Sounds like she’s ‘Rolling Down That Hill’ according to some listeners
Rita Ora has become the latest artist to cover Kate Bush‘s revived hit ‘Running Up That Hill’ – but listeners aren’t exactly loving it.
The song – which was released by Bush in 1985 – surged to number one in July – after featuring heavily in the latest series of the hit Netflix show, Stranger Things.
The track broke the record for the biggest gap between a song being released and topping the charts, which was previously held by Wham! with Last Christmas. Bush also became the artist with the longest gap between number one singles – her last chart-topper being Wuthering Heights in 1978.
Arguably the soundtrack of the summer, ‘Running Up That Hill’ has since been covered by the likes of Placebo, Coldplay and Meg Myers, amongst many more.
Now, Ora’s cover is the hot topic of conversation. The 31-year-old’s cover moves completely away from the catchy eighties beat of the original, and towards a slow, sultry version, with only piano to back Ora’s voice.
You can watch her perform it at the Rock In Rio MultShow Festival in Brazil here:
Rita Ora cantando o clássico "Running Up That Hill" de Kate Bush #RockInRio #RitaOraNoMultishow pic.twitter.com/pOYMDYPoxK
— BCharts (@bchartsnet) September 11, 2022
The reactions so far have been far from good.
“Awful”, “offensive” and “disrespectful” are just some of the words Twitter users have chosen to describe the R.I.P singer’s cover.
One listener wrote: “I’m certainly not against adventurous attempts of musical reinvention, but do wish I could make my own deal with god that took me back to the moment before I chose to press play on this.”
Yikes…
sounds like she rolling down that hill TO ME https://t.co/WnM9jhiE1z
— little miss natural disaster. (@_laperdida3) September 14, 2022
While it’s clear Ora’s version is not to everybody’s taste, for some fans, it seems any attempt at covering Bush’s iconic tune is always going to be met with scepticism.
“I live in constant fear of Kate Bush covers,” one wrote.
https://twitter.com/CatherineAbes/status/1570052618260553729?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1570052618260553729%7Ctwgr%5E677e1ea5b329492c64a6bc5f4e313da6a97eccf0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinknews.co.uk%2F2022%2F09%2F14%2Frita-ora-kate-bush-running-up-that-hill%2F
Hilariously, some are suggesting Bush must be “turning in her grave” watching this, despite the fact the 64-year-old is – as others have pointed out – very much alive.
My favorite thing about the awful Rita Ora take on Running Up That Hill is all the people in the comments saying Kate Bush must be turning in her grave thinking she's dead when in fact SHE'S VERY MUCH ALIVE https://t.co/SEZel4cicc
— Gonçalo Trindade (@gonch145) September 14, 2022
We can’t see Max smashing out Ora’s version through her headphones in the next series of Stranger Things.
Or any other version for that matter…
Related links:
- People think Taylor Swift just confirmed metaphor in her song means she lost virginity to Jake Gyllenhaal
- Demi Lovato says her next tour will be her last because ‘I can’t do this anymore’
- Stranger Things star hits back at homophobes
