Mayfair Recording Studios, London: June, October–November 1982; January 19, February 1983
Olympic Studios, London: June, September–October 1982
Abbey Road Studios, London: July 22 and 23, 1982
Eel Pie Studios, Twickenham: September 1982
RAK Studios, London: October 1982
Audio International Studios, London: January 26–30, 1983
Technical Team
Producers: Roger Waters, James Guthrie, Michael Kamen
Sound Engineers: James Guthrie, Andy Jackson
Assistant Sound Engineers: Andy Canelle, Mike Nocito, Jules Bowen
Genesis
This composition by Roger Waters, originally entitled “Teacher Teacher,” was created for the double LP The Wall, before eventually being removed from the track listing. During the recording sessions for The Final Cut, Waters updated it with new lyrics. The narrator is again a teacher, still the same one from The Wall, who talks alternately about the present time and his memories of the war. The present consists of his job, the role he has to perform of teaching little ingrates who, he says, like to whine and mope about. The present also encompasses his peculiar relationship with his wife, whom he can only really speak to when she is asleep. Out of fear of being misunderstood? This more than likely explains why he is unable to confide in her or reveal to her what he is feeling. And straightaway the past looms up again: a traumatic experience from the Second World War, the bombing of Dresden.
The teacher’s experience then merges with that of Waters. My memory smolders on/Of the gunner’s dying words on the intercom: these lines echo the movie The Wall, when the father of Pink (by implication, Waters’s father), under aerial bombardment, tries to call in reinforcements over the telephone. And so the banners and flags, the dancing and singing, and the church bells celebrating victory seem pathetic to him. The hero’s return is a bitter one.
Production
The arrangement of “The Hero’s Return” is undoubtedly the most complex of any song on the album. The introduction is itself in a way a demonstration of the proficiency of Pink Floyd and its three co-producers. David Gilmour plays a melody on his “Black Strat” (with his Big Muff and his Electric Mistress), producing some very distorted effects, underpinned by inverted cymbals. He can also be heard on the rhythm guitar with palm muting and a very noticeable delay, in the same style as his playing on “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2).” Then he seems to support the melody on his Martin D12-28 twelve-string, which he doubles and positions at the far ends of the stereo picture. He is backed by layers of sound (Prophet-5?) enhanced by a pedal sound (VCS3? Prophet-5?). Eventually Roger Waters comes in on his bass, adding weight to Nick Mason’s snare drum, which soberly keeps time. In the first verse, Waters’s lead vocal is sung in quite a high voice, alternating with his falsetto voice to allow him to reach the highest notes. He doubles himself and uses a fairly short delay to give color to his performance.
After the first four lines (from 1:05 onward) there is a change in atmosphere: an electric piano joins in, the bass drum marks each beat, and Waters sings, his voice doubled an octave lower. The nature of the sound suggests that a harmonizer such as the Eventide H910 has been used here. In the following sequence, the ticking of an alarm clock underlines the monologue of the schoolteacher, who abandons himself to his dark memories once his wife is asleep (from 1:23 onward). The acoustic guitars support Waters’s vocal, and all kinds of effects are employed throughout this section: guitar distortion, piano drenched in reverb, various delays. “The Hero’s Return” ends with a section that exudes a different flavor than the rest of the song. The sound setting is soft and acoustic, with a six-string (on the left) and a twelve-string (on the right) providing a strummed accompaniment to Waters’s vocal and bass. And at the end of the song, a conversation on an aircraft radio echoes out.
Although overall “The Hero’s Return” is not that different from its forerunner composed for The Wall, the arrangement has changed considerably, which was much more rock-based and binary. What’s more, the last part is markedly different in terms of harmonics, and the lyrics have been totally reworked.
For Pink Floyd Addicts
Roger Waters wrote a second part to “The Hero’s Return.” This verse is missing from the album version, but appears on the single version released as the B-side to “Not Now John.” “The Hero’s Return (Parts 1 and 2)” reached a respectable number 31 on the Billboard charts.
Roger Waters alludes to the bombing of Dresden by the United States Army Air Forces and the Royal Air Force from February 13 to 15, 1945, in which between 22,000 and 25,000 people were killed.
The Gunner’s Dream
Roger Waters / 5:18
Musicians
David Gilmour: electric rhythm guitars
Roger Waters: vocals, bass
Nick Mason: drums
Ray Cooper: tambourine
Raphael Ravenscroft: tenor saxophone
Michael Kamen: piano, electric piano (?), orchestral conducting
Andy Bown: piano (?), electric piano (?)
National Philharmonic Orchestra: orchestra
Recorded
The Billiard Room, London: May–October 1982
Hook End Recording Studios, Checkendon: June, October 1982
Mayfair Recording Studios, London: June, October–November 1982; January 19, February 1983
Olympic Studios, London: June, September–October 1982
Abbey Road Studios, London: July 22 and 23, 1982
Eel Pie Studios, Twickenham: September 1982
RAK Studios, London: October 1982
Audio International Studios, London: January 26–30, 1983
Technical Team
Producers: Roger Waters, James Guthrie, Michael Kamen
Sound Engineers: James Guthrie, Andy Jackson
Assistant Sound Engineers: Andy Canelle, Mike Nocito, Jules Bowen
Genesis
This song, which talks about how people’s liberties are trampled by authoritarian regimes wherever they may be, contains some of the most beautiful lyrics written by Roger Waters, reminiscent of both Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. War memories again… We understand that the central character, a gunner on board an RAF aircraft, has had to parachute out. He is floating through the air. And he dreams of a lasting peace, an almost ideal world where old heroes shuffle safely down the street, where you can speak out loud/About your doubts and fears, where no-one ever disappears, where no-one kills the children anymore. Memories of the Second World War continue to haunt the RAF gunner, who became a teacher after the guns fell silent. “‘The Gunner’s Dream’” is about powerlessness,” Roger Waters explains. “The door opens suddenly and you find you’re face to face with blokes in jackboots in a country like South America or Algeria or France during the Occupation. You cry ‘No you can’t do that to me—I’ll call the police!’ and they reply ‘We are the police.’ Your life slips into a nightmare. The most precious thing in this world is that your life is not controlled by someone else.”53
Production
The song begins with an indistinct voice on the radio, probably the gunner who is preparing to bail out with his parachute, followed by the sound of an airplane flying over and the whistling of the wind… Over the top of this dramatic sound reconstruction, the purifying, radiant, but terribly melancholy notes of a grand piano ring out. When Roger Waters sings the beginning of the first verse, one can’t help noticing a certain resemblance to “Isolation” by John Lennon (Plastic Ono Band). Waters delivers a moving performance. It is probably Michael Kamen that we hear on the grand piano, accompanied by Andy Bown on the electric piano (Fender Rhodes?). The bass and the National Philharmonic Orchestra then come in, bringing a richness to the sound. On the last line of the first part of the song, Waters is suddenly louder, his vocal immediately leading into a saxophone solo performed by Raphael Ravenscroft. The phrasing is superb, rich, and soulful. Nick Mason can be heard, beating time simply but effecti
vely, with Ray Cooper alongside him on the tambourine. At the end of the solo, we can just make out the sound of David Gilmour’s Stratocaster, played clean, with a very pronounced tremolo (at around 3:01). A voice in the distance shouts all right (3:06), and Waters resumes his lead vocal. Mason’s Ludwig announces the final verse, and the orchestration suddenly becomes harder. Gilmour plays a distorted rhythm part on his Strat, and the string arrangements provide a rich backdrop for Waters’s vocal, which, once again, suddenly swells to the limits of its volume, ending in a kind of wail on the word insane (from 4:29). The song finishes simply, Waters now singing in a quiet voice again, accompanied by the keyboards and Michael Kamen’s strings. In the dying seconds of the piece, the sound of trailing footsteps is heard, leading to the next song…
Of all the songs on the album, “The Gunner’s Dream” is the favorite of Andy Jackson, the sound engineer. He remembers that originally Roger Waters had written not “Goodbye Max, Goodbye Ma” but “Goodbye Ma, Goodbye Pa.” But during production, some members of the team acquired nicknames: Michael Kamen was rechristened “Spike,” Andy Jackson “Luis,” and James Guthrie “Max.” Roger Waters was amused, and, according to Andy Jackson, hurried out into the studio and sang: “Goodbye Max, Goodbye Spike.” […] “You know, just as a joke for the assembled audience—us guys.”141 But Waters liked the idea so much that he decided to keep Max in the final lyrics. “So there you go,” Jackson continues, “yeah, in reality Max is James Guthrie!”141
For Pink Floyd Addicts
“The Gunner’s Dream” also references an incident making the headlines in the United Kingdom at the time: And maniacs don’t blow holes in bandsmen by remote control refers to the IRA double bombing of the parade of the Blues and Royals in Hyde Park and the Royal Green Jackets in Regent’s Park on July 20, 1982, in which eleven military personnel were killed.
The line And the corner of some foreign field is taken from “The Soldier,” a poem about the Great War by Rupert Brooke (who lived in Grantchester).
Paranoid Eyes
Roger Waters / 3:40
Musicians
David Gilmour: acoustic rhythm guitars
Roger Waters: vocals, bass
Nick Mason: hi-hat
Michael Kamen: piano, orchestral conducting
Andy Bown: organ
Ray Cooper: percussion
National Philharmonic Orchestra: orchestra
Recorded
The Billiard Room, London: May–October 1982
Hook End Recording Studios, Checkendon: June, October 1982
Mayfair Recording Studios, London: June, October–November 1982; January 19, February 1983
Olympic Studios, London: June, September–October 1982
Abbey Road Studios, London: July 22 and 23, 1982
Eel Pie Studios, Twickenham: September 1982
RAK Studios, London: October 1982
Audio International Studios, London: January 26–30, 1983
Technical Team
Producers: Roger Waters, James Guthrie, Michael Kamen
Sound Engineers: James Guthrie, Andy Jackson
Assistant Sound Engineers: Andy Canelle, Mike Nocito, Jules Bowen
Genesis
Beyond the portrait of the war veteran turned teacher, which Roger Waters continues to develop in this song, a whole generation is affected, the generation that went to war and returned with their hearts forever broken. Their sadness has given way to deep depression. A depression that cannot be overcome, except, perhaps, with strong drink: You believed in their stories of fame, fortune and glory./Now you’re lost in a haze of alcohol soft middle age, Waters sings. Then: The pie in the sky turned out to be miles too high. Paranoid eyes, then? Maybe it’s more a case of eyes fixed on the horrific truth.
Production
Although “Paranoid Eyes” is a sad song, it is nonetheless illuminated by the talent of Roger Waters, who, ever since The Dark Side of the Moon, had shown himself to be an exceptional lyricist, something that became all the more striking from The Wall onward. It became clear that his artistic approach no longer coincided with that of his fellow band members, who were much more interested in the music than the lyrics.
The song starts with the same trailing footsteps that we heard at the end of “The Gunner’s Dream.” In the background we hear the sounds of children playing. Michael Kamen is on the grand piano, and Roger Waters on vocals. His voice is sad, soft, and pleasant. Once again it is the orchestra directed by Michael Kamen that has the main supporting role in this piece. Brass sections and string sections alternate, always subtly and precisely arranged. There are plenty of percussion contributions from Ray Cooper, including a tambourine (at 0:21, for example), and some kind of rattle that moves about in the stereo image (listen at 0:50). The pub sounds in the background repeatedly illustrate the lyrics, with certain phrases emerging from the general hubbub, for instance I’ll tell you what… I’ll give you three blacks, and play you for five (at around 1:39). The beginning of the last verse gives way to a phase of richer instrumentation: two strummed acoustic guitar parts, a hi-hat, a bass, and an organ. “Paranoid Eyes” ends with a moving vocal from Waters, before the pub sounds fade away. And a few seconds before the end of the piece, an Oi! is heard in the distance, repeated by a delay.
Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert
Roger Waters / 1:17
Musicians
Roger Waters: vocals, acoustic guitar
Michael Kamen: orchestra conductor
National Philharmonic Orchestra: orchestra
Recorded
The Billiard Room, London: May–October 1982
Hook End Recording Studios, Checkendon: June, October 1982
Mayfair Recording Studios, London: June, October–November 1982; January 19, February 1983
Olympic Studios, London: June, September–October 1982
Abbey Road Studios, London: July 22 and 23, 1982
Eel Pie Studios, Twickenham: September 1982
RAK Studios, London: October 1982
Audio International Studios, London: January 26–30, 1983
Technical Team
Producers: Roger Waters, James Guthrie, Michael Kamen
Sound Engineers: James Guthrie, Andy Jackson
Assistant Sound Engineers: Andy Canelle, Mike Nocito, Jules Bowen
Genesis
A vast number of Second World War combatants died fighting Nazism. It was a heavy price to pay for vanquishing the forces of evil and laying the foundations of a world based on understanding between peoples. Now what do we find thirty-odd years after the defeat of the Axis? The world is still at war.
On this track, the songwriter takes a probing look at world events, alluding directly to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Falklands War, and the invasion of Lebanon by the Israeli army. He makes a point of mentioning the warmongering leaders: Leonid Brezhnev, who took Afghanistan, Menachem Begin, who took Beirut, the Argentine dictator Galtieri, who took the Union Jack, and Maggie, who over lunch one day/Took a cruiser with all hands/Apparently to make him give it back. Roger Waters wonders: was the sacrifice of the soldiers of democracy who fought Nazi Germany all for nothing? Certainly, he saw the Falklands conflict as a neocolonial war from another age, but more than that it also served as an opportunity for Margaret Thatcher to restore her image: “I felt then, and I still feel today, that the British Government should have pursued diplomatic avenues more vigorously than they did, rather than steaming in the moment that the Task Force arrived in the South Atlantic. Some kind of compromise could have been effected, and lots of lives would have been saved. It was politically convenient for Margaret Thatcher to wham Galtieri because there’s no way she would have survived another six months [in her job] without the invasion of the Falklands Islands.”81
Production
Hey… get your filthy hands off my desert! It is with these memorable words, with a desert wind audible in the background (VCS3?), that this curious song begins. Then another voice
asks: What he said? Suddenly a jet passes overhead at supersonic speed, and a bomb explodes. Nick Mason, who was in charge of sound effects, remembers the sound recording: “Through a high-ranking air force contact, I was granted permission to record a number of Tornadoes at RAF Honington in Warwickshire. It was an extraordinary experience to stand at the end of the runway trying to set a level for a sound so intense that as the afterburners were lit up the air itself was crackling with sonic overload.”5
So the music starts to the sound of an explosion. We are a long way from the familiar Pink Floyd sound, as it is (in all probability) a string quartet that provides the main accompaniment. Conducted by Michael Kamen, the members of the National Philharmonic Orchestra perform a very nice arrangement written by their director. Then Roger Waters delivers his anticolonialist indictment. He strums an acoustic guitar (Martin D-35?) and sings in an ironic tone. The combination of the chamber music and quirky lyrics makes for a caustic gem. Waters ends his lead vocal with humming, which he harmonizes in three parts. “Get Your Filthy Hands off My Desert” concludes to the strains of the string quartet and the remote sound of the Tornado flying off into the distance.
The Fletcher Memorial Home
Roger Waters / 4:12
Musicians
David Gilmour: electric lead guitar
Roger Waters: vocals, bass
Nick Mason: drums
Michael Kamen: piano and orchestral conducting
National Philharmonic Orchestra: orchestra
Recorded
The Billiard Room, London: May–October 1982
Pink Floyd All the Songs Page 64
