Today I want to bring you a cover version done by Placebo of the Kate Bush song Running Up That Hill.
Now, Kate Bush was born in England on July 30, 1958. Running Up That Hill is on her album Hounds Of Love, which was released in 1985 (when she was 27). Interestingly enough, the song was supposed to be called A Deal With God, but EMI didn’t want to release it under that name because, according to Wikipedia, “they feared the religious connotations of the title could have prevented radio play”. Wikipedia also quotes Kate Bush saying: “[W]e 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.” I personally find this quite outrageous. It’s like when Sony told Sophie B. Hawkins to get rid of that banjo back then. Come on, it’s art!
At any rate, 21 years later in 2006, when Kate Bush was 48 and Placebo singer Brian Molko was almost 34, Placebo released a cover version of Running Up That Hill on the re-release of their debut album.
Don’t get me wrong, I really like the original by Kate Bush. More than that, I like her song Wuthering Heights. But I find what Placebo did with the song is so much darker and so much more haunting and melancholic that I do prefer it over the original.
Well, judge for yourself:
Kate Bush – Running Up that Hill
It doesn’t hurt me.
You wanna feel how it feels?
You wanna know, know that it doesn’t hurt me?
You wanna hear about the deal I’m making?
You be running up that hill
You and me be running up that hillAnd if I only could,
Make a deal with God,
And get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
Be running up that building.
If I only could, oh…You don’t want to hurt me,
But see how deep the bullet lies.
Unaware that I’m tearing you asunder.
There is thunder in our hearts, baby.
So much hate for the ones we love?
Tell me, we both matter, don’t we?You, be running up that hill
You and me, be running up that hill
You and me won’t be unhappy.And if I only could,
Make a deal with God,
And get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
Be running up that building,
If I only could, oh…C’mon, baby, c’mon, c’mon, darling,
Let me steal this moment from you now.
C’mon, angel, c’mon, c’mon, darling,
Let’s exchange the experience, oh…And if I only could,
Make a deal with God,
And get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
With no problemsIf I only could, be running up that hill
(Lyrics from azlyrics.com.)
For completeness’ sake, there’s also a version of the song by Within Temptation, but it doesn’t do much for me one way or the other.
Comments?
