FEATURE:
Kate Bush’s This Woman’s Work at Thirty-Six
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1989/PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari
How Come It Has Not Enjoyed the Same Resurgence as Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)?
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PERHAPS most new Kate Bush fans…
discovered her through Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) and its use in Stranger Things back in 2022. I have talked about this endlessly, so I am not going to go into it too much more. However, that song really exploded and experienced this resurgence. Partly because the track is a classic and has this warm and propulsive sound. Maybe because how it was used in Stranger Things. Scoring especially powerful images, a lot of fans connected with it. Since then, the track topped the charts and is Kate Bush’s most-streamed song. That is not the only song of hers that has experienced some recent popularity. If the Hounds of Love cut is her biggest success, Never for Ever’s Army Dreamers is not too bad in comparison. Rather than it being used in a film or T.V. show, it did get this focus on TikTok. Lots of videos had that song playing in the background. Because of the atrocities and violence we are seeing in countries like Ukraine, a new significance to a track that calls outs the futility of warfare and how it sacrifices young men. You can easily see why these two tracks are especially potent and popular. I have no doubt that we will get another Kate Bush moment. Where a track of hers gains the same sort of success as Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) did a few years ago. Maybe Army Dreamers is going to be that song. It seems like it could be used to devastating effect. There is one song that has been used a few times in film but has not really gained the life that Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) did.
This Woman’s Work was the second single from 1989’s The Sensual Word. It turns thirty-six on 20th November. It is unique in the sense that it started life in a film. In 1988, it was used in John Hughes’s She’s Having a Baby. It was then included on The Sensual World. One could say it already received its flowers back in 1988. However, what I am talking about is that modern-day revival. Bringing a song back into consciousness. I am going to get to some background to the track. But I wanted to ask why, in spite of the fact this song has appeared in films in recent years, it has not ignited in a big way. Many feeling it has been overused. First, this is what Kate Bush said when it came to the inspiration for This Woman’s Work:
“There’s a film called ‘She’s Having A Baby’. And John Hughes, the director, rung up and said that he had a sequence in the film that he really wanted a song written to be with. And I’d only worked the once before on the ‘Castaway’ film – where I’d really enjoyed that – so I was extremely tempted by the offer. And when he sent the piece of film that the song was going to be part of, I just thought it was wonderful, it was so moving, a very moving piece of film. And in a way, there was a sense that the whole film built up to this moment. And it was a very easy song to write. It was very quick. And just kind of came, like a lot of songs do. Even if you struggle for months, in the end, they just kind of go – BLAH! – You know. [Laughs]. So that was the first song that I wrote for ‘The Sensual World’ album. In fact at the time we weren’t even sure whether to put it on the album or not. And I must say that Del was very instrumental in saying that I should put it on the album, and I’m very glad I did. Because I had the most fantastic response – in some ways, maybe the greatest response – to this song. And I was really – I was absolutely thrilled, that you felt that way about it.
Thirty-six years after its release as a single, I do wonder if the song has been overused. I say ‘overused’, though it has been used in The Mother (2023) and M3GAN 2.0 (2025). The former, you feel, was misplaced. A song about motherhood perhaps, but more to do with this expectant father having to step up. Perhaps not the most appropriate song for the Jennifer Lopez film. In the latter, it was used more to comedic effect. Perhaps it is about the context. I would love to see This Woman’s Work used in a film but in this really cool scene. As it has been used in a film already, you could not repeat that. However, so many people do not know about this track. It is the sixth-most streamed song of hers on Spotify. Though popular, there has not been a lot of conversation around it. Is the fact Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) has this energy and sense of energy mean it is a more natural success than a song that is more emotive and downbeat? In a modern age, where most of the more popular Pop music does have this fizz and dynamic, can a song that is slower and sadder succeed? It opens up discussions around tastes and whether we are naturally drawn to songs that provoke physical reaction and happiness rather than contemplation or tears. This article from 2023 explains how This Woman’s Work has been used beyond film. It has appeared in T.V. series. If some feel the song is an emotional shortcut or a lazy and cliched way of trying to evoke emotional responses, I feel like it has been misused and not given its dues. It is not going to get the same sort of explosion and life as Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God). Though it seems odd that, given the song has been used quite a bit in film and T.V., that it has not gained a bigger life. This Woman’s Work is a classic, yet it might be a song more cherished and memorable in private moments, rather than being seen as this big screen triumph. Something that has touched a new generation of fans. Regardless, I do feel it is an important song. As 20th November marks thirty-six years since it was released as a single, I did want to revisit one of Kate Bush’s greatest works. Whether it will be used again in film and T.V. remains to be seen. There is no getting around the fact that the song means a lot to people. I think it has this reputation as being used lazily as a go-to when we want to summon up an emotional response. However, it used in a different or new way, I see no reason why This Woman’s Work couldn’t reach new fans and finds its way…
BACK on the charts.