Hey there! This is TOP episode 154. Learn English With Kate Bush ‘Running Up That Hill’
My name’s Ola and I am an online English teacher. I believe you can eliminate your language blockade. It is 100% guaranteed. The secret word here is consistency. There are other secret words too. That is why I record this podcast’s episodes, and each comes with a little worksheet, a one-pager to help you digest and test what you’ve practised here. You can speak English with more confidence, slay that fear and enjoy new freedoms.
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Wlcome back! Thanks for dropping by! Stay with me till the end of this episode for the practical part. Kate Bush. Well, I saw a TikTok with a woman who had said her daughter had asked her whether she had heard that new sic tune ‘Running Up That Hill’. That mum had said she’d gone speechless. Kate Bush made this song in 1985, it’s 2022 now so it’s been 37 years. It got its popularity back due to being featured in ‘Stranger Things’. It’s also brought Kate Bush a lot of dollars. After 37 years. That’s incredible. She never sold anyone any legal rights to this piece that’s why now all the money goes to her.
Before we get into the lyrics. Every Thursday at 11 am I go live just for a quick chat with you. You’ll find me as teacherola.podcast. So join me on Thursday at 11:00 live on Instagram!
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Let’s begin with song facts. I picked some pieces of interviews with Kate Bush from 1985. Listen to her:
“It’s about a relationship between a man and a woman. They love each other very much, and the power of the relationship is something that gets in the way. It creates insecurities.
“It’s saying if the man could be the woman and the woman the man, if they could make a deal with God, to change places, that they’d understand what it’s like to be the other person and perhaps it would clear up misunderstandings. You know, all the little problems; there would be no problem.”
“I was trying to say that, really, a man and a woman can’t understand each other because we are a man and a woman. And if we could actually swap each other’s roles, if we could actually be in each other’s place for a while, I think we’d both be very surprised!’
“And I think it would lead to a greater understanding. And really the only way I could think it could be done was either… you know, I thought a deal with the devil, you know.
And I thought, ‘well, no, why not a deal with God!’ You know, because in a way it’s so much more powerful the whole idea of asking God to make a deal with you.
“You see, for me it is still called ‘Deal With God’. That was its title. But we were told that if we kept this title that it would not be played in any of the religious countries, Italy wouldn’t play it, France wouldn’t play it, and Australia wouldn’t play it! Ireland wouldn’t play it, and that generally, we might get it blacked purely because it had God in the title.”
‘Running Up that Hill’ was Kate Bush’s most successful 1980s single, entering the UK chart at number 9, and peaking at number 3. It was also a hit in the US, reaching the top 30. It returned to the charts in 2022 after being used several times in the latest season of Netflix drama Stranger Things. Amazingly, the song climbed to number 1 in the UK singles chart recently. This finally gave Kate her first number one single since 1978, making it the longest gap between number 1s ever. She also thanked everybody who has supported the song and she admitted she is a big fan of ‘Stranger Things’.
Le’s have a look at the lyrics now.
If I only could, I’d be running up that hill.
It doesn’t hurt me.
Do you want to feel how it feels?
Do you want to know that it doesn’t hurt me?
Do you want to hear about the deal that I’m making?
You, it’s you and me.
If I only could, I’d be running up that hill – the second conditional. I can’t do it now. But if I could do it now, I would. I would be running up that hill. More about the second conditional in episode 40. Teacher Ola Podcast episode 40. Find it and practice and finally test your knowledge on the second conditional in the Worksheet. Worksheet 40. You can download a single Worksheet or buy a Worksheet Set.
Do you want to hear about the deal that I’m making? – Here I would like to present you with some phrases, expressions, idioms and phrasal verbs with the word ‘deal’. Here goes:
To deal with somebody. To handle. To treat somebody appropriately in a particular situation. Taking into consideration who you are talking to. For instance:
She used to deal with all kinds of people in her previous job.
To deal with something. To solve a problem, to do the task. For example:
This is an urgent problem and somebody has to deal with it immediately.
Have you dealt with the emails yet?
To deal (something). To buy and sell illegal drugs. An example sentence:
Her previous boyfriend was dealing drugs.
To deal. To give cards to each player. Hear the sentence:
Deal out 10 cards to each player.
Deal with it – use it when somebody should accept the situation. It cannot be changed, it is what it is, deal with it. A sentence:
She’s bossy, deal with it.
Big deal! – say it when you are not impressed by something.
She’s better than me at skiing. Big deal!
No big deal. – Use it when you want to show that the thing in question is not a problem or it’s unimportant.
Don’t worry about that, it’s not a big deal.
To deal somebody in. – to include someone in something. For instance:
That offer sounds tempting! Can you deal me in?
Deal-breaker – this is a thing that causes you to reject something. It’s something unacceptable, it’s often used in business. An example sentence:
I would have bought that dress, but the colour was a deal-breaker for me.
Let’s move on, listen to the chorus and repeat out loud:
And if I only could,
I’d make a deal with God,
And I’d get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
Be running up that building.
If I only could, oh…
I’d get him to swap our places – to get somebody to do something. To persuade or make somebody do something. Hear the phrase in the sentence:
I can’t get the children to go for a nap.
I’d make a deal with God, and I’d get him to swap our places – to swap places. To be in somebody else’s situation. Listen to this example question:
Who would you like to swap places with?
Next 4 lines. Listen and repeat out loud:
You don’t want to hurt me,
But see how deep the bullet lies.
Unaware I’m tearing you asunder.
Ooh, there is thunder in our hearts.
But see how deep the bullet lies – A bullet is a small metal object fired from a gun. I have two idioms with the bullet for you.
To bite the bullet – to start to deal with an unpleasant situation that cannot be avoided
I hate going to doctors, but I suppose I’ll just have to bite the bullet.
To dodge bullets – to only just avoid getting hurt in a dangerous situation. To narrowly avoid something.
Thank god the test got postponed I guess I dodged that bullet.
Unaware I’m tearing your asunder – ‘asunder’ means into pieces. She was not aware of the fact she was tearing him into pieces. To tear asunder. To be broken asunder. To be split or rent asunder. If this is the first time you’ve heard this word, it’s normal. I mean, that’s a bit of an old-fashioned word and isn’t widely used.
The family were torn asunder by the tragedy.
Fabulous! Let’s keep going, stay with me, let’s do it:
Is there so much hate for the ones we love?
Tell me, we both matter, don’t we?
You, it’s you and me.
It’s you and me won’t be unhappy.
Tell me, we both matter, don’t we – Don’t we. That’s a question tag and there’s no episode on it which is a shame. Gets on my list right away.
We both matter, don’t we. It’s like Czyż nie? Prawda? This is a fairly easy way of making any questions when you aren’t super how o make a standard question. Just make a regular affirmative sentence and add a tag. For instance:
You don’t speak Spanish, do you?
Stay tuned, there’ll be an episode about question tags soon.
It’s you and me won’t be unhappy. – won’t be unhappy. We will not be unhappy. When you contract ‘will’ and ‘not’ you end up with ‘won’t’. ‘Will not’ equals ‘won’t’. Mind the pronunciation. There’s the /əʊ/ sound in it. Listen to these examples:
I won’t be long.
It won’t be a problem.
The last paragraph, listen and repeat:
“C’mon, baby, c’mon darling,
Let me steal this moment from you now.
C’mon, angel, c’mon, c’mon, darling,
Let’s exchange the experience, oh…”
Let me steal this moment from you now. – To steal the moment, to take it without permission. Steal is an irregular verb: steal – stole – stolen. Listen to other expressions with the word ‘steal’.
To steal somebody’s heart – to make somebody fall in love with you.
He stole my heart.
To steal a kiss – to kiss somebody suddenly or secretly
She stole a kiss from him and ran away.
To steal the show – to attract more attention than somebody else.
Adam stole the show with his performance.
Here you have it. Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ explained. Now let’s practice. Listen to the sentences and repeat them out loud:
She used to deal with all kinds of people in her previous job.
Have you dealt with the emails yet?
She’s bossy, deal with it.
Don’t worry about that, it’s not a big deal.
That offer sounds tempting! Can you deal me in?
I would have bought that dress, but the colour was a deal-breaker for me.
I can’t get the children to go for a nap.
Who would you like to swap places with?
I hate going to doctors, but I suppose I’ll just have to bite the bullet.
It won’t be a problem.
Adam stole the show with his performance.
Perfect! Now, go to your inbox and get the worksheet to test yourself. Complete the gapped lyrics while listening to Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’. If you aren’t a member of TOPeople download the worksheet from teacherola.com/154.
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