‘Dear Billy’ has been hailed as the best episode so far of Season 4 of the hit Netflix show Stranger Things and ‘Running Up That Hill’ plays a huge part in that.
It’s all dreadfully grave. Max (Sadie Sink) has been captured by Vecna and she’s about to perish while her friends watch helplessly. They figure out that music might be able to bring Max back, so they put headphones on her head and crank up her favourite song, which just happens to be ‘Running Up That Hill’ by Kate Bush.
The moment has already become iconic and many have observed that it also works as a metaphor for mental health and the power of music. The official Twitter account for Stranger Things also tweeted out an image of Max with the caption “idk who needs to hear this, but it’s time to let go of your demons” clarifying the season’s theme of confronting your past.
Despite debuting in 1983, ‘Running Up That Hill’ is now climbing the charts and is currently No. 1 on iTunes, thanks to Stranger Things. The song has seen an increase in streams of 153 percent on Spotify, according to NME.
idk who needs to hear this, but it’s time to let go of your demons pic.twitter.com/hu9U3I5idr
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) May 30, 2022
‘Running Up That Hill’, from Bush’s album Hounds of Love, has also now overtaken ‘Wuthering Heights’ as Bush’s most popular song on Spotify. This isn’t the first time Stranger Things has led to a successful revival of old classics. Season 3 featured actors Gaten Matarazzo and Gabriella Pizzolo singing ‘Never Ending Story’ which then became a social media hit.
Stranger Things Season 4, Volume 1 debuted on May 27th and you can read our thoughts on it here.
