Tag Archives: cloudbusting

Cloudbusting – Kate Bush

cloudbusting.jpgI am a huge Kate Bush fan, but Cloudbusting has to be my favourite song.

I just know that something good is going to happen
And I don’t know when
But just saying it could even make it happen

I never knew what the song was about until now. I thought it was like a pep-talk about good things being just around the corner.

In fact, Cloudbusting is about a real-life father-son duo in the 1950s who believed they had invented a machine, called a cloudbuster, to make it rain. This invention would result in crops being saved during a drought if successful.

But every time it rains
You’re here in my head
Like the sun coming out

However, the father became paranoid and began to get into trouble with the government after suspicions of his invention being phoney spread. He refused to go to court, and along with other reasons, he was arrested. (I think I’ve understood this correctly; it’s quite a complicated story.)

I can’t hide you
From the government
Oh, god, daddy
I won’t forget

Kate Bush’s song is from the point of view of the son who watches his beloved father getting taken away by the government.

You could see them coming
You looked too small
In their big, black car
To be a threat to the men in power

It’s such a haunting song because of the cello and the lyrics. But it’s equally uplifting, as she interprets the feeling of breaking new ground and the excitement of it.