Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill
The original title was “Deal With God” but EMI reps decided it should be changed so that religious countries wouldn’t blacklist it because of the word ‘God’.
Kate Bush agreed to release it as, “Running Up That Hill” about man and woman understanding each other better but aren’t really able to since we are both different creatures, just both human.
“I was trying to say that, really, a man and a woman can’t understand each other because we are a man and a woman. And if we could actually swap each other’s roles, if we could actually be in each other’s place for a while, I think we’d both be very surprised! And I think it would lead to a greater understanding. And really the only way I could think it could be done was either… you know, I thought a deal with the devil, you know. And I thought, ‘well, no, why not a deal with God!’ You know, because in a way it’s so much more powerful the whole idea of asking God to make a deal with you. You see, for me it is still called “Deal With God”, that was its title. But we were told that if we kept this title that it would not be played in any of the religious countries, Italy wouldn’t play it, France wouldn’t play it, and Australia wouldn’t play it! Ireland wouldn’t play it, and that generally we might get it blacked purely because it had God in the title.”
Released in 1985 on her album, ‘Hounds Of Love”, it became the most recognizable song of Bush’s in the U.S. as a solo artists. It peaked at #30, and is still played on Classic Alternative formats.
