But thanks to the show’s mammoth viewership, the use of “Running Up That Hill” on Stranger Things has propelled Bush back into the zeitgeist in a way no other show has. Previously, Bush has also permitted her songs, such as “Cloudbusting,” to be used in a wide range of shows, including recent fare like Big Little Lies, Pose, and The Handmaid’s Tale. This is, of course, far from the first time the elusive artist has allowed her music to be used on mainstream television. “I really wanted her to understand the creative depth of Max’s story that the Duffers had envisioned and why this was ultimately the perfect song,” Felder said. They did, prompting Felder and her clearance coordinator to focus on getting approval from Bush herself, sending thorough scene descriptions to explain how the song was going to be used. (Bush specifically wrote it about an imaginary man and woman making a deal with God to swap places in order to understand one another’s point of view and strengthen their relationship.) Its use in Stranger Things is both left field and oh-so-apropos.įelder sent the song choice to the Duffers, along with a few alternates, hoping they would go with her first pick. “Running Up That Hill” is among her most epic works, its lyrics so dexterous that the listener can imbue it with all kinds of meaning.
Over the years, the artist’s legacy has risen to godlike proportions, her songs regarded like art rock hymns. “Running Up That Hill,” an evocative swirl of synths and gut-wrenching percussion, was the record’s crown jewel, a massively popular lead single that inspired covers and would eventually become Bush’s best-known track. The song was originally released on Bush’s critically acclaimed fifth album, Hounds of Love, considered by many to be her masterpiece. The more the song marinated in my conscious awareness, I realized this was something that could be special.” When she landed on “Running Up That Hill,” she “immediately felt a surge of excitement.
“The song really needed to resonate with Max’s experience and amplify her need for strength and support at that time,” Felder writes in an email. She needed something that would realistically be a young teen’s favorite song in 1986, but would also express Max’s sense of isolation and depression after the violent death of her brother, Billy. Per Felder, show creators Matt and Ross Duffer didn’t know what song they were going to use for the scene, leaving it open in the script so that Felder could do some creative digging. Who can you thank for the perfect song choice? Nora Felder, the longtime music supervisor who’s been with Stranger Things since the very beginning, picking up three Emmy nominations along the way. In “Dear Billy,” the standout episode of Stranger Things season four, Max ( Sadie Sink) escapes the Upside Down by listening to Kate Bush’s “Running Up that Hill (A Deal With God).” It’s a stirring song choice, turning Bush’s 1980s pop classic into the sound of literal salvation, a piece of art capable of transcending time and space-a creative high point for the hit sci-fi series.