Pink Floyd - The Wall review

On November 30th, 1979, the English Pink Floyd released perhaps one of the greatest albums ever made. The Wall is a tale of one man's isolation from the world that we live in. Throughout the album, various events happen in his life that slowly help the construction of his "wall", until finally at the end of the first half of the album, his wall is complete. The Wall's entire idea comes from an incident at a Pink Floyd concert, in which a fan was climbing on the caging and vocalist/bassist Roger Waters spit on him. This moment sparked a feeling of alienation between he and his fans, and thus came the conception of The Wall. This is both a review, and an explanation of the hard-to-understand story that is The Wall. 

The first track, 'In The Flesh?', begins with a voice saying "We came in?" and then the song floats into a rock opera. In The Flesh? is the main character's (Named Pink) introduction to the album and throughout the rest of it, he serves as the narrator for the story. The song describes that underneath his rocker appearance, there is a much different, troubled, person inside. And thus, the stage is set for the rest of the album.

The next song, 'The Thin Ice', is a narrative of the first few years of Pink's life. It is at the point in his life, where he is understanding the loss of his father, and is at the fragile age just before we really start to understand the world around us. The event of his father's death becomes the first brick of his wall.

'Another Brick In The Wall Part I' carries the plot of The Thin Ice, yet elaborates more on it, with Pink questioning what his father left behind for him in his death. It also tells of him growing up, and marks the bricks being put up.

'The Happiest Days of Our Lives' narrates Pink's school life, and how it is a violent and miserable place to be. He takes these experiences and makes them bricks in his wall.

'Another Brick In The Wall Part II' (One of Pink Floyd's best known songs) tells the part of Pink's story where, after having been insulted by a teacher, he daydreams about the school's rebellion against the teachers. The insult by the teacher only becomes yet 'Another brick in the wall'

'Mother' (a personal favourite of mine, I might add) tells of Pink's over-protective mother, who, even after Pink grows up, stills wants him by her side. This fact frustrates Pink, and it becomes another brick. It could also be interpreted that she is in fact helping him build the wall.

'Goodbye Blue Sky' implicates that children do not understand the war, and the pain that comes with it. (a hint at Pink's childhood) The song describes the memory of the Blitz, and it's impact.

'Empty Spaces' tells that Pink and his wife are having relationship complications, due to Pink becoming distant because of his wall, and he wonders to himself how to fill the empty spaces in his wall. As a side note, this track contains a hidden message, isolated in the left channel, just before the spoken portion of the song. It is as follows:
-Hello, Luka [hunters]... Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the Funny Farm, Chalfont...
-Roger! Carolyne's on the phone!
-Okay.
The 'old pink' is a reference to previous lead singer, Syd Barrett, who at the time, lived in a ward (funny farm). It could also be a message (a warning, if I may) about Pink's insanity to come.

'Young Lust' is the part of the story, where Pink is now a rock star, and because of such, invites groupies to his room. This is due to his distance with his wife. At the end of the song, Pink's mental breakdown accelerates after having heard of his wife having an affair.

'One of My Turns' is about Pink's somewhat bad experience with the groupie. In a daze over his wife, Pink is unresponsive to the groupie, and after a few moments into the song, goes completely beserk, trashing his hotel room (a reference once made in Family Guy, I believe) and scaring off the groupie. This event only furthers his madness and desperation, and becomes a brick.

'Don't Leave Me Now' marks Pink's spiralling depression over having failed to win over his wife or the groupie. He begs for his wife not to leave him, yet then says how he'd like to put her in a shredder in public and beat her. Waters describes the song as being about two people who've treated each other very badly, yet are devastated at the relationship ending.

'Another Brick In The Wall Part III' tells of how Pink has decided to complete his wall, from being enraged at his wife's betrayal. He concludes that he no longer needs anything, nor anyone at all.

'Goodbye Cruel World' concludes the first half of his story and the completion of the wall. This song marks Pink's knowing of his total and complete isolation from the world.

The first half of this album is truly a spectacle, yet a warning to the foreshadowing insanity that swallows Pink.

'Hey You' is Pink's realization of his bad decision of isolation, and his attempts to regain connection. His cries become more desperate until finally he realizes that he's trapped. He can't hear or see beyond his wall.

'Is There Anybody Out There?' (another favourite of mine), is Pink's attempts to get anyone beyond his wall to hear his cries and help him. But like his last attempts, this one also fails.

'Nobody Home' describes Pink's lonely life behind his wall, and also describes Syd Barrett's general being during 1967 (he was going mental). It describes how alone he is, with nothing but his possessions. It also describes what Water's went through during their 1977 tour.

'Vera' is a very difficult track to describe, as it is a reference to Pink's life without ever meeting his father. Her song "We'll Meet Again" is heard in the film The Wall, and it is ironic, due to Pink feeling that Vera, like her promise has disappeared. (Sorry for the bad description)

'Bring The Boys Back Home' talks about how war, or careers, shouldn't be allowed to overshadow family life, or cause neglect to your children. During this part in the film, Pink is seen as a child walking around a station platform after the soldiers have returned from war, and him not seeing his father. (Again, I apologize for the bad description)


'Comfortably Numb' (yet another favourite of mine) is another of Pink Floyd's most popular songs. It tells the part of the story of a conversation between Pink and a doctor, who uses drugs to awaken Pink from his coma-like state, in order to prepare him for an upcoming show.

'The Show Must Go On' is Pink's realization that his isolated life is too dull, yet at the same time, his hallucination begins, and the story spirals down towards the end.

'In The Flesh' marks Pink's downfall. From this part of the story on, he dreams that he is a facist leader at a concert, rallying his men to storm the streets. He shows his tyranny by degrading any blacks, homosexuals, and jews, and forcing them 'against the wall'

'Run Like Hell' is Pink's narration of what his followers are doing, and the choices they make during a raid of the nearby neighborhoods that are full of minorities. It is another well known Floyd song.

'Waiting For The Worms' is the narration of Pink leading his followers on a march through the town. It builds up to loud cheering and chanting, which moves into the next track.

'Stop' is a 30 second interlude, where Pink wakes up, and prepares to face himself in order to escape the wall.

'The Trial' is the climax of the album, where Pink faces all of his past decisions and horrors that led to the wall's creation. He is then sentenced to tear down the wall to be exposed for showing human emotion. The wall is finally torn, and what happens to Pink, remains a mystery.

'Outside The Wall' is the final track on the album, and is a note to the listener of the moral of the story.  It reminds us, that should we leave the world and trap ourselves in our minds, we will surely face insanity.

The Wall is one the greatest records of all time, and to this day remains so. Ask anyone, and they'll remember it either by it's popular songs, or just by Pink Floyd. The character Pink's fate, is left to us to decide. It is hinted in the song 'The Final Cut' from the album The Final Cut that Pink committed suicide, but again, this is left for us to decide. The one thing about The Wall that makes it so remarkable, is not only its tale, but that we may never understand it 100%. Regardless, it is one of the most depressing, yet amazing albums that I've listened to, and it opened me to a world of music that is Pink Floyd. I wanna thank one of my school counselors, Mr. Brown, for recommending this amazing piece of art to me, and opening my eyes to a world of music.

Vacations >_>

Sorry guys, but my review will NOT be up this week. I'm on vacation so I'll post when I can...Peace