{"id":344468,"date":"2025-12-31T10:19:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T10:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/344468\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T10:19:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T10:19:24","slug":"the-one-song-stevie-nicks-said-was-too-good-to-cover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/344468\/","title":{"rendered":"The one song Stevie Nicks said was too good to cover"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Stevie<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still)<\/p>\n

Tue 30 December 2025 13:55, UK <\/p>\n

There is no greater way for an artist to show their appreciation for a song than by recording their own version of the composition. While Stevie Nicks<\/a> is typically on the receiving end of the compliment, she has no issue with covering a track if she loves it so dearly.<\/p>\n

However, as Nicks knows, covering songs is an art form which needs to be done correctly. Unless she can add a new dimension to the original recording that transports it to a new space while doing justice to the creator, there\u2019s no need to record anything at all.<\/p>\n

As a result, Nicks has shied away from covering her favourite Kate Bush song, \u2018Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)\u2019, despite holding it close to her heart.<\/p>\n

Most notably, \u2018Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)\u2019 has been covered by Placebo, whose version of the track was almost unrecognisable from the original, and did everything that a good cover should do with its mission statement. Whereas Nicks felt her version would have just sounded like karaoke.<\/p>\n

Nicks opened up about her love of Bush during an interview with BBC Radio 2 in 2011, a time when she was tasked with naming a series of her favourite songs<\/a>. In the broadcast, the Fleetwood Mac vocalist selected \u2018Running Up That Hill\u2019, as well as beloved songs by artists she cherishes, such as the Eagles, The Beach Boys, and Chicago.<\/p>\n

\"Kate<\/a>The mercruial brilliance of Kate Bush. (Credits: Far Out \/ Guido Harari \/ EMI America)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a song that epitomises Buch\u2019s ethereal nature and encapsulates the unique talent that took her to the top, which will undoubtedly still be listened to in 100 years.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the BBC about the song in 1992, Bush said of its meaning: \u201cI was trying to say that, really, a man and a woman can\u2019t understand each other because we are a man and a woman. And if we could actually swap each other\u2019s roles, if we could actually be in each other\u2019s place for a while, I think we\u2019d both be very surprised! And I think it would lead to a greater understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Nicks first heard \u2018Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)<\/a>\u2018, she instantly fell in love with the track, and it has maintained a special place in her record collection ever since. The Fleetwood Mac singer said to the BBC of her selection: \u201cThat song I really loved because, what a great writer she is, and \u2018Running Up That Hill\u2019 was one of those songs that, when I first heard it, I went, \u2018Oh I wanna record that song someday.’\u201d<\/p>\n

However, ultimately, Nicks conceded that it wasn\u2019t the wisest idea, noting, \u201cAs writers, we do that whenever a song comes on the radio that we love, we say, \u2018Oh, I wanna record it and reinterpret it.\u2019 Every once in a while, we do it, but you finally smarten up and go, \u2018I can\u2019t really do that song better than Kate Bush did, so I\u2019m not gonna do it.\u2019 Because if you can\u2019t outdo her, then don\u2019t bother\u201d.<\/p>\n

She then detailed precisely why she adores Bush so immensely and an artist that is simply too good to attempt to replicate, adding, \u201cAnd I just really loved her because she was a woman songwriter, and she was really standing out from the fray\u2026 a real serious writer who could compare with any of the guys. And then you\u2019d see her in her videos, she\u2019s kind of like a ninja. So she was tough, and yet she was a beautiful dancer. And she wrote beautiful songs. She wrote interesting, on-the-edge songs. As a writer, I really respected her because of that.\u201d <\/p>\n

As much as hearing a version of \u2018Running Up That Hill\u2019 at a live show by Nicks would likely be spellbinding, there\u2019s no other singular artist in the world that can deliver those lines with the same bittersweet sentiment as Bush.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Related Topics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still) Tue 30 December 2025 13:55, UK There is no greater way for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,119825,128,3298,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-344468","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-kate-bush","10":"tag-music","11":"tag-stevie-nicks","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}