Music Monday: Kate Bush

I love Kate Bush. I’m not entirely sure she’s quite in control of all her faculties but this changes nothing. I love her.

This song is a particular favourite of mine, I just think the lyrics and the way the song builds are very moving. I haven’t the faintest idea what she’s on about, but that’s hardly unusual when it comes to dear old Kate.

Having looked this song up, it is apparently about the very close relationship between psychologist and philosopher Wilhelm Reich and his son, Peter. The song describes the boys memories from his life, spent on the family farm “Orgonon” where father and son would spend time together literally “cloudbusting”, using a machine designed and built by Reich which was supposed to make it rain. Wilhelm Reich was arrested and imprisoned, found to be in contempt of court. Bush read Peter Reich’s 1973 memoir “A Book of Dreams” which chronicled how helpless and lost he felt when his father was abruptly arrested and imprisoned. Bush was deeply moved by the book and therefore inspired to write this.

The video was directed by Julian Doyle and conceived by Terry Gilliam of Monty Python fame. Donald Sutherland plays Wilhelm Reich, and Bush plays Peter. The video was filmed in Oxfordshire. Bush simply went and asked Sutherland to be in it, finding out what hotel he was staying in nearby. They could not obtain a work visa for him at such late notice so he worked for free.

The Cloudbusting machine is designed by the same people who made the Alien in the film “Alien”. Weird.

From the album: Hounds of Love

Released: 16 September 1985

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRHA9W-zExQ]