How a 1985 synth-pop track became a billion-stream phenomenon

Cultures · Published 10 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 1985, Kate Bush released a song about exchanging places with a lover to foster understanding. Decades later, a Netflix series triggered a massive resurgence, turning the track into a global number-one hit and proving that great music is truly timeless.

Originally released on 5 August 1985 as the lead single from Hounds of Love, "Running Up That Hill" was born from a single evening of composition. Bush utilized the Fairlight CMI synthesiser—specifically a sampled cello sound—and a LinnDrum drum machine to create its driving, tense atmosphere. The song's lyrical premise involves a man and a woman making a "deal with God" to swap places, a concept Bush used to explore the fundamental inability of genders to fully understand one another.

The track's musicality relies on tension and dissonance. It is composed in C minor, utilizing a vocal melody that focuses on the minor seventh. Bush famously used a major seventh over an A-flat major chord on the word "could" to create a sense of unresolved tension. This complexity is matched by the arrangement, which includes a pulsing bassline by Del Palmer, balalaika played by Paddy Bush, and a snare overdub by drummer Stuart Elliott to strengthen the LinnDrum beat.

The song experienced a historic resurgence in 2022 after being featured in the Netflix series Stranger Things. This positioning drove the track to the top spot in eight nations and, at 63, established Bush as the eldest female singer to secure a UK number one. The success was unprecedented; it took 37 years for the song to reach the top spot, and it became the most streamed song on Spotify in both the UK and the US. By June 2023, the track surpassed one billion streams on Spotify, a milestone Bush described as a flooding river of tributaries.

While the song was a critical success in the 1980s, nominated for a Brit Award, its modern revival has cemented its status as a timeless pop standard. It has since surpassed 1.5 billion Spotify streams following its appearance in the fifth season of Stranger Things in 2025.

General information, not professional advice. Spotted an error? Flag the card or see corrections and complaints.

Intellect Plus is a visual educational discovery platform for exploring fascinating facts and ideas. Brain Food, Not Brain Rot. What is Intellect Plus?

Related

• How a 1980s art-pop masterpiece became a modern neurological dreamscape
• The album that was too weird for its own success
• How a teenager revolutionized pop music by refusing to play by the industry's rules.
• How a Pink Floyd guitarist discovered a teenage songwriting prodigy
• Why Kate Bush considers one of her most successful albums a rushed mistake
• From Bristol to Bridgerton: The Versatile Career of English Actress Ruth Gemmell
• The software framework that built the modern web's most famous giants
• From Addis Ababa to Broadway: The Versatile Career of Irish Actress Ruth Negga
• Before the stripes, there were no uniforms at all
• Why a simple gesture of sportsmanship defined the most famous golf tournament in history.
• How the Royal Navy evolved from a haphazard collection of ships into a global power.
• The career diplomat who transitioned from the shadows of bureaucracy to the cabinet

More in UK & Irish culture · More in Cultures · Latest · A–Z · All topics