Cloudbusting (5:10)

Like Bush’s first hit “Wuthering Heights,” this is based on a book. It was inspired by Peter Reich’s 1973 Book of Dreams, which describes his father Wilhelm’s arrest for contempt of court.

Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian psychiatrist who was trained in Vienna by Sigmund Freud. His work combined Marxism and psychoanalysis to advocate sexual freedom. In the 1930s, Reich came up with the concept of “orgone,” a physical energy contained in the atmosphere and in all living matter. The “Cloudbuster” was a device he came up with to manipulate the orgone energy in the atmosphere, which would force clouds to form and bring rain.

Hawkwind and Patti Smith have both released songs about Reich’s concept of Cloudbusting.

Donald Sutherland appears in the video as the inventor/father.