Thanks to being heavily featured in Stranger Things 4, Kate Bush’s 1985 single, “Running Up That Hill (Deal With God)” has hit the charts again and is doing even better than it did 37 years ago. It has hit #1 on iTunes, #2 on Spotify’s U.S. charts, and #4 on its global chart. According to Spotify, streams of “Running Up That Hill” increased 8,700% from Thursday to Friday, the day that Stranger Things 4 debuted. In 1985, “Running Up That Hill” was a #3 in Bush’s native U.K., but only managed to hit #30 in the United States, although it has endured as an alt-rock classic.
A “Perfect Storm” For A Classic Song
Following the death of her stepbrother Billy (Dacre Montgomery), at the end of Stranger Things 3, Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) has withdrawn from her friends and broken up with Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin). She has switched from wearing neon colors and dancing and singing to Madonna to the moodier stylings of Bush. Not only does she listen to this song constantly, but it becomes a crucial plot point as the season goes on.
According to Spotify’s Jeremy Erlich:
“It’s incredible to watch iconic songs get rediscovered and have global moments with new listeners. ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) ‘ is one of those ‘perfect storm’ examples. It’s a classic song that has been introduced to a wide fandom and has now taken on a whole new meaning.”
Stranger Things 4 Sets Records
Since Stranger Things 4 debuted on Friday (May 27th), it has racked up 286.7 million hours viewed, making it Netflix’s biggest English-language debut ever. It even surpassed Bridgerton Season 2’s 193 million hours, which it scored in March. Netflix also announced that Stranger Things was its #1 show in 83 countries and that it was in the Top 10 in all 93 countries where the service is available.
Netflix dropped the first seven episodes on Friday. The last two episodes of this season will arrive on July 1.
This success comes at a time when the streaming service could use some good news. In April, the service lost subscribers for the first time in over a decade, causing stocks to plunge.
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