Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ named the song of the summer
Nostalgia triumphed over the likes of Harry Styles, Lizzo and Beyoncé.
Words: Alastair James
Charli XCX may have been singing about going back to ‘1999’, but this summer we apparently went back to 1985 as it turns out that Kate Bush’s hit, ‘Running Up That Hill’ has been crowned the Official Song of the Summer.
The title has been handed out by the Official Charts Company who say the 80s track, which has seen a resurgence thanks to its use in the TV series Stranger Things, beat off the likes of Harry Styles, George Ezra, and Lizzo.
Just announced: @KateBushMusic‘s New Wave masterpiece Running Up That Hill is ☀️ officially ☀️ the UK’s Song of the Summer 2022 – more here: https://t.co/mDHnMC4zUF pic.twitter.com/lxi6KFuJfe
— Official Charts (@officialcharts) September 5, 2022
After 37 Kate Bush’s song also finally reached number 1 in the charts, making it the longest time a single has reached the top spot. Claiming the most streams of any song this summer with 86.6 million and over 42,000 downloads, the Hounds of Love track has had a brilliant time.
Official Charts Company data from around 9,000 UK physical and digital outlets has had 762,000 chart units over the summer period, this being the first week of June to the last week of August.
Harry Styles’ ‘As It Was’, which is the longest-running Number 1 single of the year so far came in at number two, while LF SYSTEM’s ‘Afraid To Feel’ came in third. Cat Burns’ breakthrough hit, ‘Go’ landed in fifth place behind George Ezra’s ‘Green Green Grass’ and before Lizzo’s ‘About Damn Time’.
Beyoncé’s ‘Break My Soul’ notched in eighth place after ‘Crazy What Love Can Do’ by David Guetta, Becky Hill, and Ella Henderson.
Matthew Barton has described ‘Running Up That Hill’ as “a haunting pop song of majestic beauty that exhibited a new depth and complexity to her [Bush’s] vocals and production.”
Discussing Bush’s LGBTQ icon status he wrote: “Kate Bush is an LGBT icon for several reasons, not least because she built a successful career, without compromise, on her own terms, with thorough originality, ingenuity, and, crucially, trueness to herself. She did, and continues to do, things her own way, and is undaunted in her distinctiveness and navigation of the peculiarities of life.”
Check out the music video for ‘Running Up That Hill’ below:
The Attitude September/October issue is out now.
