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Cloudbusting

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"Cloudbusting"
Single by Kate Bush
from the album Hounds of Love
B-side
Released14 October 1985 (1985-10-14)[1]
Studio
Genre
Length
  • 5:06 (song)
  • 6:59 (video)
LabelEMI
SongwriterKate Bush
ProducerKate Bush
Kate Bush singles chronology
"Running Up That Hill"
(1985)		 "Cloudbusting"
(1985)		 "Hounds of Love"
(1986)
Music video
"Cloudbusting" on YouTube
Audio sample

"Cloudbusting" is a song written, produced and performed by English singer Kate Bush.[4] It was released as a single in October 1985, and was the second single released from her fifth studio album Hounds of Love (1985). The single peaked at No. 20 and spent 8 weeks in the UK Singles Chart.[5]

Taking inspiration from the 1973 Peter Reich memoir A Book of Dreams,[6] which Bush read and found deeply moving,[7] the song is about the very close relationship between psychiatrist and philosopher Wilhelm Reich and his young son, Peter, told from the point of view of the mature Peter. It describes the boy's memories of his life with Reich on their family farm, called Orgonon, where the two spent time "cloudbusting", a supposed rain-making process which involved using a machine designed and built by Reich – a machine called a cloudbuster – to point at the sky. The lyrics further describe the elder Reich's abrupt arrest and imprisonment, the pain of loss the young Peter felt, and his helplessness at being unable to protect his father.

In 2014, the song was performed live for the first time and was also chosen as the closing encore track in Bush's 2014 live residency, Before the Dawn.[8]

Release

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"Cloudbusting" was released as a single on 14 October 1985, with a new non-album track titled "Burning Bridge" as its B-side. The twelve-inch single also contained a remix of "Cloudbusting" carrying the subtitle of the "Organon Mix", and "My Lagan Love", which featured additional lyrics written by Bush.[9]

Critical reception

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In a retrospective review of the single, AllMusic journalist Amy Hanson praised the song for its "magnificence" and "hypnotic mantric effects". Hanson wrote: "Safety and danger are threaded through the song, via both a thoughtful lyric and a compulsive cello-driven melody. Even more startling, but hardly surprising, is the ease with which Bush was able to capture the moment when a child first realizes that adults are fallible."[10]

Music video

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The music video, directed by Julian Doyle, was conceived by Terry Gilliam and Kate Bush as a short film. The video features Canadian actor Donald Sutherland playing the role of Wilhelm Reich, and Bush in the role of his young son, Peter.[11]

Filming took place at the Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire, England. From the eminence on which the machine is positioned can be glimpsed the bald chalk top of Dragon Hill, immediately below the Uffington White Horse, a prehistoric hill carving which can be seen briefly in a couple of the shots.[12] Bush found out in which hotel Sutherland was staying from actress Julie Christie's hairdresser and went to his room to personally ask him to participate in the project.[13]

In the UK, the music video was shown at some cinemas as an accompaniment to the main feature. Due to difficulties on obtaining a work visa for Sutherland at short notice, the actor offered to work on the video for free. Although the events depicted in the story took place in Maine, the newspaper clipping in the music video reads The Oregon Times, likely a reference to Reich's home and laboratory "Orgonon".[14]

According to a 26 October 1985 article published in Record Mirror, the cloudbuster device was sourced from a gynecologist exhibition held in a nearby down.[15] Bush provided a different account, saying that the machine was designed and constructed by people who worked on the Xenomorph.[16] It bears only a superficial resemblance to the real cloudbusters, which were smaller and with multiple narrow, straight tubes and pipes, and were operated while standing on the ground.[17] In a reference to the source material of the song, Bush pulls a copy of Peter Reich's A Book of Dreams from Sutherland's coat.[7]

The full-length video features a longer version of the song, which is different from the Organon Mix released on 12-inch vinyl. This version was commercially available on "The Red Shoes" single.

Around the time of the release Bush sent Peter Reich a VHS copy of the music video. Reich was immediately a fan. He later told Dazed magazine "Quite magically, this British musician had tapped precisely into a unique and magical fulfilment of father-son devotion, emotion and understanding. They had captured it all."[18]

The music video for "Cloudbusting" won an award at the International Music Video Festival for the best storyboard under the high-budget production category.[19]

Track listing

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The B-side to the single was "Burning Bridge", in which a woman desperately pleads with her lover to step up his level of commitment to her. The 12" featured the additional track "My Lagan Love", a traditional Irish melody with lyrics by John Carder Bush, Kate Bush's brother. The 12" version of "Cloudbusting" was a special remix called "The Organon Re-Mix" in which the verses were downplayed and the main focus was the development of the song's chorus. In the US, this mix was issued as "The Meteorological Mix", a title used in the UK for 12" version of Bush's later single "The Big Sky".

7-inch single (UK)
No.TitleLength
1."Cloudbusting"5:08
2."Burning Bridge"4:38
12-inch single (UK)
No.TitleLength
1."Cloudbusting" (The Organon re-mix)6:34
2."Burning Bridge"4:38
3."My Lagan Love"2:31
CD single (US)
No.TitleLength
1."Cloudbusting"5:09
2."The Man with the Child in His Eyes"2:41
3."Sat in Your Lap"3:31
4."Cloudbusting" (Organon mix, listed as "Meteorological mix")6:31

Personnel

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Charts

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Weekly chart performance for "Cloudbusting"
Chart (1985) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[20]16
Europe (European Top 100 Singles)[21] 25
Irish Singles Chart[22] 13
Luxembourg (Radio Luxembourg)[23] 14
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[24]11
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[25]13
UK Singles Chart[26] 20
West Germany (Media Control Charts)[27] 20
Chart (2019) Peak
position
UK Physical Singles (OCC)[28] 1
UK Vinyl Singles (OCC)[28] 1
UK Singles Singles (OCC)[28] 37
US Alternative Digital Song Sales[29] 22
Chart (2022) Peak
position
UK Singles Downloads (Official Charts)[30]41

In Australia, "Cloudbusting" narrowly missed the Kent Music Report top 100 singles chart in January 1986.[31]

Certifications

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Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[32] Gold 400,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

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In 1992, Utah Saints sampled the song's line "I just know that something good is gonna happen" for their song "Something Good" as well as scenes from Bush's video for their video. It reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart[33] and No. 8 when re-mixed and re-released in 2008[33] (the latter of which used a different sample from another artist).

Irish musician Gemma Hayes covered "Cloudbusting" on her 2014 album Night & Day.

Canadian musician Matthew Good covered "Cloudbusting" on his 2015 album Chaotic Neutral. Good's cover version featured Holly McNarland on backing vocals.[34]

References

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  1. ↑ "New Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 12 October 1985. p. 16. Retrieved 12 September 2026.
  2. 1 2 Hounds of Love (CD booklet). Kate Bush. EMI Records. 1985.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. ↑ "Cloudbusting | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  4. ↑ "Cloudbusting". MUBI. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  5. ↑ "CLOUDBUSTING". Official Charts. 26 October 1985. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  6. ↑ Thomson, Graeme (26 August 2014). ""This girl is very, very tough..." The untold story of Kate Bush's Hounds Of Love". Uncut. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  7. 1 2 "Gaffaweb - Kate Bush - DREAMING - A. The Albums - Hounds Of Love - The Songs - "Cloudbusting" Pt. 2". gaffa.org.
  8. ↑ Young, Alex (26 August 2014). "Kate Bush's first concert in 35 years: setlist + photos". Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  9. ↑ Smith, Robin (12 October 1985). "Index: Bush, Baby" (PDF). Record Mirror. p. 6. Retrieved 12 September 2026.
  10. ↑ "Cloudbusting". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  11. ↑ Dazed (21 June 2024). "The story behind Kate Bush's Cloudbusting video". Dazed. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  12. ↑ McNulty, Bernadette (27 July 2014). "Kate Bush's Cloudbusting video: 7 minutes of heaven". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  13. ↑ Donald Sutherland Interview by Suicide Girls 7 May 2006
  14. ↑ VanDevender, Steve. "Love-Hounds Digest #8.38". Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  15. ↑ Strickland, Andy (26 October 1985). "Kate Busting" (PDF). Record Mirror. p. 4. Retrieved 12 September 2026.
  16. ↑ Wieland Willker (September 1995 – June 1996). "* * DREAMING * * A 'Best of' Love-Hounds Collection Hounds Of Love The Songs "Cloudbusting" Pt. 2". Retrieved 8 September 2011. worked with some designers that worked on the Alien
  17. ↑ "The Energy Question and the Order of Time - the Paradigm for the New World Order - 4 - An invention: thinking with one's hands". www.theorderoftime.com.
  18. ↑ Dazed (30 October 2015). "The story behind Kate Bush's Cloudbusting video". Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  19. ↑ "Heads roll to the premier IMV award" (PDF). Music Week. 9 November 1985. p. 34. Retrieved 12 September 2026.
  20. ↑ "Kate Bush – Cloudbusting" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  21. ↑ "European Top 100 Singles" (PDF). Eurotipsheet. 2 (48). 2 December 1985. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  22. ↑ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know > Search results for 'Cloudbusting'". Fireball Media. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  23. ↑ "Radio Luxembourg Singles". umdmusic.com. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  24. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Kate Bush" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  25. ↑ "Kate Bush – Cloudbusting" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  26. ↑ "Official Charts > Kate Bush". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  27. ↑ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > Kate Bush - Cloudbusting (single)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  28. 1 2 3 "CLOUDBUSTING". Official Charts. 26 October 1985. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  29. ↑ "Kate Bush Chart History (Alternative Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  30. ↑ "Official Singles Downloads Chart on 24/6/2022 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  31. ↑ "Kent Music Report No 601 - 20 January 1986 > National Top 100 Singles > Singles receiving significant sales reports beyond the top 100". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  32. ↑ "British single certifications – Kate Bush – Cloudbusting". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 28 November 2025. Select singles in the Formats field. Type Cloudbusting Kate Bush in the "Search:" field.
  33. 1 2 "Official Charts > Utah Saints". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  34. ↑ "MATTHEW GOOD". MATTHEW GOOD. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
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