Another Brick In The Wall #6

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

We've just finished listening to "Vera" in which Pink mourns over how he will never meet his father who died in the war. We are then swept into a loud choral song called "Bring the Boys Back Home," which Roger Waters calls the central and unifying song of the whole Wall Rock Opera. In an interview with Tommy Vance in 1980 Waters says that the song is "...partly about not letting people go off and be killed in wars, but it's partly about now allowing rock and roll, ... or anything that anybody might do ... not letting that become such an important and 'jolly boy's game' that it becomes more important than friends, wives, children, or other people." Though the song is loud and full of people, the song ends abruptly on a minor chord when Pink realizes that he is still alone. 

Wall Projection During The Wall Live Tour For "Bring the Boys Back Home."

Segueing into "Comfortably Numb," we find that Pink has moved from lonely to delusional. Pink has just been found unconscious in his room, mostly likely from a drug overdose. The dialogue is between a doctor who treats Pink (the verses Waters sings) and Pink's thoughts (verses sung by David Gilmour). This song was written by Waters about being treated for Hepatitis right before a show and how numb and delirious he felt during the performance.

After being revived (in the film version at least), Pink knows that "The Show Must Go On" and he prepares himself to perform. It's very short and almost like a pep talk for him to get ready for the show he starts playing. The backing vocals were supposed to sound Beach Boys-esque, especially after the Beach Boys cancelled the morning of the actual recording. This song was omitted from the movie and has been omitted in post-Pink Floyd concerts in the 1990s.

The Iconic Crossed Hammers - Pink's Logo

We hear the show Pink is playing in "In the Flesh" - not to be confused with the introductory song "In the Flesh?" In this segment, Pink envisions himself as a fascist dictator and his concert is a large political rally. Pink questions his fans loyalty and singles out the "queers" and the "coons." The incited crowd chants "Pink! Floyd! Pink! Floyd!" until the end of the song. This song is where the iconic Hammer salute comes from and projections of marching hammers can be seen during performances and in the movie.

Now that Pink is in a heightened delusional state - what will he do next? Find out in Part 7!

Another Brick In The Wall #5

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

After a long summer hiatus, I'm starting back up with Part 5 of The Wall which is super exciting since we have arrived at the long awaited Disc 2.

Pink has just finished building his wall and has put in the final brick. His isolation from society is complete. Now we go into "Hey You," an acoustic number to get us back into the story. Pink has now decided that completely shunning society was not the best idea and this song is his way to try to connect again. However, his wall is still up so no one can hear him calling and as the song progresses, his cries become more desperate as he realizes that there is no escape. Fun Fact: This song was shot but not included in the movie due to time restraints.

The iconic wall that Pink is trying to break free of.

"Is There Anybody Out There?" is very similar in plot to "Hey You." It is mostly a desperate song by Pink trying to reach out and he is asking the questions since there is no response. The other half is an instrumental song with TV show dialogue snippets. One excerpt is from Gunsmoke and the other is from Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Also, the shrill siren-like noise you where in this track is the same noise you hear in "Echoes" (Meddle, 1971) that was made to sound like a whale call. It is simply a wah-wah pedal with the cables reversed.

Now we flow into "Nobody Home" which is about how lonely Pink feels on the road with no one to talk to . But it's al pretty much about everyone's mental problems or drug abuse while on tour. Roger Water's wrote some of it about Syd Barrett's mental state in 1967 and the lines "I got a silver spoon on a chain/Got a grand piano to prop up my mortal remains" allude to Richard Wright's alleged struggle with cocaine at the time. Since there is so much allusion to drugs and deteriorating mental states, are we to assume that Pink too is suffering from an addiction or some mental disease? There is a television playing in the background with the lines "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise" that connects to the line "I got thirteen channels of shit on the TV to choose from." "Nobody Home" was the last song to be written for the album and it is also David Gilmour's favourite song.

Waters singing "Vera" during a Wall concert. This section is a small room that folds out of the wall. Really cool!

"Vera" is a very ironic and sad song. The Vera in this song is Vera Lynn, a singer who came to fame in World War II with her song "We'll Meet Again." Pink, similar to Waters, would never meet his father since he died in the war. The line "Vera, what has become of you?" suggests the Vera Lynn and her promise have vanished. The opening dialogue of the song "Simon, where the hell are you?" is from the 1969 movie, The Battle of Britain, a choice which makes a lot of sense contextually. This song was recorded with the New York Symphony Orchestra.


All in all, this section of The Wall is a little depressing, but all the good stuff is about to come! Pink has tried very hard to get out from his wall and reconnect with society. Will he prevail or is his resistance futile? More to come in Part 6!

"I'll See You On the Dark Side Of the Moon"

40 years ago today, one of the greatest and most popular Pink Floyd albums, Dark Side of the Moon was released. So I decided to shove aside a bit of school work and talk about this AWESOME album.

Following Meddle (1971), Dark Side was the 8th studio album for the group, written entirely by Roger Waters. Waters wanted to write an album that deal with things that "made people mad," focusing on the arduous lifestyle the band faced in day-to-day life, including dealing with Syd Barrett's mental problems that had caused him to leave the band. It's original working title was The Dark Side of the Moon: A Piece for Assorted Lunatics. The band agreed on Waters' unifying concept and went straight to work.

If you don't recognize the artwork, you should probably stop reading this blog.

In 1972, the band went a world wide tour to perform Dark Side as it would be recorded and the tour was praised by the public. The long tour allowed Pink Floyd to make some changes until they found the songs to be just what they wanted them to be.

Each side of the album is a continuous song and represents a specific part of life: it begins and ends with a heartbeat, and explores human nature throughout. "Speak to Me/Breathe" is about the mundane parts of life, "On the Run" shifts to an airport and explores Richard Wright's fear of flying, and "The Great Big Gig in the Sky" is a soulful metaphor for death. "Money" mocks greed and consumerism, "Us and Them" addresses the isolation of the depressed, and "Any Colour You Like It" concerns the lack of choice one has in society. "Brain Damage" is clearly a song for Syd and looks at mental illness from resulting fame. The whole album ends with "Eclipse" which forces the listener to recognize the common traits shared by humanity through the concepts of alterity and unity.

Some have said that Dark Side is actually about the movie The Wizard of Oz. Apparently, if you start playing the album when you start the movie, there are some coincidental match ups between lyrics and Dorothy's movements. Alan Parsons, who helped record the album, says that the band never brought up the movie even once during writing or recording.

A live performance of Dark Side in Earl's Court, shortly after the release.

"Money," ironically, has become one of the most popular songs off the album. It was one of the first songs that got me into Pink Floyd and I remember my father blasting it whenever it came on the stereo. It didn't matter what we were doing - bbqing, working outside, washing dishes, driving the car - "Money" was blasted very loudly and was accompanied with a certain foot thumping from my father. This song's got some great memories tied up in it for me.

One of my other favourites is "Speak to Me/Breathe." It's just a nice mellow song that you can really get into. I really enjoyed listening to it during my summer commute to work. But all in all, this a fantastic album and probably one of their most popular (next to The Wall, of course). If you haven't heard it, go listen to it - you're missing out a piece of musical artwork.