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Eleanore McDaniel

Prof. Kretzer

English 1201

3 April 2020

Running Up That Hill

Few songs are able to grasp some of the deepest complexities of love as “Running Up

That Hill” written and produced by Kate Bush in 1985. The song proved to be a hit for decades,

describing the intimate to give up everything for one someone loves. The song was renewed

again for a new generation by Meg Myers in 2019. As far as covers go, Myers’s version of the

song hung closely to the original, opting for few changes to the song to better the bass drops and

instrumental accompaniment but not much else. Myers did not develop her own take on the song

until the music video, which served to be a striking contrast to the video originally released by

Bush in 1985. Though both versions of “Running Up That Hill” retain a similar musical style,

Kate Bush’s video revolves around love and loss, whereas Meg Myers’s version is about gain

and personal betterment.

Kate Bush filled her music video with staples of the eighties- bellbottomed pants and an

interpretive duet with a man. The meaning is not hard to discover, as she dances in a gray room

with a man and sings about a love so deep she wishes to trade places with him. The first half of

the video carries an intimate feel with the contemporary moves, in which Bush and her partner

perform several acrobatic tricks that only serve to further entwine their limbs. It is after he leaves

her that she finds herself in a stark white hall, swept only further from him by a mob of people

with masks of his face. Several times, the video cuts back to Bush dancing, only to be returned to
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her in that same hallway, this time, the masks of her face. In a final sequence, she is shown

sinking into that crowd, only to be shown again back with the man who left her. The video is

almost completely symbolism, showing the intimacy one can have and yet be able to lose it. The

point of the masks is that they all may look like the man that left her, by they are mere

fabrications, signaling her inability to move on.

Meg Myers’s video, on the other hand, was composed of 2,130 coloring pages given to

school children. When combined, these images create a disorienting and colorful video of Myers

herself as she makes a transition from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. As a butterfly, she

dances on top of flower before taking off into the cosmos. It’s a beautifully simplistic video.

There is no better universal symbol for growth and change than the butterfly, further completing

her theme of having a very basic and childlike appeal. The target audience, is obviously for a

younger generation, despite the theme of the song being mature.

The videos are almost entirely different. Myers seems to take the approach of a

symbiotic relationship between partners. That they would trade places to better one another is

further enforced by “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 problems”. Her video is targeted towards

those who have experienced love and have grown from the experience. The bright kaleidoscope

of colors and simplistic images allow for a lighter feel. The tone of the video plays on the

appeals of childhood, where anything seemed possible and love was unbound.

It is Bush who takes on the more detrimental side, her video echoing her views on the

loss of love more than its benefits, making her song seem like a last ditch attempt to get someone

to love her “Unaware I’m tearing you asunder/ Oh there is thunder in our hearts/ Is there so much

hate for the ones we love?”, she sings. She dances in long, flowing movements, the prevailing
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colors being gray and mauve. Her voice, laid bare and unbacked by the synthetic pops and drums

of Myers’ song, feels more personal and melancholier.

Both songs use pathos in order to illicit feelings from the audience. The emotional dance

and the cool gray color scheme create a feeling of seriousness in Bush’s video. The dance that

Bush does resonates a sense of loss; her reaction to losing the man is emotional, causing a similar

reaction in the audience. Myers also uses pathos in the colors and theme of her video. The simple

visuals and childlike coloring incite a feel of youth and exuberance in her audience. The

possibilities of love are endless when a butterfly can coast into the cosmos, trading places with

someone loved seems like not such a leap.

Despite what seems like obvious differences between the two, the song remains the same,

as does the message. Love is an important theme in music and pop culture. The diversity of

“Running Up That Hill” is amazing for how many different takes of it can be made with the

same song. For over thirty years this song has managed to take on several different forms, from

the somber loss portrayed by Kate Bush to the exciting opportunities shown by Meg Myers’s

version. With these two, the song can be enjoyed by many different generations- many different

people with many different experiences in loving and losing. Whether it is the untamed

excitement of Myers or the desperate pleas of Bush, everyone can relate in some way to the

songs and their videos.

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Works Cited

Bush, Kate. “Running Up That Hill.” Hounds of Love, EMI – KB1, 2011,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp43OdtAAkM

Myers, Meg. “Running Up That Hill.” Running Up That Hill, 300 Entertainment, 2019,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7iVWK2W48o

Works Cited

Meg Myers “Running Up That Hill” https://youtu.be/N7iVWK2W48o

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Kate Bush “Running Up That Hill” https://youtu.be/wp43OdtAAkM