Well, perhaps inevitably, it has now been officially confirmed that Kate’s Running Up That Hill will feature again in the fifth (and final) season of the smash hit Netflix television series, Stranger Things. As we all know, the song became nothing short of a global phenomenon, becoming the biggest song in the world across global charts for the summer of 2022 and delighting Kate and her fanbase in the process – her biggest ever hit single.
We’ll keep an eye out for any chart action, but it’s very unlikely that we could ever see a repeat of that sort of worldwide impact again, and we don’t know how extensively the track will be used this time. Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, the writing/directing team, the Duffer Brothers (Matt and Ross), reveal that the song will return with Kate’s support, and also that she gifted them a beautiful bird-themed present:
“Season four, which came out in 2022, had a sizeable impact on pop culture. Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) soundtracks a pivotal scene, when Max (Sadie Sink) finally escapes from the villainous Vecna in the Upside Down by using the song as a kind of anchor. The subsequent exposure gave Kate Bush her first UK No 1 single since 1978. “We had no idea it would go viral in the way that it did. We were surprised, and Kate was surprised, by how much it connected with younger people. Kate thought that was really cool,” says Ross (Duffer). There is even more Running Up That Hill in season five.
“Again, she’s been so great about it,” says Matt (Duffer). Did she send a cake or flowers, to say thank you? “We did get a gift from Kate Bush, but it was way cooler than flowers,” says Ross. “It was this gilded bird cage with animatronic birds inside it, and you wind it up, and the birds chirp a little song. It’s very cool, very unique and very Kate Bush. Only Kate Bush would give this present.”
The hints that the character of Max would still be relying on her love of Kate’s music to help her, began with on set photos posted by Ross Duffer back in March 2024. Among them are shots of the actors Sadie Sink and Caleb McLaughlin who play the characters of Max and Lucas, drawing attention to the cassette tape lying on the bedside locker in Max’s hospital room – Kate’s Hounds of Love.
While the actress Sadie Sink is awake and smiling in the photo above we are to understand that in the show she is in a coma due to the injuries she sustained in the dramatic finale of season 4 with the monstrous Vecna. The trailer for Stranger Things Season 5 also shows Lucas carrying Max in her hospital gown into an elevator along with her cassette player – and presumably Kate’s album! In the plot of Season 4, Kate’s music was the only thing that could save Max from the clutches of evil.
In a red carpet interview for the Season 5 premiere party (above), actress Sadie Sink (Max) interestingly mentions that she still loves when she hears Running Up That Hill and not only that “…but her entire catalogue“. The Duffer Brothers also mentioned on the red carpet that the involvement of Kate in the show has allowed them to secure the rights to another “needle drop” for the final season from an artist who normally doesn’t allow their music to be used in TV shows – another viral music chart hit for them? Who knows…
Perhaps we are no longer surprised that Kate has made a small selection of Running Up That Hill merchandise available on her official site as well as just recently releasing her new Best Of The Other Sides compilation digitally and on CD and vinyl – it features the 12″ remix of Running Up That Hill with cover art from the original single cover shoot. The album also opens with a new 2025 mix of Experiment IV, a song we’ve always felt was very ‘Stranger Things’ coded in many ways.
Stranger Things Season 5 is being released on Netflix in three parts. Volume One, consisting of four episodes, is released at 1am (in the UK and Ireland) on 27th November, followed by Volume Two (three episodes) on December 26th and lastly, The Finale, airs on New Year’s Day.
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