"Cloudbusting" is a song written, produced, and performed by English singer Kate Bush. It was released as a single in October 1985 and was the second single from her fifth studio album, Hounds of Love (1985). The single reached No. 20 on the UK Singles Chart and stayed on the chart for 8 weeks.

The song was inspired by the 1973 memoir A Book of Dreams by Peter Reich, which Kate Bush read and found very meaningful. The song tells the story of the close relationship between psychiatrist and philosopher Wilhelm Reich and his son, Peter, from Peter's perspective as an adult. It describes Peter's memories of living with Reich on their family farm, called Orgonon, where they spent time "cloudbusting," a process Reich believed could make rain. This process used a machine Reich designed, called a cloudbuster, which was pointed at the sky. The lyrics also describe Reich's sudden arrest and imprisonment, the sadness Peter felt, and his helplessness in not being able to protect his father.

In a later review, AllMusic journalist Amy Hanson praised the song for its "magnificence" and "repetitive and mesmerizing sounds." She wrote that the song shows both safety and danger through its thoughtful lyrics and a melody driven by a cello. She also noted how Bush captured the moment when a child first realizes that adults can make mistakes.

In 2014, the song was performed live for the first time and was chosen as the final song in Bush's 2014 live concert series, Before the Dawn.

Music video

The music video, directed by Julian Doyle, was created by Terry Gilliam and Kate Bush as a short film. The video includes Canadian actor Donald Sutherland as Wilhelm Reich and Kate Bush as his young son, Peter. The video shows the two on top of a hill trying to operate the cloudbuster. Reich leaves Peter on the machine and returns to his lab. In flashbacks, Reich recalls happy times with Peter while working on scientific projects until government officials interrupt him, arrest him, and search his lab. Peter senses his father's danger and tries to reach him but cannot stop his father from being taken away. Peter then returns to the cloudbuster and successfully activates it, causing his father to see rain begin.

Filming occurred at the Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire, England. From the hill where the machine is placed, the flat, chalk-covered top of Dragon Hill can be seen, just below the Uffington White Horse, a prehistoric hill carving briefly visible in some scenes. Kate Bush learned where Donald Sutherland was staying through actress Julie Christie’s hairdresser and visited his hotel room to ask him to join the project. In the UK, the music video was shown in some cinemas alongside main feature films. Because of challenges in obtaining a work visa for Sutherland, he agreed to work on the video without pay. Although the story’s events take place in Maine, a newspaper clipping in the video shows The Oregon Times, likely referencing Reich’s home and lab, "Orgonon."

The cloudbuster in the video was designed and built by people who worked on the Xenomorph and looks somewhat similar to real cloudbusters, which were smaller, had narrow, straight tubes, and were operated while standing on the ground. In a nod to the song’s source material, Bush pulls a copy of Peter Reich’s A Book of Dreams from Sutherland’s coat.

The full-length video includes a longer version of the song, different from the Organon Mix released on 12-inch vinyl. This version was sold on the The Red Shoes single. Around the time of its release, Bush sent Peter Reich a VHS copy of the music video. Reich became an immediate fan and later told Dazed magazine, "Quite magically, this British musician had tapped precisely into a unique and magical fulfillment of father-son devotion, emotion, and understanding. They had captured it all."

Track listing

The B-side of the single was "Burning Bridge," a song in which a woman urgently pleads with her lover to increase his commitment to her. The 12-inch version of the single included an extra track called "My Lagan Love," which is a traditional Irish melody with lyrics written by John Carder Bush, the brother of Kate Bush. The 12-inch version of "Cloudbusting" was a special remix titled "The Organon Re-Mix," where the verses received less emphasis, and the focus was on developing the song's chorus. In the United States, this version was released under the title "The Meteorological Mix," a name also used in the UK for the 12-inch version of Bush's later single "The Big Sky."

Charts

In Australia, the song "Cloudbusting" almost made it onto the Kent Music Report's top 100 singles chart in January 1986.

Cover versions

In 1992, the group Utah Saints used a line from a song, "I just know that something good is gonna happen," in their song "Something Good." They also included scenes from a music video by another artist in their own video. The song reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2008, a remixed and re-released version of the song reached No. 8 on the chart. This later version used a sample from a different artist.

In 2014, the Irish musician Gemma Hayes performed a version of the song "Cloudbusting" on her album Night & Day. In 2015, the Canadian musician Matthew Good performed a version of "Cloudbusting" on his album Chaotic Neutral. His version included Holly McNarland providing backing vocals.