Open Post: Hosted By Taika Waititi Cursing “Stranger Things” For Ruining Kate Bush For Him

Last month, iconic British singer Kate Bush was sitting at the top of the music charts once again. That’s because Kate’s 1985 song “Running Up That Hill” started trending and charting after it was featured in the fourth season of Netflix’s Stranger Things. Spotify reported that streams of “Running Up That Hill” had increased by 9,900% in the United States and 8,700% globally. And over on YouTube, the music video has nearly 94 million views. Clearly, a new generation had discovered who Kate Bush was, and they were very into it. Kate Bush is very happy about it! But not Taika Waititi.

46-year-old Taika recently spoke to NME about his new film, Thor: Love and Thunder, which features tons of musical pop culture moments, like four Guns N’ Roses songs, and one song by ABBA. NME asked Taika if he thought that padding out that Thor soundtrack with so much Guns N’ Roses might cause a new generation to get really into Axl Rose, and create a bit of an Axlenaissance. Sort of in the same way how Kate Bush noticed a huge surge in popularity right after her song appeared on Stranger Things. According to Taika’s answer, that sounds like less of a blessing, more of a curse.

“You mean how they ruined Kate Bush? I love that show, but as someone who feels a real ownership of Kate Bush music… I’m really annoyed! I’ve become one of those old arseholes who’s like: ‘These kids never listened to Kate Bush, they’ve heard one song on a TV show! They don’t know Kate Bush! I know Kate Bush!’”

Taika added that he really wanted to use a whole bunch of Kate Bush songs in Thor: Love and Thunder, specifically “This Woman’s Work” for a scene featuring Natalie Portman’s character. But that was before Stranger Things got their hands on one of Kate’s most famous songs. Kate Bush, who doesn’t often approve of her music being used for TV or movies, reportedly granted Stranger Things the use of “Running Up That Hill” because she’s a fan of the show. So maybe Kate saw Marvel’s number come up on her phone screen one day and was like, “The superhero people? Err…no thank you” and turned the ringer off on her phone.

Maybe one day Taika will get to use a Kate Bush song in one of his movies. And I bet he’ll keep trying because it sounds like he’s a major fan, even if his fan love sounds like gatekeeping. Although I won’t fault him for that. Gatekeeping Kate Bush is exactly what I would expect from someone Taika’s age, and with good reason! Being a Kate Bush fan now is cool. Being a Kate Bush fan back in the day might have meant a dude with a Duran Duran haircut yelling “NERD!” at you in between sips of their Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler when you throw “Cloudbursting” on at a college party.

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