a synth-heavy sound that echoes Jean Michael Jarre and Giorgio Moroder. Actual recordings from the period are also often used like Foreigner, Toto and the Bangles. So, it was a no-brainer that Bush would soon be heard in Stranger Things.
And I say that Running Up That Hill is just the song I want playing while I am running as fast as I can away from that kadiri monster and in the process of making a hurried deal with God.
Running Up That Hill is one of Bush’s biggest-selling singles. It is part of the album Hounds of Love. As of this writing, Running Up That Hill is the No. 1 tune in Billboard’s Global 200; also in Streaming Songs; and in Digital Song Sales. The album Hounds of Love is No. 1 in the Catalog Albums hit list and in the Top Alternative Chart.
Check out the Top 20 titles in the latest Hot 100 tabulation from Billboard magazine. New music stars Harry Styles followed by Jack Harlow are the leaders of the pack, but Bush is also in there in her highest posting ever in 44 years.
As It Was by Harry Styles; First Class by Jack Harlow; Wait for U by Future featuring Drake and Tems; Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God); About Damn Time by Lizzo; Heat Wave by the Glass Animals; Big Energy by Latto; Me Porto Bonito by Bad Bunny and Chencho Corleone; I Like You (A Happier Song) by Post Malone featuring Doja Cat; Titi Me Pregunto by Bad Bunny.
Stay by Kid LAROI and Justine Bieber; Cooped Up also by Post Malone and Roddy Ricch; Wasted on You by Morgan Wallen; Enemy by Imagine Dragons X JID; Late Night Talking by Harry Styles; Ghost by Justin Bieber; Boyfriend by Don Cameron; Moscow Mule by Bad Bunny; Bad Habits by Ed Sheeran; and Woman by Doja Cat.