Netflix’s hit sci-fi series Stranger Things has featured many pop culture references to the 1980s, including nods to ET, Ghostbusters, Dungeons & Dragons, and shopping malls.
However, the show’s backbone might be its brilliantly curated selection of songs featured in the soundtrack as the people of Hawkins have fun or navigate and battle the creepiness that arrives with the Upside Down.
Thanks to that soundtrack, Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill has set multiple records, as the song is crucial throughout the fourth season of the Netflix show.
Spoilers may follow in this report for the Stranger Things 4 Vol. 1 episodes.
Kate Bush sets three records with Running Up That Hill
According to Page Six, Kate Bush now holds the record for the longest it’s taken a song to reach No. 1 on the charts. She originally released her hit Running Up That Hill in 1985, and it reached No. 30 in its original charting.
However, 37 years later, the song has become a fan favorite thanks to its inclusion in the Stranger Things series. It played during several pivotal scenes featuring one of the show’s main protagonists, Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink), likely causing it to become stuck in people’s brains on repeat.
The song has now reached the top spot, giving it that distinction as the longest it’s taken a song to get there. The 63-year-old Kate Bush also became the oldest female artist to reach No. 1 on the charts.
However, Bush set a third record on Friday as she also has the longest time period between No. 1 singles on the charts. Her song Wuthering Heights was No. 1 in the United Kingdom 44 years ago. At that time, Bush was 19 years old.
Kate Bush may be on her way to continuing her stay at the top of the charts. On Sunday, Official Charts reported that she is on track to repeat as No. 1 in the coming week, besting Harry Styles’ As It Was, LF SYSTEM’s Afraid to Feel, and Drake’s Falling Back.
Kate Bush’s song is prominent in Stranger Things Season 4
Viewers have seen the eerie Kate Bush track play in multiple scenes during Stranger Things Season 4, as Max has been battling her inner emotions and the demon known as Vecna in the Upside Down.
A wildly memorable scene featured Max being levitated off the ground after she’d been reading an emotional letter to her deceased brother, Billy, at his gravesite. Soon after, she was transported into the haunting Upside Down, where Vecna was preparing to end her days among the living.
However, thanks to having on headphones and a Walkman playing a cassette featuring Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill, Max was soon able to snap out of her trance, escaping Vecna’s clutches and making a run for it to return to her friends.
An Instagram video clip presenting that scene has racked up over four million views. A longer YouTube video (below) currently has over six million views, as fans continue to replay the highlight from Season 4.
In addition to Bush’s 1985 song, the Stranger Things 4 soundtrack includes The Beach Boys’ California Dreamin’, Falco’s Rock Me Amadeus, The Surfaris’ Wipeout, and Ricky Nelson’s Travelin’ Man.
Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 1 episodes are currently streaming on Netflix. Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2 arrives July 1 on Netflix.