{"id":32974,"date":"2022-06-02T01:35:08","date_gmt":"2022-06-02T01:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/stranger-things-sends-kate-bushs-running-up-that-hill-to-no-1-on-itunes\/"},"modified":"2022-06-02T01:35:08","modified_gmt":"2022-06-02T01:35:08","slug":"stranger-things-sends-kate-bushs-running-up-that-hill-to-no-1-on-itunes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/stranger-things-sends-kate-bushs-running-up-that-hill-to-no-1-on-itunes\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Stranger Things’ sends Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ to No. 1 on iTunes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It’s not every day that an obscure relic from ’80s alt pop completely dominates the charts, takes over social media and becomes a Gen-Z approved cultural phenomenon more than three decades after its original release\u2026 all over the course of one weekend, no less . But Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” has done it, thanks to “Stranger Things.” <\/p>\n

The widely popular Netflix show has been bringing ’80s pop culture back into the mainstream since its premiere \u2014 particularly with things once considered very uncool,<\/em> like Dungeons & Dragons. But \u201cRunning Up That Hill,\u201d wasn’t just used to instill nostalgia or redeem something previously weird (although it does that too). The song plays a pivotal role throughout the season that audiences are responding to on an emotional level.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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When a young girl named Max (played by Sadie Sink) becomes haunted by the death of her stepbrother Billy, she starts playing the song over and over again on her Walkman to process her grief.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The headphones might have changed. The feeling hasn’t. <\/p>\n

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YouTube<\/p>\n

The lyrics “If I only could, I’d make a deal with God, and I’d get him to swap our places” seem to perfectly encapsulate what she might be feeling under her generally tough exterior, and to some extent what anyone who has faced irrevocable loss might feel. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Bargaining, attempting to postpone pain by imagining these \u201cwhat if\u201d scenarios, is a stage of grief many of us find ourselves in. Though that isn’t necessarily the song’s original meaning, it just works in this context beautifully.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When the song is over a real life resumes.<\/p>\n

Giphy<\/small><\/p>\n

Later, that song is the very thing that saves Max from the evil alternate dimension known as the Upside Down. It pulls her mind away from the darkness and back to her friends, her world di lei and herself. I think everyone has their own \u201cSave Me From The Upside Down\u201d song \u2014 a tune or even a whole album that connects them back to their humanity, which is why so many viewers were touched. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Funny enough, for me that lifesaving music is<\/em> Kate Bush, so this whole moment is super vindicating. Is this what being a hipster feels like<\/em>?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If you have somehow never witnessed the utterly dramatic, super eclectic, whimsical-yet-bonkers music of Kate Bush, you’re in for a treat. For some, her vibe di lei was way too out there. In fact, according to Unilad, “Running Up That Hill” was even banned from MTV for being “too weird.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For others, like me, Kate Bush was a spiritual experience. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This was on my vision board for years<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Not only did it help me escape from otherwise dreary times to fantastical realms, nothing made me feel more encouraged to embrace my own nonconformity. During my teenage years, that was everything.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Below is the original music video for \u201cRunning Up That Hill\u201d – complete with interpretive dance moves \u2014 just to give you a taste of Kate Bush’s genius.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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