The Kate Bush Renaissance

When Kate Bush emerged on the music scene in 1978, at only 20 years old, she became a revolutionary force in pop music.

Her avant-garde style of pop brought her to the forefront of British pop in the late 1970’s and early 80’s. Since the 90’s however, Bush has released music much more sporadically, keeping her obscured from the public eye.

This past month – July, 2022 – more than four decades after the release of her debut album “The Kick Inside,” Bush is once again topping the charts.

All thanks to the highly anticipated release of the fourth season of Netflix’s hit TV series “Stranger Things”. Bush’s 1986 anthem “Running Up That Hill” was featured in multiple episodes of the newly released season of “Stranger Things,” subsequently causing the track to go viral on TikTok. Currently, the song has been used for 2.6 million TikTok videos – and counting! The song’s newly found position as a cultural zeitgeist has brought Kate Bush back to the forefront of mainstream media and has introduced the singer to a whole new generation of listeners.

Yet, the current Kate Bush renaissance does not mean her impact, icon, and influence have been dead since her stardom in the 1980’s. How has her mainstream reclamation erased her status as a cultural cornerstone for the queer community?

Kate Bush cemented her position as a pioneering ally for the queer community when she performed the song “Wow” from her second studio album “Lionheart” on the BBC in 1979.

The song is clearly about gay love with lyrics such as “He’ll never… Be that movie queen / He’s too busy hitting the Vaseline”. While the song as direct references to sex, it is clear that Bush is not stigmatizing gay sex but rather celebrating queer love. She sings, “We think you are really cool / We’d give you a part, my love”. To have delivered such a message on the BBC – which was rather conservative at the time – broadcast to millions of UK citizens at a time when there existed extreme prejudice against queer people, it was revolutionary. Moreover, Bush was only 20 years old at the time of the performance. Bush’s performance was a call to action for a rejection of the outdated beliefs of older generations and for acceptance of the queer community.

Since then, Kate Bush has maintained her position as an icon in queer culture – especially for queer women. Bush’s 1979 song “Kashka from Baghdad” – also featured on her sophomore album “Lionheart” – tells the story of a woman observing and admiring the relationship of two men. With lyrics like “At night they’re seen / Laughing, loving / They know the way / To be happy,” Bush not only displays acceptance of queer love, but also goes beyond tolerance to embrace queerness and promote the idea of living openly to her generation of queer youth. Songs from her subsequent albums have also featured themes of sexual fluidity and criticism of gender norms. For example, she challenged gender norms by appearing in a red dress in the video for “Wuthering Heights” (1978) while later donning armor-esque chain mail for the “Babooshka” video (1980).

Bush became a voice for a generation of teenagers like herself that were no longer complying to the traditional values surrounding gender and sexuality. Because she is so avant-garde and rule-breaking, she didn’t seem to fit into any typical characterization of pop music in the 1980s. Thus, her image, music, and icon became timeless.

Credit: KateBushMusic on YouTube

Kate Bush’s outsider status, which was created by her observational songs such as “Kashka from Baghdad” and her eccentric public image, prompted members of the queer community to relate to her. The “otherness” that many queer people did – and still do today – relate to positioned Bush as a voice for all outsiders.

The current renaissance of Kate Bush’s early music – ushered in by her featured song in “Stranger Things” – has certain implications for her status as a queer icon. Firstly, some Bush fans have criticized “Stranger Things” for using “Running Up That Hill” since it is considered her most tame and mainstream song. They believe that, in this way, the “Stranger Things” production team is watering Bush down and omitting her connection to queer culture in order to make her more palatable to a mainstream audience. Secondly, “Stranger Things” often features references to 80’s clichés such as Max’s Walkman and the characters’ costumes. Thus, the series’ inclusion of “Running Up That Hill” seems to write Bush’s music off as stuck in the 80’s, or even as a caricature of 80’s culture.

In stranger things, Bush’s hit song saves Max from being killed by Vecna – this season’s antagonist. So, is “Stranger Things” therefore hinting at Bush’s position as a voice for the voiceless, a savior for outsiders?

Whatever you may think, it has become abundantly clear through Bush’s sudden and prevalent resurgence that “Running Up That Hill’s” presence in the series has been a great introduction the her music and icon for today’s generation – particularly for new generations of queer teens.

Credit: express.co.u