I’ll always have my Mam to thank for getting me into Kate Bush, and ‘Cloudbusting’ was always my favourite song of hers, ever since I first saw the video for it all those years ago. Kate Bush’s videos are fairly crazy (see ‘Babooshka’, ‘Hounds of Love’ and ‘The Man With a Child In His Eyes’ (always thought that title was a bit weird)), but this just about tops them all.

I only know a couple of songs off the Hounds of Love album, but they’re all of a very high standard. My mate reckons Kate Bush is ‘crazy’, in a Bjork/PJ Harvey/Tori Amos type way, as in crazy in an extremely creative way. I have to agree, and there’s no doubting that she puts a lot into her music.

‘Cloudbusting’ appears to be about a machine that the narrator’s father has invented that can make it rain. The government gets wind of this, and tries to put a stop to the mad professor. The story seems to be based on Wilhelm Reich, who developed a similar machine and was targeted by the FBI for his troubles.

The music is not obviously rooted in the mid-’80s. The cello used in the song is brilliant, almost up there with ‘Eleanor Rigby’ for the use of unsentimental strings in a pop song. Apart from that, it’s a driving drumbeat that holds up the cello. Kate sings some crazy lines, a personal favourite being “You’re like my yo-you, that glows in the dark, what made it special, made it dangerous, so I bury it”, anyone?

But the song also seems to make points about women emerging from the shadows to make their mark on the arts, as well as the bond between parent and child, and the individual’s helplessness and fragility when the authorities come chasing.

And the video itself is a masterpiece. The venerable Donald Sutherland plays Bush’s father, and her own boyish, mousy haircut is a sight to behold. It’s a story within itself, and watching it on YouTube took me back over 20 years instantly. Watch it and enjoy.

Last 5 posts by Dave

• 'New Generation' - Suede, 1994 - January 6th, 2009
• 'Sunflower' - Paul Weller, 1993 - December 18th, 2008
• 'Brilliant Mistake' - Elvis Costello, 1986 - December 16th, 2008
• 'Icky Thump' - The White Stripes, 2007 - December 11th, 2008
• 'Careering' - Public Image Limited, 1979 - December 10th, 2008

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This entry was posted on Monday, June 30th, 2008 at 7:41 am and is filed under Pop, Retro Classics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.