Originally called ‘A Deal With God’ (the title was changed by nervous EMI executives to avoid offending any religious sensibilities), the now classic ‘Running Up That Hill’ was the first cut from Kate Bush’s 1985 album, Hounds of Love. Featuring some truly hypnotic percussion, the painfully sensual song was the most successful of the waiflike English songstress’ 1980s releases, entering the UK charts at No. 9 and eventually peaking at No. 3. It also proved popular in America, providing Bush with her first Top 30 hit of the decade there.
With a verse that goes, “Come on, baby, come on, darling/ Let me steal this moment from you now/ Come on, angel, come on, darling/ Let’s exchange the experience, oh”, the song’s lyrics have often been misinterpreted.
Bush herself explained, “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.”
It’s such a brilliant song that few other artists would dare to take it on. Step in UK emo rockers Placebo, who released their spooky version on the bonus disc of their 2003 album, Sleeping With Ghosts. Although largely focused on the instrumentation, Brian Molko’s downbeat and druggy interpretation of the lyrics suggested more of a pact with Lucifer himself than Bush’s original “deal with God.”
Although always popular in Placebo’s live sets, their version only really became widely known in 2010, when it was used in a video hyping a career-ending match for wrestler Shawn Michaels as he took on ‘The Undertaker’ at WWE’s Wrestlemania XXVI.
A deal with the devil, indeed…