The scene:

It's 1985, The Coca-Cola Company introduces New Coke, CD's are introduced, the wreck of the RMS Titanic is located, much to Celine Dione's delight. As the spread of AIDS increases, governments around the world start screening Blood donations for the disease. On the technology front, the first .com is registered and the first version of Windows is released Version 1.0. Famine in Ethiopia is shown more on TV News in July, and Live Aid concerts around the world raise many millions to help the starving in Africa, and the pop industry in the US joins together to sing "We Are the World". 

That last point I think is important to the song we're going to look at today, which an attempt by the songwriter to find empathy with others, seems to be part of the artistic zeitgeist of the time. The song knocked Madonna's "Material Girl" off the No.1 spot in the U.K. and is in fact an alternative to the strong, independent, but looking after me type of feminism portrayed by Madonna.

The original:

Kate's Bush's 1985 hit "Running up That Hill" is pure emotion, pushed to the surface. From the lush-sounding synth; filling the space beneath everything, to the heartbeat pulsing rhythm, to Bush's harmonies and counter harmonies, all woven together into a tapestry that's dense and rich.

Whilst researching the songs, I discovered that my own interpretation of the song is incorrect. . I'd always thought the trading places, talked about in the lyrics, was a kind of self-sacrifice. The other is suffering and the narrator wants to alleviate that pain. Kate Bush's lyrics often have a kind of Emily Dickenson vagueness to them, which often invites the listener to impose their own interpretation. In fact, I think that's one of the many attractions of her work. I think all music lovers project themselves into the song they are listening to. That's where the "this was written for me" feeling comes from.

Kate Bush clarified the meaning of the lyrics in an interview:

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![Laughs] 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, Italywouldn'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.

This song cemented Kate Bush's career, not only as a star but as an artist, as from this point on she would take control of the creative process more and more and produce her own albums. Let's see the group Placebo