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/_|___|___|___|___|___|__\ Frequently Asked Question (FAQ)
/|___|___|___|___|___|___|_\ List
/___|___|___|___|___|___|___|\ -= Part 3 =-
/__|___|___|___|___|___|___|___\
/_|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|__\ Version 3.6b (August 1995) [06/97 bear]
Originally compiled by David Schuetz
Currently maintained by Matt Denault
([email protected])
or ([email protected])
-=-
With help from all over the world!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The FAQ is broken down into four sections, as follows:
Section 1 - General Information
The first section is general information, and
includes stuff like lists of albums, videos, tour
personnel, set lists, etc.
Section 2 - The Early Years
The second section covers their "early years," that
is, _Piper_ through _Obscured by Clouds_.
Section 3 - The Glory Years
The third section is the "glory years" (and any
discussion regarding this time frame *not* being
the time of their greatest glory will be ignored).
This section covers DSotM through _The Wall_.
Section 4 - After the Wall
The fourth section covers TFC through _Pulse_ and
beyond, the various solo albums, and general trivia
that doesn't fit anywhere else.
In addition to these four parts, there is the "Pink Floyd Internet Reference
List," which details how to access various other Internet sources of Floyd
information, such as FTP sites, WWW servers, IRC channels, Usenet newsgroups,
and the echoes mailing list.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Section 3 - The Glory Years
[+] 01. "When was DSotM first played?"
[-] 02. "What is that 'twist' or 'wow' in 'The Great Gig in the Sky'?"
[-] 03. "What's the music at the end of 'Eclipse'?"
[-] 04. "Where did the voices on DSotM come from?"
[-] 05. "What does the cover of DSotM represent?"
[-] 06. "Doesn't 'Great Gig' say something like 'You are dying'?"
[-] 07. "The 'Brain Damage' and 'Eclipse' on _Works_ sound strange..."
[+] 08. "Have Pink Floyd ever done any advertisements?"
[-] 09. "Why are the 'black label' DSotM discs so expensive?"
[*] 10. "Recent _Dark Side_ Releases"
[*]10.1 "Song Credits and Tracking Differences"
[*]10.2 "The New Cross-Fade"
[-] 11. "What was the 'Household Objects' project?"
[-] 12. "What are the different parts of 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond'?"
[+] 13. "Who is Roy Harper, and why did he sing 'Have a Cigar'?"
[-] 14. "Didn't the Pig fly away once?"
[-] 15. "What album did Snowy White play guitar on?"
[+] 16. "There's an error in the lyrics for 'Dogs'."
[-] 17. "What were the original lyrics to _Animals_?"
[-] 18. "Who is 'Whitehouse'?"
[+] 19. "What cities did the _Wall_ tour go to?"
[-] 20. "How can I tell where a particular _Wall_ concert was recorded?"
[-] 21. "I heard an extra first verse to 'The Show Must Go On' in concert."
[-] 22. "Why isn't 'Hey You' in the _Wall_ movie?"
[-] 23. "What is 'When The Tigers Broke Free?'"
[-] 24. "What is said right before 'Empty Spaces'?"
[-] 25. "Background voices in _The Wall_"
[-]25.1 "At the very beginning/end of _The Wall_"
[-]25.2 "In the Flesh?"
[-]25.3 "The Happiest Days of Our Lives"
[-]25.4 "Another Brick in the Wall part 2"
[-]25.5 "Goodbye Blue Sky"
[*]25.6 "Nobody Home"
[+]25.7 "Waiting for the Worms"
[-]25.8 "The Trial"
[-] 26. "What was the original order of _The Wall_?"
[-] 27. "Who sang 'The Little Boy that Santa Claus Forgot'?"
[-] 28. "What is sung by Pink in the stall in the 'Wall' film?"
[-] 29. "Is the _Wall_ soundtrack available on CD?"
[+] 30. "There's a lyric in 'Mother' that's different in the movie"
[-] 31. "When and why did Richard Wright leave the band?"
- Same as last version
+ Changed since last version
* New since last version
This Document Copyright 1994, 1995 by the Echoes Mailing List
For questions on distribution, contact: [email protected]
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[+] 01. "When was DSotM first played?"
The very first time they played it was on 20 January, 1972, at The Dome,
Brighton; though they had to stop at the opening sound effects of "Money"
due to technical problems. They played all but "Eclipse" the next night --
"Eclipse" had yet to be written. In its place, they played a instrumental
jazzy song. Roger didn't feel this was a dramatic enough finale, however,
and wrote "Eclipse" for the Bristol show in early February (the 5th,
according to Miles). The Bristol show was then the first time the whole
"album" was performed.
("Album" in quotes because early performances were substantially different
from DSotM as it was eventually recorded and released. Early renditions of
_Dark Side_ had a jam version of "On the Run" (instead of the synthesizers),
a slower version of "Time," and a vocal-less, organ-based "Great Gig in the
Sky" with a tape of preachers running in the background.)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[-] 02. "What is that 'twist' or 'wow' in 'The Great Gig in the Sky'?"
One of two things. It could be an accidental tape anomaly that the Floyd
never noticed when they recorded the song, or they did, but it was so faint
that they didn't care anymore, or perhaps it happened long after the tape
was finished and the master just got damaged. In any event, if you listen
very closely to the end of the song, you can hear the last low note sort of
"burp" a bit.
Others have argued that Pink Floyd are too much of a "purist" in terms of
their work and would never have allowed a glitch like that to be distributed
without having some reason. What that reason is, however, is anybody's guess.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[-] 03. "What's the music at the end of 'Eclipse'?"
Nobody knows. But everyone seems to have heard it at one time... If you
listen to the very very end of "Eclipse", and turn your volume up very very
high, you will very very faintly hear some music. This has been pointed out
several times, but nobody has ever been able to pinpoint exactly what the
song is. Some think it's a Beatles song, others, classical music. And why
is it there? A studio trick? Or just sound bleeding through from another
studio? Truth is, we'll probably never know...
Apparently, however, the original "Black Label" Harvest CD does *not* have
this music. Curiouser and curiouser....
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[-] 04. "Where did the voices on DSotM come from?"
People. Lots of people. Just like you and me (sort of). What the band
did was this: they prepared a bunch of questions, questions like "When was
the last time you thumped someone?" "Why are you frightened of dying?" and
"Were you in the right?" Then they took people off the streets, out of
other recording sessions, and from within the Abbey Road staff, sat them
down in front of a microphone, and handed them a random card, instructing
them to say whatever comes to mind. Answers like "I've been mad for fucking
years, absolutely years" and "I don't know [if I was in the right], I was
really drunk at the time" made it on to the album.
Most of the voices are completely anonymous, but the "stoned laughter"
(along with the "short, sharp, shock" bit) from "Brain Damage" are from
roadie "Roger the Hat," and the Irish Doorman to Abbey Road is the man
saying that "there is no dark side of the moon, really...as a matter of
fact it's all dark." Paul and Linda McCartney are among those who were
asked questions, but whose answers were not used (they sounded too
ordinary and unspontaneous).
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[-] 05. "What does the cover of DSotM represent?"
[From the Shine On book:]
"The idea of the prism came from a series of conversations with the band,
especially with Roger and Rick. Roger spoke about the pressures of touring,
the madness of ambition...and the triangle is a symbol of ambition. Rick
wanted something more graphic, less pictorial, something, as he put it, more
stylish than before. Floyd's lighting show was regarded as very powerful
and the prism seemed a good way to refer to that, and be more graphic at the
same time."
And, regarding the pyramids:
"A larger physical representation of the triangle was the pyramid...perhaps
it could be seen as a testament to madness, more 'vaulting abmition.'"
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[-] 06. "Doesn't 'Great Gig' say something like 'You are dying'?"
No. It doesn't. Absolutely not. And if you are convinced that it does,
then, sorry, you're wrong. My apologies for the stern answer -- this has
been a topic of debate just a few times too many for me.
At about 3:32 into the song, there is a background voice. It's of a
woman, and the what she says is "I never said I was frightened of dying."
Presumably, the question she'd been asked was "Why are you frightened of
dying?" and this holds for the other voices on that song, as well.
A common mis-interpretation of this phrase is "If you can hear this
whisper, you're dying." But that's not it...
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[-] 07. "The 'Brain Damage' and 'Eclipse' on _Works_ sound strange..."
That's because they're different! The versions on that album are not from
the regular DSotM mix, but rather from the quadraphonic mix. This makes
sense when you consider that _Works_ was an American release, from Capitol,
and that Capitol's first DSotM CD was taken directly from the quadraphonic
LP master. Anyway, the only real difference is in the voices of "Roger the
Hat," the roadie who supplied a lot of voices to the album. In the regular
mix, he talks a bit in the background of the song, in the quad mix, he just
laughs (and laughs and laughs...).
Also, some people have said that the version of "Set The Controls for the
Heart of the Sun" sounds much clearer on _Works_ than on ASOS.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[+] 08. "Have Pink Floyd ever done any advertisements?"
Yes. In 1974, Pink Floyd were approached by a French soft-drink company
that produced a bitter lemon drink called "Gini." The idea was that the
Floyd would appear in some magazine ads for the company, and the company
would in turn help the band with the tour, resulting in cheaper tickets
for the fans, and more money for the band. What could be better?
However, this was ten years before such corporate sponsorship would become
commonplace, and fans reacted badly to the advertisements, as did the band.
Waters wrote a song about selling his soul in the desert (called "Bitter
Love," or "How Do You Feel?"), and the band donated the money Gini paid
them to charity.
Rick Wright also sanctioned the use of a rerecording of "The Great Gig in
the Sky" in an advertisement for a headache pain-relief pill, Nurofen. The
Floyd were not involved in the rerecording, but Clare Torry again did the
vocal.
Most recently, in late 1993 they entered into two promotional agreements to
support _The Division Bell_ tour. The first involved a Labatt's ICE beer
commerical, which showed the "Division Belle" airship, and promoted the
Canadian leg of the tour. The other was with Volkswagen, in support of the
European portion of the tour. In return for financial support, Pink Floyd
agreed to lend its name to a specially modified VW Golf III (or Golf-based
Cabriolet). In shades of "bitter love," though, Gilmour says he came to feel
uncomfortable with the agreement -- done basically for money -- and that he
wouldn't do such a sponsorship agreement again. And, as with the band's Gini
experience, all the money in the VW deal went to charity.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[-] 09. "Why are the 'black label' DSotM discs so expensive?"
[Taken in part from an article in Record Collector magazine:]
In the early 1980s, when the compact disc first appeared, the CDs themselves
were imported from Japan, which was at that time the only country with the
facilities to manufacture the new format. Initial British issues of _Dark
Side_, _Wish You Were Here_, _Meddle_ and _The Wall_ had "Made in Japan" on
the discs themselves, while the inserts stated the country of origin as the
U.K.
These early discs -- which are said to be superior to standard UK/US
issues (excepting _The Wall_, which had several problems) -- can easily
be distinguished because they have an all-black label side with silver
lettering. These Japanese-manufactured CDs are now highly prized by
hardcore collectors, both for their vastly superior sound quality and
for their rarity. Expect to pay around #20 [20 UK pounds] or so for
copies.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[*] 10. "Recent _Dark Side_ Releases"
Recent releases of _The Dark Side of the Moon_ -- from the _Shine On_ set,
the XX anniversary CD, the "normal" EMI remaster, and the live rendition on
_Pulse_ -- have provoked a few new questions.
[*] 10.1 "Song Credits and Tracking Differences"
Several changes in the _Dark Side_ song crediting have occurred in some
recent releases of the song cycle (_Shine On_ and the audio versions of
_Pulse_). These are:
Song and Original Credits ||| New Credits
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Speak to Me" (Mason) --> Mason, Waters
"On the Run" (Gilmour, Waters) --> Gilmour, Waters, Wright
"The Great Gig in the Sky" (Wright) --> Wright, Waters
It's interesting that these changes occur on _Shine On_ and the _Pulse_ audio
releases, but not the videos of DSoT or _Pulse_, nor the EMI remaster or the
XX Anniversary DSotM CD. I can't imagine that Storm and company aren't aware
of these discrepancies, though I suppose it's possible. But assuming there
*is* a reason for them...what is it?
The best I can come up with -- and I freely admit this is quite a stretch --
is that, for the audio recordings, it's a part of the agreement between the
current Floyd and Roger Waters. The reasoning involved would be that Waters
was understandably reluctant to have songs he felt strongly involved with
used to promote something which he felt was illegitimnate. So when DSotM or
its component songs are used in conjunction with -- and thus used as a sales
incentive for -- post-Waters Floyd material, the current Floyd agreed to give
Waters credit for several songs that he did a marginal but still significant
amount of work on.
The Wright credit would then be a kind of "if you get credit for your role
on this, Rick should get credit for his role on that" thing. And when the
albums are sold on their own, as the XX Anniversary CD or normal remaster,
the original crediting holds. Finally, the video recordings fall under a
seperate copyright, so this doesn't apply to them, and they use the original
credits as well.
This theory would also give an explanation for the differences in the
tracking of "Speak to Me" and "Breathe" on the various releases. On _Shine
On_ and _Pulse_ they're tracked seperately; on the XX CD, they're together.
Let me stress again, though, that this is all just speculation on my part --
it has no basis other than the fact that it matches the circumstances, and I
can't think of anything else that does...
[*] 10.2 "The New Cross-Fade"
The EMI remastered versions of DSotM have an added "bridge" between "The
Great Gig in the Sky" and "Money" that all other releases lack. Being first
released on vinyl, there was always a gap between the two songs caused by
the album break; this gap was perpetuated on the cassette and original CD
versions. When James Guthrie, Doug Sax and Alan Parsons went to remaster
the album, they also added in a new cross-fade to make the transition flow
more smoothly.
(It's worth noting here the obvious but sometimes overlooked fact that all
the older albums were created and recorded for vinyl. "Money" wasn't just
in the middle of DSotM, for example -- it was the start of the second side
of the LP.)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[-] 11. "What was the 'Household Objects' project?"
Following the success of _Dark Side of the Moon_, the Floyd were in
something of a quandry as to what to do next. One idea they had was
to try to create an entire album using only sounds produced by common
household objects. The Floyd used a number of recording sessions in
the latter months of 1973 to experiment with such unconventional
instruments as wine bottles, aerosol spray cans, rubber bands, tape,
and others.
In the end, they managed to get three songs recorded before giving up
on the project as "a bit daft." However, some bits and pieces (such
as wine glass sounds) are rumored to have been used in the beginning
of SOYCD.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[-] 12. "What are the different parts of 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond'?"
"Shine On" was originally supposed to be a side-long composition, but it
grew to more than a side (it's about 30 min. long), and the band decided
that it'd work better with the three other songs in the middle. In any
event, the song is divided into nine parts, but naturally it's rather
difficult to tell where they start and end. Here is something, pulled
from Guitar magazine by Chris Walsh, that should help figure them out:
Part I - Gilmour soloing, orchestra-like keyboard chords, some synth horn.
Part II - Begins with "Syd's Theme", the four note (Dah DAH dah DAH...)
riff that is repeated throughout this part of the song. (3:35)
Part III - Rick's synth horn solo. (6:29)
Part IV - Vocal section. (8:42)
Part V - Sax solo. (11:10)
Part VI - Odd-sounding synth, then goes into some decent lap steel by
Gilmour.
Part VII - Second vocal section. (4:52)
Part VIII - Rather jazzy synths. (6:04)
Part IX - Closing funeral dirge-like synth horn solo. (9:09)
There is also an alternate scheme, given by the WYWH piano songbook. In
this arrangement, the first five parts are as follows:
Part I - Rick's opening synth solo
Part II - Dave's first solo (the soft one)
Part III - "Syd's Theme"
Part IV - Rick's synth horn solo, followed by a Dave solo
Part V - Roger's vocals, and sax solo
This seems a little odd to me, and music books aren't noted for their
accuracy. On the other hand, neither is Gilmour's memory ;) At any rate,
going by Dave's indexing, the CoGDS version consists of parts I, II, IV
and VII. The DSoT version, by either scheme, consists of parts I - V.
Below are excerpts from the interview with David Gilmour:
"Side one begins with "Shine On, You Crazy Diamond", the ambitious
nine-part epic song cycle. 'Part I' commences with an opening
orchestra prelude...." "David Gilmour's blues-infected guitar voice
enters (at 2:09) in response to the horn line, as if to officially
announce the sound of Pink Floyd."... "A strong thematic idea,
affectionately dubbed 'Syd's Theme', is played at 3:35 and signals the
beginning of 'Part II'."... "In 'Part III' (6:29), a hint of the
funeral mood of the coda is heard in the somber horn melody of the
next blues transformation - now a slow straightforward Gm blues
12-bar..." "'Shine On, You Crazy Diamond, Part IV' contains the
classic vocal sound of the cycle (8:42)."... "At 11:10, a model jazz
sax solo, by guest perfomer Dick Parry, is brought in, improvising
over the drone of 'Syd's Theme', signalling a transition to 'Shine On,
You Crazy Diamond, Part V'"... "The overlapping synth noise is a segue
back to 'Shine On, You Crazy Diamond, Part VI.'"... "By 2:32, the
slide guitar dominates [Part VI] and delivers two dramatic choruses of
portamento bottleneck lines over the new 12/8 shuffle feel, setting up
the move to 'Part VII'. Here, a recap of the guitar melody from 'Part
IV' acts as a retransition [into the vocal theme]"... "In 'Part VIII',
a fingerpicked arpeggio variant of 'Syd's Theme' is heard (6:04) over
a sustaining synth tone. This creates a transitionto a new mood
(6:30), a strutting Gm jazz/funk groove.."... "The last section
(coda), 'Part IX', is introduced by a synth pedal point, which grows
in volume as the previous goove dissipates. A slow 4/4 funeral march
(9:08) becomes the parting musical eulogy to Syd."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[+] 13. "Who is Roy Harper, and why did he sing 'Have a Cigar'?"
Roy Harper is a "street singer" from England, popular in the 1970's. Waters
didn't like the way he was singing "Have a Cigar," and Harper was in another
studio at the time making an album. So, they brought Harper in, and had him
sing it. Though Waters said that Harper did "very well," he also now feels
it would have been better to keep the song within the band.
Harper performed with the band at their 1975 Knebworth concert (which was
the last performance of _Dark Side of the Moon_ with Roger Waters). Upon
discovering that his stage costume had been stolen, he threw a tantrum,
ripping upholstry and breaking the windows of one of the tour vans. During
this he cut his band badly -- an incident which inspired the hotel-ravaging
scene in "The Wall."
A bit more information, courtesy of Scott Lindsey:
Harper is much more a song-writer than a musician, in the same way Bob
Dylan is. He's been recording since the late '60's and has released about
18 or so albums, including the duo effort with Page, "What Ever Happened
to Jugula?" which also featured Gilmour. Like Dylan, he doesn't have the
greatest voice, but it is somewhat unique, albeit not as recognizable as
Dylan's. Much of his released material is simply vocal with acoustic
guitar. He's very British and at times very political -- very much the
cynic. His music isn't for just anyone and for some is an accquired taste.
What some find "pointed" others find "grating."
Harper also helped out David Gilmour on his first solo album, helping to
write and sing "Short and Sweet" (and Gilmour has worked extensively on
Harper's albums). He appears on Gilmour's live tour video. He is also the
subject of a Led Zeppelin song, "Hats Off to Roy Harper," from their third
album.
There's a Roy Harper mailing list, called "stormcock." You can subscribe by
sending a message containing the line "subscribe stormcock" to the address
"majordomo.bilpin.co.uk"
There's also WWW page; http://www.helsinki.fi/~akoskine/royharper.html
(though there isn't much there yet).
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[-] 14. "Didn't the Pig fly away once?"
Yep; when they were photographing the cover for _Animals_. They did the
photography on two different days. The first day was kind of dark and
dismal, and the pig simply wouldn't float (not enough helium or something
like that). So they all "took some photographs, had some champagne, and
went home." The next day was a beautiful day with nary a cloud in the sky,
and the pig floated up fine. In fact, it floated too well--it broke away
from its mooring and reached a height of nearly 10,000 feet before heading
back down to Earth, scaring quite a few pilots in the process.
The cover of _Animals_ is a combination of the two photographs -- the
dismal power station from the previous day, and the floating pig from the
day it flew away. The film for "Pigs (3 Different Ones)" used on the tour
was taken that second day.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[-] 15. "What album did Snowy White play guitar on?"
_Animals_. Sort of. They were setting the album up to be released on the
US 8-track tape (remember those?) and needed a bit of music to bridge the
two versions of "Pigs on the Wing." He was "available" at the time, and
recorded a short guitar solo.
8-tracks had (as you might guess) 8 tracks; or 4 stereo tracks. This meant
that albums had to be divided up into four roughly equal parts. There's some
confusion as to how the tape was arranged (there may be more than one
version), but one arrangement was as follows, according to owner Donald
Scheidt:
Track 1: Dogs (part of the song...)
Track 2: Dogs (...rest of the song), PotW1-solo-PotW2
Track 3: Pigs (Three Different Ones)
Track 4: Sheep
Anyway, regardless of how the Animals 8-track was arranged, we have it on
good authority that this is the only Floyd album on which Snowy White
appeared. He has also appeared with the Floyd in a couple of tours.
[The only place I know of to find the studio version of this piece of music,
other than the 8-track itself, is on the _Total Eclipse_ roio. He also
played it on the "In the Flesh" tour, after PotW2.]
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[+] 16. "There's an error in the lyrics for 'Dogs'."
Yep. On the lyrics sheet (and also the on-line files, I believe), one of
the last few lines of the song reads something like:
Who was given a seat in the stand
But the line that is sung is:
Who was given a pat on the back
Why is it different? Who knows. Maybe it was changed by Waters at the
last minute, and they never bothered to change the lyrics sheet. At any
rate, it's corrected in the lyric book for the _Shine On_ set.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[+] 17. "What were the original lyrics to _Animals_?"
Pink Floyd toured in 1974 with the following new songs: "Shine On You Crazy
Diamond," "You Gotta Be Crazy," and "Raving and Drooling" -- on the early
'75 tour, they added "Have a Cigar" and split "Shine On" into two sections.
These last two were later recorded and released in late 1975 on WYWH, but
the other two were shelved until they reappeared in 1977, modified, on
_Animals_.
Here are the lyrics as they sounded in 1975, taken from a tour program:
[thanks to Tom Hood and Bruce Hammerle]
Raving And Drooling
=====================
Raving and drooling I fell on his neck with a scream
He had a whole lotta terminal shock in his eyes
Thats what you get for pretending the rest are not real
Bubbling and snapping at far away flies
He will zig zag his way back through
Memories of boredom and pain
How does it feel to be empty and angry and spaced
Split up the middle between the illusion of
Safety in numbers and the fist in your face
Gotta Be Crazy
=====================
You gotta be crazy, you gotta be mean
You gotta keep your kids and your car clean
you gotta keep climbing, you gotta keep fit
You gotta keep smiling, you gotta eat shit
You gotta be small to be a big shot
You gotta eat meat to stay at the top
You gotta be trusted, gotta tell lies
You gotta be able to narrow your eyes
You gotta believe the've gotta believe you
You gotta appear easy to see through
Gotta be sure you look good on T.V.
Gotta resemble a human being
You gotta one eye over your shoulder
Gonna get harder as you get older
Gotta fly south and hide in the sand
Gotta forget your gonna get cancer
And when you loose control, you'll reap
the harvest you have sown
And as the fear grows, the bad blood
slows and turns to stone
And it's too late too lose the weight you
used to need to throw around
So have a good drown as you go down alone
Dragged down the by the stone
Gotta be sure, you gotta be quick
Gotta divide the tame from the sick
Gotta keep some of us docile and fit
You gotta keep everyone burying this shit
I gotta admit to a lot of confusion
Pain in the head is the child of collusion
Gotta resist the creeping malaise
You gotta believe in the way you
out of the maze
But you, you just keep on pretending
You can tell a sucker from a friend
But you still raise the knife to
Stranger, lover, friend and foe alike
Who was born in a house full of pain
Who was sent out to play on his own
Who was raised on a diet of shame
Who was trained not to spit in the fan
Who was told what to by the man
Who was broken by trained personnel
Who was fitted with bridle and bit
Who was given a seat in the stand
Who was forcing his way to the rails
Who was offered a place on the board
Who was only a stranger at home
Who was ground down in the end
Who was found dead on the phone
Who was dragged down by the stone
NOTE: The lyrics to both songs underwent constant changes as they were
performed. Thus the versions on your RoIO of choice may be somewhat
different; lyrics for the versions of the songs on the popular RoIO
"Total Eclipse" can be found at ftp.halcyon.com, in the "lyrics"
directory. Note also that early versions of "Shine On" went through
numerous small changes before reaching their recorded form.
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[-] 18. "Who is 'Whitehouse'?"
In "Pigs (3 Different Ones)," there's a line
Hey you, Whitehouse
Ha Ha, charade you are
This isn't referring to the White House in Washington, but instead refers
to Mary Whitehouse, a British "moral majority" type person. At one point
she was head of the National Viewers and Listeners Association, which
campaigns for broad national moral standards in radio and TV.
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[+] 19. "What cities did the _Wall_ tour go to?"
+ Los Angeles, California 7-13 February 1980
(During the first performance the curtain caught on fire from
pyrotechnics used early in the show.)
+ New York, New York 24-28 February 1980
+ London, England 4-9 August 1980
+ Dortmund, Germany 13-20 February 1981
+ London, England 13-17 June 1981
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[-] 20. "How can I tell where a particular _Wall_ concert was recorded?"
The key factor is what is said before "Run Like Hell" -- it was different
at every show. There was an article on this in Brain Damage 28, that Karl
Magnacca has typed in. It's too long to include here, but it's available
by sending mail to "[email protected]" with the following in the
body of the message:
send wall.id.info echoes
quit
Just like that, lowercase and left-justified. This will mail the file
directly to you.
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[-] 21. "I heard an extra first verse to 'The Show Must Go On' in concert."
This is one of several cases when a lyric was written for the album, printed
on the lyric sheets of the initial LPs, but then not used on the album. Why
did it happen here? I don't know -- maybe for space reasons. But they used
the verse in concert, and here it is:
Do I have to stand up
Wild eyed in the spotlight
What a nightmare Why!
Don't I turn and run
And then the "there must be some mistake..." line begins.
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[-] 22. "Why isn't 'Hey You' in the _Wall_ movie?"
"Hey You" was originally going to be in the Wall film, and pictures from
the shot footage can even be found in the picture book of the film (with
lyrics), but it was left out. The following is taken from the "Behind The
Wall" interview with Roger Waters and Ray White. It was recorded (7/19/90),
the week before Roger's Berlin Wall concert.
White> Were you pleased with the movie? I was kind of disappointed
with the movie.
Waters> So was I. I sat with Alan Parker when we fin... and we had
a.... It was a nightmare making it. We just screamed and
screamed at each other, particularly through the editing of the
thing. Then, then I dubbed it with James Guthrie reel by reel
and as we got to the end of each reel we would look at the
reel and go "Hey, that's not bad you know. It's a little bit
busy, but it's okay." But then when we put all 13 reels together
and sat and watched it, I felt my heart going lower and lower
and lower and sank into my boots. I found it almost unwatchable.
Which is why I think it's so successful on video; 'cause you
don't have to watch the whole thing. You can watch your favorite
bits or you can fast forward or you can... and you don't have to
sit there and be bombarded with this unremitting assault on the
senses, like you had to in the cinema.
White> In a huge... with a huge screen and big sound system.
Waters> Yea, with all that boom boom up and so um.... In fact when we
finished works on these 13 reels I potted off to the bar and
Alan came through and we stood in the garden and both felt very
depressed. We were hardly speaking when Stanley said "What
d'ya think?" and I said "We've got to cut out reel 7." and he
went "Okay... What else." and uh....
White> What was reel 7?
Waters> Hey you. Just threw it away. The thing was just too long and
too... and on it's own it's great. It's been destroyed unfort-
unately; I tried to find it and ah about 6 months ago. It was
all kinds of stuff with lines of um British Bobbies in riot gear
and uh you know. There was lots and lots of rioting. Which was
very prophetic. This was 3 years before the Brixton riots which
was the first time their new riot gear was used.
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[-] 23. "What is 'When The Tigers Broke Free?'"
"Tigers" is a song written for the Wall film about the British invasion of
Anzio, Italy during WWII. The Allies established a bridgehead, but were
unable to expand it. There were several German counter-attacks, one of them,
on Feb 16th, 1944, against the area where the Royal Fuseliers Company C was
stationed (a "Tiger," incidentally, is a type of German tank).
Roger Waters' father, Eric Fletcher Waters (to whom _The Final Cut_ was
dedicated) died in that invasion, so it is partialy (if not wholly)
autobiographical. The song was split into two parts in the movie, and
released as a single. The single came in a special picture gatefold sleeve,
had the movie version of "Bring The Boys Back Home" as a B-side, and featured
the note "Taken from the album _The Final Cut_" (which, of course, never
featured the song).
As for digital availability, the song was on a special DJ sampler CD issued
to highlight the more recent achievements of Waters' career as a marketing
thing for the Berlin concert. It's also on the Westwood One's radio disc,
_A CD Full of Secrets_. These are the only places that it is officially
available on CD (it is, of course, available in digital sound on the _Wall_
LaserDisc, but it's broken up into two parts). There is also a decent non-
Floyd version of it on the _Orchestral Maneuvers_ disc mentioned in P1Q7.
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[-] 24. "What is said right before 'Empty Spaces'?"
The soft gibberish you can hear in the background here is a backwards
message. When you play it backwards, you hear:
"Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message.
Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the Funny Farm, Chalfont"
and, in the background, after that, even softer:
"Roger, Carolyn's on the phone!" <pause> "Okay."
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[+] 25. "Background voices in _The Wall_"
** If you have questions about the lyrics to other parts of The Wall, or **
** any other PF/solo album, check the archives at halcyon first. **
Questions about the various background voices during the _Wall_ are among
the most frequently asked of all FAQs (and among the most annoying ;).
The following interpretations are culled from the album, movie, concert
RoIOs, special shows (including the Berlin '90 show and the Walden Woods
benefit that Roger was part of), and various interviews.
Note the word choice: interpretations. The interpretations presented here
are those that seem to be the most popular whenever we engage in Lyric War
47, and are the ones that seem to have the best evidence in their favor.
This does not mean that your interpretation is wrong simply because it
differs from what is suggested here. What it does mean, however, is that
I and a great many other people would appreciate it if you would refrain
from starting the next Lyric War just so you can have your say. It won't
resolve anything and it's just not worth it...
[-] 25.1 "At the very beginning/end of _The Wall_"
At the very very very end of _The Wall_, very quietly, is said "Isn't this
where..." and at the very beginning, "...we came in?" It has been pointed
out that this kind of makes _The Wall_ a complete musical "cycle," right
down to the note.
This cyclical nature was a common phemomena of the Mid/Late Waters Era
albums -- DSotM begins and ends with a heartbeat, WYWH with "SOYCD", and
_Animals_ is bracketed with "Pigs on the Wing." And _Radio KAOS_ features
a similar "cyclical" message broken between beginning and end (or end and
beginning, actually -- see P4Q14), while ATD begins and ends with Alf
Razzel.
[-] 25.2 "In the Flesh?"
"Lights! Roll the sound effects! Action!"
"Drop it! Drop it on 'em! Drop it on them!!!!!"
The first line is a certainty, based on a Wall-era interview with Waters
(the one done by Tommy Vance). The second is more controvertial, but based
on the following two facts:
- In the original plot idea for the Wall movie, there was to be a
segment where the audience was bombed (the parallels of concerts
and war being one of the many themes of _The Wall_.)
- The diving plane sound that follows these words was specifically
identified by Waters (in the above interview) as being that of a
bomber.
[-] 25.3 "The Happiest Days of Our Lives"
"You! Yes, you! Stand still laddy!"
Another common interpretation is "Stand still will ye!"
At the Walden Woods benefit concert where Roger performed the song, it is
fairly clear it is "laddy."
[-] 25.4 "Another Brick in the Wall part 2"
"You! Yes, you behind the bikesheds! Stand still laddy!"
This one causes a lot of controversy, particularly among people who don't
understand the reference to bikesheds. "Behind the bikesheds" is a common
British phrase for those things at school that take place outside the view
of teachers. Stuff like smoking, drinking, a bit of ummagumma, etc.
Other suggestions have been "bedstead", "bikestand", and others.
But again, the Walden Woods show is pretty decisive on this.
(And what would a bedstead be doing in a school...?)
[-] 25.5 "Goodbye Blue Sky"
"Look mummy, there's an aeroplane up in the sky"
There are all sorts of other interpretations here, the most common being
"small plane" and "no plane." Given the context, "aeroplane" makes the
most sense (especially if you've seen the movie).
[*] 25.6 "Nobody Home"
"Shut up!"
"I've got a little black book with me poems in"
[+] 25.7 "Waiting for the Worms"
"Ein, zwei, drei ... alle!" (One, two, three ... altogether)
-=-
"We're {waiting to succeed} and going to convene outside Brixton
Town Hall where we're going to be..."
-=-
"The Worms will convene outside Brixton Bus Station. We'll be moving
along at about 12 o'clock down Stockwell Road {...} {Abbot's Road}
{...} twelve minutes to three we'll be moving along Lambeth Road
towards Vauxhall Bridge. Now when we get to the other side of
Vauxhall Bridge we're in Westminster {Borough} area. It's quite
possible we may encounter some {Jew Boys} by the way we go. {...}"
Some of this I'm sure of, again based on the Tommy Vance interview.
Other parts just make sense from the context.
[-] 25.8 "The Trial"
"Go on Judge! Shit on him!"
Defecate being a more polite synonym for "shit."
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[-] 26. "What was the original order of _The Wall_?"
Originally, _The Wall_ was supposed to include the song "What Shall We Do
Now?," but this was cut because of time limitations. The change was made so
late in the game that the album sleeves had already been printed, including
the lyrics and the original order.
"What Shall We Do Now?" was to come right after "Goodbye Blue Sky," followed
with "Empty Spaces" showing up later (before ABitW 3) as a sort of reprise.
Also, on side 3 of the album, they had planned to place "Hey You" after
"Comfortably Numb," but that too was changed at the last minute.
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[-] 27. "Who sang 'The Little Boy that Santa Claus Forgot'?"
This song appears at the beginning of the film "The Wall" (while slowly
tracking down along the floor of the hotel corridor), and was sung by Vera
Lynn, who was a popular singer during World War II.
"The Little Boy Who Santa Claus Forgot"
Christmas comes but once a year
for every girl and boy.
The laughter and the joy
they find in each new toy
I'll tell you of a little boy
who lives across the way
The little fella's Christmas
is just another day
He's the little boy that Santa Clause forgot
And goodness knows he didn't want a lot
He sent a note to Sanda
for some ??????? and a drum
His broken little heart
when he found that none had come.
A RoIO (_The Film_) of the movie also includes at the end of side three
another song sung by Vera Lynn, "We'll Meet Again." This is the song that
Waters was alluding to in "Vera," and goes something like this:
We'll meet again,
Don't know where,
Don't know when,
But I know we'll meet again,
Some sunny day.
The song also appeared at the very end of the movie "Dr. Strangelove," when
the world was being destroyed by the "Doomsday Machine."
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[-] 28. "What is sung by Pink in the stall in the 'Wall' film?"
When Pink is sitting in the bathroom stall, he sings, of course, "Stop."
However, before he sings that, he sings scraps of other songs he has been
working on, reading them from his songbook. These later became parts of
"Your Possible Pasts" from _The Final Cut_ and "The Moment of Clarity" from
_Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking_.
Here is what he's singing:
Do you remember
The way it used to be?
Do you think we should have been closer?
I put out my hand
Just to touch your soft hair
To make sure in the darkness
That you were still there
And I have to admit
I was just a little afraid
Of the ones living under
Their dirty old macks
And the ones who were pointing
The guns in their backs
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[-] 29. "Is the _Wall_ soundtrack available on CD?"
Nope. It's never been released, in spite of the fact that the movie includes
the note "Soundtrack available on Columbia records and tapes" near the end of
the credits. There have been a couple RoIOs of the soundtrack, (some very
professional looking) but your best bet would be to buy the Hi-Fi videotape
of the film (or get the new LaserDisc, and you'll have a digital copy of the
soundtrack!)
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[+] 30. "There's a lyric in 'Mother' that's different in the movie"
So there is. The line sung on the album as
"Is it just a waste of time?"
in the movie is sung
"Am I really dying?"
Interestingly, the written lyrics in some early _Wall_ LPs (and Harvest CDs)
have this change as well. In other words, the original lyric was apparently
the "Am I really dying" line, which was changed at the last minute to "Is it
just a waste of time" for the album, and then changed back to "...dying" for
the movie. In between, at some live shows, it was sung "What a crazy time"
(see, for example, _Brick by Brick_).
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[-] 31. "When and why did Richard Wright leave the band?"
During the sessions for _The Wall_, Richard Wright was basically forced
out of Pink Floyd. One story holds that Waters had even gone so far as to
threaten to destroy all the working tapes if Wright didn't leave. Another
quotes David Gilmour as saying that Wright wasn't contributing much of
anything, and hadn't been for a couple years, partially due to something of
"a bad cocaine habit." He did play with the band on _The Wall_ tour, but
not as a full member of the band. Being paid on a wage, he was the only
"member" of Pink Floyd to actually make money on that tour (yes, the Floyd
"lost their shirts" on that tour--it was so phenomenally expensive to put
on, and they did so few shows that they couldn't recoup their investment.
The rest of the band were "investors," as it were, but Wright's role was
the same as that of the roadies--fixed dollar amount per night or somesuch.
So he didn't get reamed like everyone else).
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