Pink Floyd All the Songs
Page 59
Guthrie has explained that during mixing there was a Nick Mason drum fill he wanted to change. As the Ludwig had been recorded on a sixteen-track machine that was synchronized with the twenty-four-track, there was no question of tampering with the master tape. He therefore decided to perform a window edit, a trick he had heard about, although never actually tried himself. This involved cutting out the top part of the sixteen-track tape corresponding to the eight drum tracks, and replacing it with another section pulled from a satisfactory take. Armed with a razor blade, he performed the maneuver skillfully, carefully inserted the section of tape in question, and switched on the two machines: the operation was a complete success!
COVERS
“Comfortably Numb” was covered by the American band Scissor Sisters in 2004 with a totally offbeat electro-disco version. This is the only Floyd cover ever to have entered the Top 10 in the United Kingdom.
For Pink Floyd Addicts
During his 1984 tour to promote About Face, his latest solo album, David Gilmour is supposed to have renamed “Comfortably Numb” “Come On Big Bum.” The reason remains obscure…
The Show Must Go On
Roger Waters / 1:36
Musicians
David Gilmour: vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar, bass
Rick Wright: Prophet-5
Nick Mason: drums, Rototoms
Bob Ezrin: piano, Prophet-5
Bruce Johnston, Toni Tennille, Joe Chemay, Stan Farber, Jim Haas, Jon Joyce: backing vocals
Recorded
Britannia Row, Islington, London: September 1978–March 1979
Super Bear Studios, Berre-les-Alpes, Alpes-Maritimes (France): April–July 1979
Studio Miraval, Domaine de Miraval, Le Val, Var (France): April–July 1979
Cherokee Recording Studios, Los Angeles: September 6–8, 1979
Producers Workshop, Hollywood: September 12–November 1, 1979
Technical Team
Producers: Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour, Roger Waters
Co-producer: James Guthrie
Sound Engineers: James Guthrie, Nick Griffiths, Patrice Quef, Brian Christian, Rick Hart
Genesis
The fourth and last act in Roger Waters’s conceptual work opens with “The Show Must Go On,” known during production by the working titles “Who’s Sorry Now” and “(It’s) Never Too Late.” Thanks to the injection from “Dr. Feelgood,” Pink is back on his feet—more or less—and the show can go ahead. This is all that matters to everyone concerned, from Pink’s manager to the fans. But the questioning continues. The rock star turns metaphorically to his father (whom he has never seen) and asks him to take him home. Then he addresses his mother, asking her to let me go. The most important phrase, however, falls like an axe at the beginning of the second act: I didn’t mean to let them take away my soul. This gives rise to speculation that the show in question may be, in reality, Pink’s life.
This song is clearly another attack from Roger Waters on the star system and the recording industry. Waters explains that “they’re [Pink’s managers] not interested in any of these problems, all they’re interested in is how many people there are and tickets have been sold and the show must go on, at any cost, to anybody.”126
Production
Wanting originally to make “The Show Must Go On” a Beach Boys–like number, Roger Waters went as far as asking the Beach Boys to take part in the recording. “Mike Love and I went over to Roger Waters’s house. He and David Gilmour were there. They said, ‘We started singing high parts, trying to sound like the Beach Boys, and then we decided, why don’t we ask them?’” 9 After leaving with cassette tapes of various songs to work on with the rest of the group, and booking Sundance Productions, Inc., of Dallas, Texas, for a recording session on October 2, Mike Love politely declined the offer the same day, judging that the dark-hued concept of The Wall would not sit well with the Beach Boys’ image. Only Bruce Johnston accepted Waters’s invitation, and on October 11 he turned up at the Producers Workshop in Los Angeles in the company of Toni Tennille, one half of the duo Captain & Tennille, in order to make up for his group’s defection. It should be pointed out that he is also supported by Joe Chemay, Stan Farber, Jim Haas, and Jon Joyce, well-known “names” who had all orbited planet Beach Boys. It was therefore in a spirit of complete confidence that Johnston recorded the backing vocals to “The Show Must Go On” with them, and the results are superb to say the least.
The song opens with their vocal harmonies. The mood is light and serene, and the instrumentation includes piano, Prophet-5, two six-string acoustic guitars, drums, and bass. The keyboards are split between Bob Ezrin and Rick Wright, the guitars and bass are played by David Gilmour, and Nick Mason is on drums. It is interesting to note that this is the only piece on the album in which Roger Waters does not play any part (other than that of songwriter). The lead vocal is taken by Gilmour, whose performance and vocal color blend perfectly with those of the “nearly” Beach Boys.
The musical material of this song is surprising in that it is reminiscent more of Gilmour’s writing style than Waters’s, especially in the section following the refrain (from 0:37), which is nothing less than a homage to the Californian band with, what’s more, Queen-like touches on the repeated phrase take me home, and descending Rototoms. Preceding the first verse (at 0:52), there was originally another that was printed and included with the other lyrics but eliminated from the recording at the mixing stage.
Listening to the refrains, it is difficult not to notice a similarity with those of “Mother.” Furthermore the key is the same, as are certain chord sequences. But the song is no less a triumph for this, Bruce Johnston and his colleagues blending wonderfully well with the Floyd. There is only one cause for regret: that the brilliant Brian Wilson did not have a hand in writing the vocal harmonies!
The “Show Must Go On” does not feature on the soundtrack to Alan Parker’s movie.
In The Flesh
Roger Waters / 4:18
Musicians
David Gilmour: electric rhythm and lead guitar, ARP Quadra
Roger Waters: vocals, bass, VCS3
Nick Mason: drums
James Guthrie: ARP Quadra
Fred Mandel: Hammond organ
Bob Ezrin: Prophet-5
Bruce Johnston, Toni Tennille, Joe Chemay, Stan Farber, Jim Haas, Jon Joyce: backing vocals
Recorded
Britannia Row, Islington, London: September 1978–March 1979
Super Bear Studios, Berre-les-Alpes, Alpes-Maritimes (France): April–July 1979
Studio Miraval, Domaine de Miraval, Le Val, Var (France): April–July 1979
Producers Workshop, Hollywood: September 12–November 1, 1979
Technical Team
Producers: Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour, Roger Waters
Co-producer: James Guthrie
Sound Engineers: James Guthrie, Nick Griffiths, Patrice Quef, Brian Christian, Rick Hart
Genesis
Back to square one, it seems, with this song that shares its title with the opening number, the only difference being the absence of the question mark. “In the Flesh” begins the album’s cycle of three so-called totalitarian songs, the other two being “Run Like Hell” and “Waiting for the Worms.” As a consequence of his isolation behind the wall and his schizophrenia, Pink is transformed into a fascist leader. His show resembles the Nazi rallies of the thirties, choreographed by Albert Speer and brilliantly filmed by Leni Riefenstahl (Triumph of the Will, 1935), and although the swastika has been replaced by a hammer symbol, the rock star’s hold over the crowds recalls the diabolical spell cast by the Third Reich dictator over the Nuremberg crowds. The rhetoric, moreover, is very similar: Are there any queers in the theatre tonight? Get ’em up against the wall… That one looks Jewish/And that one’s a coon/Who let all this riffraff into the room? In his racist frenzy, Pink lays into a member of the audience who is smoking a joint and another who has acne… “I’ve picked on queers and Jews and bl
acks simply because they’re the most easily identifiable minorities where I come from, which is England,” explains Roger Waters to Tommy Vance. “In fact, they are the most easily identifiable minorities in America, as well.”126 And he adds: “So the obnoxiousness of ‘In the Flesh,’ and it is meant to be obnoxious, you know? This is the end result of that much isolation and decay.”126 Roger Waters also tells Tommy Vance that the idea for the song and indeed the overall concept of The Wall came to him after the Montreal concert, where, unable to control himself when confronted by an unruly crowd, he spat at a fan. He explains: “They were pushing against the barrier and what he wanted was a good riot, and what I wanted was to do a good rock and roll show,”126 adding: “Anyway, the idea is that these kinds of fascist feelings develop from isolation.”126
The second incarnation of “In the Flesh” was rerecorded for the movie The Wall.
Production
A concert atmosphere. The crowd is excited. Nick Mason counts the band in with his sticks, and “In the Flesh” explodes with the same live sound that we hear at the beginning of the album. The rock part of the song is identical, the musicians the same: Mason on drums, Waters on bass, Gilmour on his Strat, and Fred Mandel on Hammond organ. This lively sequence is followed by vocal harmonies of the kind heard on the previous song, “The Show Must Go On,” led by the talented Bruce Johnston and his troops. The contrast is striking, very much the calm after the storm. Gilmour accompanies the singers with an arpeggiated guitar part played with a pick on a “Black Strat” strongly colored by his Yamaha rotary speakers. Underpinning the ensemble are synth pads apparently played by Bob Ezrin on the Prophet-5. The resulting sonority recalls the doo-wop groups of the fifties, and it is in this “good-natured” atmosphere that Roger Waters chooses to declaim his poisonous verses. His voice is emphasized by a very present delay, and he gives an excellent performance. Drum fills and a rhythm part on the organ round off the accompaniment. In the second verse (from 2:35), the backing vocalists answer his phrases, and it has to be said that his lead vocal is absolutely masterful. The band follows up the closing words of his rant with the rock motif from the intro, Fred Mandel distinguishing himself in particular on organ. Crown noises return after the song’s finale is brought to a conclusion by Nick Mason on snare drum, providing the perfect transition to the following piece, “Run Like Hell”…
Run Like Hell
David Gilmour, Roger Waters / 4:25
Musicians
David Gilmour: vocals, vocal harmonies, electric rhythm and lead guitar, bass
Rick Wright: Prophet-5, Minimoog (?)
Roger Waters: vocals
Nick Mason: drums
Bobbye Hall: congas, bongos
Recorded
Britannia Row, Islington, London: September 1978–March 1979
Super Bear Studios, Berre-les-Alpes, Alpes-Maritimes (France): April–July 1979
Studio Miraval, Domaine de Miraval, Le Val, Var (France): April–July 1979
Producers Workshop, Hollywood: September 12–November 1, 1979
Technical Team
Producers: Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour, Roger Waters
Co-producer: James Guthrie
Sound Engineers: James Guthrie, Nick Griffiths, Patrice Quef, Brian Christian, Rick Hart
Genesis
“Run Like Hell” is the third song on The Wall to have been composed by David Gilmour. Like “Comfortably Numb,” it had originally been earmarked by Gilmour for his first solo album. Waters’s words, on the other hand, are in a similar vein to “In the Flesh.” As a fascist leader, Pink addresses the crowd that has come to see him and worship at his feet. But for anyone who does not toe the line, with your empty smile and a hungry heart, Pink’s words are ruthless and menacing. Hammers, he warns, can batter down your door and so these people had better run like hell. “Here is a tune for all paranoids in the audience,”126 Waters would tell Tommy Vance. Waters has always been interested in the Second World War, and especially in the psychological hold of dictators over the masses. This led the songwriter to draw a parallel between the Nazi rallies of the thirties and rock concerts. “Run Like Hell” is thus the manifestation of a fear or phobia: the elevation of intolerance and racism to supreme values accompanied by the suppression of individual rights and liberties. This idea can also be found in the movie Privilege (1967), directed by Peter Watkins, in which a rock star (played by Paul Jones, the singer with Manfred Mann) exercises such an influence over teenagers that he is used by the authorities, despite himself, to nip in the bud any hint of rebellion from that section of society.
Production
“Run Like Hell” opens with the crowd atmosphere from the end of “In the Flesh” and chants of Pink Floyd! Pink Floyd! We immediately hear notes ringing out on the guitar, colored by a very prominent delay. The impression created is of a racing car starting up because as soon as these initial sonorities have dissipated, Gilmour reattacks the strings of his 1955 Fender Esquire with a palm-mute rhythm part. The effect is extraordinary, all the more so as he uses an initial delay of 4/4 and a second of 3/4. His Fender is tuned in drop D (in other words with the bottom E string lowered a tone, to D) and the sound is slightly distorted and colored by his customary Electric Mistress. Nick Mason supports him with bass drum on each beat of the bar, the same disco style with which the group had flirted on “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2).” “We did the same exercise on ‘Run Like Hell,’”116 Gilmour would confirm. And to reinforce the beat in this song, Gilmour also plays a bass line on a Fender VI Baritone, enabling him to reach lower notes (although it is also possible that the Fender VI Baritone was used to double his Esquire in the intro, and that his bass line was played on a Precision). He then executes a superb, highly melodic triad (three-note chord) motif on his Fender Esquire, again with Electric Mistress and the same delay. In 1992 he confessed to having been inspired to some extent by “Short and Sweet,” a track written and recorded for his first solo album, released in 1978. Meanwhile Rick Wright supports his bandmates on the Prophet-5. This long intro then gives way to a new section introduced by reversed cymbal (as was the triad motif). Gilmour sings and harmonizes sixteen repeats of the word run, leading into the first verse, which has Roger Waters on lead vocal. What is unusual about his performance is that his phrases alternate between one side of the stereo field and the other, reinforced by a delay with impressive feedback. In concert, David Gilmour would sing every other phrase. Once again, Waters is excellent in the way he unreservedly gets under the skin of his character. Gilmour’s triad motif then returns, reinforced by percussion played by Bobbye Hall. At the end of the second verse, Rick Wright plays a very impressive solo that could have been recorded on his Minimoog, although it is generally acknowledged to be the Prophet-5. Finally, the last section of “Run Like Hell” gives way to a sequence of sounds: the percussion becomes more prominent (from 3:15), the crowd atmosphere comes back, somebody can be heard running and panting with deep reverb (James Guthrie in fact, using a Nagra to record himself running in a corridor of the London Underground), Waters speaking and laughing dementedly (around 3:33), and the squealing of a car’s tires. Nick Mason recalls the creation of this particular sound effect at the Producers Workshop: “This involved Phil Taylor [the guitar technician] slewing a Ford LTD van around the car park with Roger inside, screaming at full volume.”5
Finally, following the return of Gilmour’s riff, led in by a piercing scream from Waters (at 3:59), the music comes to a definitive end, leaving the crowd screaming Pink Floyd! Pink Floyd! from stereo left and Hammer! Hammer! from stereo right, the latter having been recorded in the studio.
It is interesting to note that although a session was held at the Producers Workshop on October 17 to record hand claps, these are inaudible, or were perhaps included right at the back of the crowd noise mix.
For Pink Floyd Addicts
A live version of “Run Like Hell” was released in the United Kingdom in 1987 as the B-side of “On the Turnin
g Away,” a song taken not from The Wall but from A Momentary Lapse of Reason, the first Pink Floyd album without Roger Waters!
Waiting For The Worms
Roger Waters / 3:58
Musicians
David Gilmour: vocals, backing vocals, electric rhythm and lead guitar, bass, Prophet-5
Rick Wright: organ
Roger Waters: vocals, backing vocal, VCS3
Nick Mason: drums
Bob Ezrin: piano, backing vocal
Bruce Johnston, Toni Tennille, Joe Chemay, Stan Farber, Jim Haas, Jon Joyce: backing vocals
Recorded
Britannia Row, Islington, London: September 1978–March 1979
Super Bear Studios, Berre-les-Alpes, Alpes-Maritimes (France): April–July 1979
Studio Miraval, Domaine de Miraval, Le Val, Var (France): April–July 1979
Producers Workshop, Hollywood: September 12–November 1, 1979
Technical Team
Producers: Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour, Roger Waters