For the month of October, I’m selecting a song each day from the decade that has the most meaning to me: the 80s. It was the decade that I grew up in. The period of time where I discovered my love for music — and explored many different genres. For the next 31 days, I’ll highlight a handful of songs that I truly loved and that were representative of the decade. #31DaysOf80sSongs
Kate Bush’s popularity is a bit perplexing. Her records soared in Britain, but often flew under the radar in the States. Widely considered one of the most influential artists of our time, some say her work would’ve been more accepted had she arrived a decade later. This seems odd to me because influential artists thrive on arriving early to help pave new roads. It’s what the Pixies did for grunge — and decades before them Neil Young did the same. I’ve always thought what made Kate Bush so unique is that many of her songs seem to have a foot in the past, resurrecting old musical forms into something new, like “Babooskha”, “Army Dreamers” and “Cloudbusting”. At the same time, Bush has her other foot in the future on tracks like “The Dreaming”, “Suspended in Gaffa” and “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)”.
There’s a delicate beauty to much of Kate Bush’s catalog. But “Running Up That Hill” showed a brasher, more assertive side. On one level, we can simply enjoy the song’s most memorable elements like its echoey drum roll, its unusual synth hook off a Fairlight CMI and Bush’s powerful lyrics and vocals. On another level, the song’s impact on the future of music is something to behold. It’s because of Kate Bush songs like “Running Up That Hill” that we have artists like Tori Amos, St. Vincent, Bjork, Florence and countless others.
“Let me steal this moment from you now.”