Pink Floyd’s The Wall is a rock opera album that delves into the concepts of abandonment and isolation, symbolized by a wall. The lyrics tell the story of a fictional musician named “Pink” (modelled after lead singer, Roger Waters). At the time the album was created, Pink Floyd was near bankrupt, Waters was severely depressed, and the band close to breaking up. After spitting on a fan at a concert, Waters sought professional help where he told the doctor, “I sometimes feel like I just want to build a wall between me and the fans”.
Waters’ alienation of the band’s fans sparked an idea. He sketched an outline for The Wall and presented it to the band. They were interested. He wrote the entire storyline and again presented it to the band. They became excited. They could see the entire album in their minds. The protagonist was changed from Waters to a fictional “Pink” and additional elements stitched into the story to create a coherent musical opera.
The story of Pink Floyd’s The Wall album
The story of The Wall can be summarized like this:
Pink is a depressed rock star. He imagines a crowd of fans entering one of his concerts, and we begin a flashback on his life, and it is revealed that his father was killed defending the Anzio bridgehead during World War II, in Pink’s infancy (“In the Flesh?”). Pink’s mother raises him alone (“The Thin Ice”), and with the death of his father, Pink starts to build a metaphorical wall around himself (“Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1”).
Growing older, Pink is tormented at school by tyrannical, abusive teachers (“The Happiest Days of Our Lives”), and memories of these traumas become more metaphorical “bricks in the wall” (“Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2”). Pink recalls his oppressive and overprotective mother (“Mother”) and his upbringing during the Blitz (“Goodbye Blue Sky”). As his wall near completion, Pink marries the love of his life (“Empty Spaces”). While touring in America, he turns to a willing groupie (“Young Lust”). After learning of his wife’s infidelity, he brings the groupie back to his hotel room, only to trash it in a violent fit of rage, terrifying the groupie who flees from the room (“One of My Turns”). Pink, lonely and depressed, thinks about the loss of his wife (“Don’t Leave Me Now”), and dismisses every traumatic experience he has ever had as a “brick” in the metaphorical wall (“Another Brick in the Wall, Part 3”). Pink finishes his wall providing total isolation from human contact (“Goodbye Cruel World”).
Immediately after the wall’s completion, Pink questions his decision, (“Hey You”), and locks himself in his hotel room (“Is There Anybody Out There?”). His depression deepening, Pink turns to his possessions for comfort (“Nobody Home”), and yearns for the idea of reconnecting with his personal roots (“Vera”), Pink’s mind flashes back to World War II, with the people demanding that the soldiers return home (“Bring the Boys Back Home”). Returning to the present, Pink’s manager and roadies have busted into his hotel room, where they find him drugged and unresponsive. A paramedic injects him with drugs to enable him to perform (“Comfortably Numb”).
This results in a hallucinatory on-stage performance (“The Show Must Go On”) where he believes that he is a fascist dictator, and that his concert is a Neo-Nazi rally, at which he sets brownshirt-like men on fans he considers unworthy (“In the Flesh”). He proceeds to attack ethnic minorities (“Run Like Hell”), and then holds a rally in suburban London, symbolizing his descent into insanity (“Waiting for the Worms”). Pink’s hallucination then ceases, and he begs for everything to stop (“Stop”). Showing human emotion, he is tormented with guilt and places himself on trial (“The Trial”), his inner judge ordering him to “tear down the wall”, opening Pink to the outside world (“Outside the Wall”). The album turns full circle with its closing words “Isn’t this where …”, the first words of the phrase that begins the album, “… we came in?”, with a continuation of the melody of the last song hinting at the cyclical nature of Waters’ theme.
In the Flesh
The opening track is a reference to a 1977 incident during the In the Flash Tour. Waters spat on a front row fan who was trying to climb over the barricade. The incident so angered Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour that he stormed off the stage and refused to play the final song of the set. It was after this incident that Waters sought help for his growing mental health problems.
In the Flesh kicks off the story of “Pink”. Pink is introduced at the opening of a rock concert and it is revealed that all is not what it appears on the surface. The song also hints at two additional elements that will come into play later. The dive-bomber effect indicating Pink’s father was killed in the war and a baby crying revealing that Pink’s mother is left to raise him alone.
In the Flesh? Lyrics
“….we came in?”
So ya
Thought ya
Might like to go to the show.
To feel the warm thrill of confusion
That space cadet glow.
Tell me is something eluding you, sunshine?
Is this not what you expected to see?
If you wanna find out what’s behind these cold eyes
You’ll just have to claw your way through this disguise.“Lights! Turn on the sound effects! Action!”
“Drop it, drop it on ’em! Drop it on them!!!!!”
The Thin Ice
The Thin Ice is the second track of The Wall album but is widely considered to be the introduction to the story. Pink emerges as a baby, surrounded by love, but with a warning that things are not as they seem and danger lurks around every corner.
The Thin Ice Lyrics
[Sound of infant crying]
Momma loves her baby
And daddy loves you too.
And the sea may look warm to you babe
And the sky may look blue
But ooooh Baby
Ooooh baby blue
Oooooh babe.If you should go skating
On the thin ice of modern life
Dragging behind you the silent reproach
Of a million tear-stained eyes
Don’t be surprised when a crack in the ice
Appears under your feet.
You slip out of your depth and out of your mind
With your fear flowing out behind you
As you claw the thin ice.
Another Brick in the Wall Part 1
In part 1 of the three-part song, Pink begins building a wall around him, isolating himself from pain. As the lyrics reveal, the first bricks in the wall result from the memory of his father’s death in the war.
Another Brick in the Wall Part 1 Lyrics
Daddy’s flown across the ocean
Leaving just a memory
Snapshot in the family album
Daddy what else did you leave for me?
Daddy, what’d’ja leave behind for me?!?
All in all it was just a brick in the wall.
All in all it was all just bricks in the wall.
“You! Yes, you! Stand still laddy!”
The Happiest Days of our Lives
Waters has said the lyrics for The Happiest Days of our Lives were a reflection of his own experience in school, a school run by strict and sometimes violent teachers who treated the students with dark contempt.
The Happiest Days of our Lives Lyrics
When we grew up and went to school
There were certain teachers who would
Hurt the children in any way they could
“OOF!” [someone being hit]
By pouring their derision
Upon anything we did
And exposing every weakness
However carefully hidden by the kids
But in the town, it was well known
When they got home at night, their fat and
Psychopathic wives would thrash them
Within inches of their lives.
Another Brick in the Wall Part 2
One of the most popular songs the album is a protest song. More bricks are added to the wall as a result of emotional damage from tyrannical boarding school teachers.
The children singing on the album were school children who were allotted 40 minutes to sing for the album by their music teacher. The lyrics were hidden from the headmaster for fear she would not allow the students to participated in the recording of the album. The headmaster later recalled,
“I was only told about it after the event, which didn’t please me.”
Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 Lyrics
We don’t need no education
We dont need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it’s just another brick in the wall.
All in all you’re just another brick in the wall.We don’t need no education
We dont need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it’s just another brick in the wall.
All in all you’re just another brick in the wall.
“Wrong, Do it again!”
“If you don’t eat yer meat, you can’t have any pudding. How can you
have any pudding if you don’t eat yer meat?”
“You! Yes, you behind the bikesheds, stand still laddy!”
Mother
Using lyrics portraying a conversation between a son and his mom, the song Mother reveals that part of Pink’s alienation derives from an overprotective mother who attempts to shelter her child by building a wall around him.
Mother Lyrics
Mother do you think they’ll drop the bomb?
Mother do you think they’ll like this song?
Mother do you think they’ll try to break my balls?
Mother should I build the wall?
Mother should I run for president?
Mother should I trust the government?
Mother will they put me in the firing line?
Mother am I really dying?Hush now baby, baby, dont you cry.
Mother’s gonna make all your nightmares come true.
Mother’s gonna put all her fears into you.
Mother’s gonna keep you right here under her wing.
She wont let you fly, but she might let you sing.
Mama will keep baby cozy and warm.
Ooooh baby ooooh baby oooooh baby,
Of course mama’ll help to build the wall.Mother do you think she’s good enough — to me?
Mother do you think she’s dangerous — to me?
Mother will she tear your little boy apart?
Mother will she break my heart?Hush now baby, baby dont you cry.
Mama’s gonna check out all your girlfriends for you.
Mama wont let anyone dirty get through.
Mama’s gonna wait up until you get in.
Mama will always find out where you’ve been.
Mama’s gonna keep baby healthy and clean.
Ooooh baby oooh baby oooh baby,
You’ll always be baby to me.Mother, did it need to be so high?
Goodbye Blue Sky
The sound of approaching WWII bombers attracts the attention of a young child. Voiced by Water’s own son, the child launches the song by saying, “Look mummy, there’s an airplane up in the sky”.
The song goes on to describe Pink’s memory of WWII’s Blitz and the emotional pain that was left behind (“the flames are all gone but the pain lingers on”).
Goodbye Blue Sky Lyrics
[A skylark chirping and the sound of approaching airplanes]
“Look mummy, there’s an aeroplane up in the sky”
Did you see the frightened ones?
Did you hear the falling bombs?
Did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter when the
promise of a brave new world unfurled beneath a clear blue
sky?Did you see the frightened ones?
Did you hear the falling bombs?
The flames are all gone, but the pain lingers on.Goodbye, blue sky
Goodbye, blue sky.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
“The 11:15 from Newcastle is now approaching”
“The 11:18 arrival….”
Empty Spaces
The Wall nears completion but there are a few empty spaces remaining, symbolized by the empty spaces in the relationship between “Roger” and his wife, Caroline. Pink asks, what he should use to fill the final empty spaces in order to complete the wall.
Empty Spaces Lyrics
[backwards message:]
“Congratulations, You have just discovered the secret message.
Please send your answer to ‘Old Pink’,
Care of the funny farm, Chalfont…” – Spoken By Roger
[…interrupted…]
“Roger, Caroline’s on the phone…” – Unknown Voice
What shall we use
To fill the empty spaces
Where we used to talk?
How shall I fill
The final places?
How should I complete the wall
Young Lust
Pink is a successful musician but life on the road leaves him wanting. He copes with tedium of road life through affairs with groupies. He sings of his desire to find a “dirty woman” to “set him free”.
The song ends with Pink attempting to place a transatlantic collect call to his wife. A man answers and when asked if he will except the charges, he hangs up. This is how Pink learns that his wife is cheating on him.
The phone call was made by producer James Guthrie in Los Angeles to a neighbor in London. The operator in this song is an unknown participant. She was the second operator they tried the routine with.
Young Lust Lyrics
I am just a new boy,
Stranger in this town.
Where are all the good times?
Who’s gonna show this stranger around?
Ooooh, I need a dirty woman.
Ooooh, I need a dirty girl.Will some cold woman in this desert land
Make me feel like a real man?
Take this rock and roll refugee
Oooh, baby set me free.Ooooh, I need a dirty woman.
Ooooh, I need a dirty girl.
[Phone rings..Clink of receiver being lifted]
“Hello..?”
“Yes, a collect call for Mrs. Floyd from Mr. Floyd.
Will you accept the charges from United States?”
[clunk! of phone being put down]
“Oh, He hung up! That’s your residence, right? I wonder why he hung up?
Is there supposed to be someone else there besides your wife there to answer?”
[Phone rings again…clunk of receiver being picked up]
“Hello?”
“This is United States calling, are we reaching…
[interrupted by phone being put down]
“See he keeps hanging up, and it’s a man answering.”
[whirr of connection being closed]
One of My Turns
After learning of his wife’s affair, Pink invites a groupie into his room. The groupie is impressed and attempts to have a conversation with Pink. Near complete breakdown, Pink ignores her while musing on his failed relationship with his wife. He suddenly breaks into a rage, destroys the room, and frightens the young woman away.
The television show audio at the beginning of the song is from September 24–26, 1979, Another World episodes 3864–3866. Kirk Laverty brings Iris Bancroft and her maid, Vivan Gorrow, to his lodge in the Adirondacks.
One of My Turns Lyrics
“Oh my God! What a fabulous room! Are all these your guitars?
[Film in background: “I’m sorry sir, I didn’t mean to startle you!]
“This place is bigger than our apartment!
[Film: “Let me know when you’re entering a room”
“Yes sir!”]
“erm, Can I get a drink of water?
[Film: “I was wondering about …”]
“You want some, huh?”
[Film: “Yes”]
“Oh wow, look at this tub? Do you wanna take baaaath?”
[Film: “I’ll have to find out from Mrs. Bancroft what time she wants to meet us, for her main …”]
“What are watching?”
[Film: “If you’ll just let me know as soon as you can … Mrs Bancroft” “Mrs Bancroft …”]
“Hello?”
[Film: “I don’t understand …”]
“Are you feeling okay?…”
Day after day, love turns grey
Like the skin of a dying man.
Night after night, we pretend its all right
But I have grown older and
You have grown colder and
Nothing is very much fun any more.
And I can feel one of my turns coming on.
I feel cold as a razor blade,
Tight as a tourniquet,
Dry as a funeral drum.Run to the bedroom,
In the suitcase on the left
You’ll find my favorite axe.
Don’t look so frightened
This is just a passing phase,
One of my bad days.
Would you like to watch T.V.?
Or get between the sheets?
Or contemplate the silent freeway?
Would you like something to eat?
Would you like to learn to fly?
Would’ya?
Would you like to see me try?Would you like to call the cops?
Do you think it’s time I stopped?
Why are you running away?
Don’t Leave Me Now
Pink has fallen into a deep state of depression emphasized by flat, unrelated chords and slow tempo of the song. In a deep state of self-sympathy, he pleads with his wife to stay. She does not.
Oddly, Waters has stated that the song had little to do with the relationship between him and his wife. Despite her affair, they had a cordial relationship after their breakup.
Don’t Leave Me Now Lyrics
Ooooh, babe
Don’t leave me now.
Don’t say it’s the end of the road.
Remember the flowers I sent.
I need you, babe
To put through the shredder
In front of my friends
Ooooh Babe.
Dont leave me now.
How could you go?
When you know how I need you
To beat to a pulp on a Saturday night
Ooooh Babe.
How could you treat me this way?
Running away.
I need you, Babe.
Why are you running away?
Oooooh Babe!
Another Brick in the Wall Part 3
Pink gives up and rejects everyone as “just bricks in the wall”.
Another Brick in the Wall Part 3 Lyrics
[Sound of many TV’s coming on, all on different channels]
“The Bulls are already out there”
Pink: “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrgh!”
“This Roman Meal bakery thought you’d like to know.”
I don’t need no arms around me
And I dont need no drugs to calm me.
I have seen the writing on the wall.
Don’t think I need anything at all.
No! Don’t think I’ll need anything at all.
All in all it was all just bricks in the wall.
All in all you were all just bricks in the wall.
Goodbye Cruel World
Pink has completed the wall. He now shifts into complete isolation.
Goodbye Cruel World Lyrics
Goodbye cruel world,
I’m leaving you today.
Goodbye,
Goodbye,
Goodbye.Goodbye, all you people,
There’s nothing you can say
To make me change my mind.
Goodbye.
Hey You
Pink feels the emotional pain from his self-imposed isolation. He longs for contact with the outside world and realizes that building a wall around himself was the wrong solution to his emotional pain. Still, there is no escape.
Hey You Lyrics
Hey you, out there in the cold
Getting lonely, getting old
Can you feel me?
Hey you, standing in the aisles
With itchy feet and fading smiles
Can you feel me?
Hey you, dont help them to bury the light
Don’t give in without a fight.Hey you, out there on your own
Sitting naked by the phone
Would you touch me?
Hey you, with you ear against the wall
Waiting for someone to call out
Would you touch me?
Hey you, would you help me to carry the stone?
Open your heart, I’m coming home.But it was only fantasy.
The wall was too high,
As you can see.
No matter how he tried,
He could not break free.
And the worms ate into his brain.Hey you, standing in the road
always doing what you’re told,
Can you help me?
Hey you, out there beyond the wall,
Breaking bottles in the hall,
Can you help me?
Hey you, don’t tell me there’s no hope at all
Together we stand, divided we fall.
[Click of TV being turned on]
“Well, only got an hour of daylight left. Better get started”
“Isnt it unsafe to travel at night?”
“It’ll be a lot less safe to stay here. You’re father’s gunna pick up our trail before long”
“Can Loca ride?”
“Yeah, I can ride… Magaret, time to go! Maigret, thank you for everything”
“Goodbye Chenga”
“Goodbye miss …”
“I’ll be back”
Is There Anybody Out There?
Pink desperately calls for help. There is no answer.
Is There Anybody Out There? Lyrics
Is there anybody out there?
Is there anybody out there?
Is there anybody out there?
Is there anybody out there?
Nobody Home
Nobody Home, one of the most popular songs from The Wall, almost never came to be. Producer Bob Ezrin and David Gilmour asked Waters to create one more song for the album. An argument ensued and Waters sulked away from the meeting. The next day he arrived in the studio with Nobody Home and presented it to the band. Gilmour has revealed that is was one of this favorite songs from the album.
Pink has everything a man could want yet behind the mental wall he has created, he lives in isolation. He has nobody to talk to except for his possessions.
Waters has said the song describes the feelings he had during the band’s 1977 tour, Pink Floyd’s first major stadium tour and that some aspects describe keyboardist Richard Wright, who was suffering from cocaine addiction at the time (I got a silver spoon on a chain, got a grand piano to prop up my mortal remains). Waters and Gilmour have said that much of the lyrics describe former bandmate and Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett and rock musicians in general.
Nobody Home Lyrics
“Alright, I’ll take care of them part of the time, but there’s somebody else that needs taking care of in Washington”
“Who’s that?”
“Rose Pilchitt!”
“Rose Pilchitt? Who’s that?”
[Kid screams in background. foreground: “Shut Up!”]
“36-24-36 [laughter] does that answer your question?”
[foreground: “Oi! I’ve got a little black book with me poems in!”]
“Who’s she?”
“She was ‘Miss Armoured Division’ in 1961 … “
I’ve got a little black book with my poems in.
Got a bag with a toothbrush and a comb in.
When I’m a good dog, they sometimes throw me a bone in.I got elastic bands keepin my shoes on.
Got those swollen hand blues.
Got thirteen channels of sh*t on the T.V. to choose from.
I’ve got electric light.
And I’ve got second sight.
And amazing powers of observation.
And that is how I know
When I try to get through
On the telephone to you
There’ll be nobody home.I’ve got the obligatory Hendrix perm.
And the inevitable pinhole burns
All down the front of my favorite satin shirt.
I’ve got nicotine stains on my fingers.
I’ve got a silver spoon on a chain.
I’ve got a grand piano to prop up my mortal remains.I’ve got wild staring eyes.
And I’ve got a strong urge to fly.
But I got nowhere to fly to.
Ooooh, Babe when I pick up the phone
“Surprise, surprise, surprise…” (from Gomer Pyle show)
There’s still nobody home.I’ve got a pair of Gohills boots
and I got fading roots.
“Where the hell are you?”
“Over 47 german planes were destroyed with the loss of only 15 of our own aircraft”
“Where the hell are you Simon?”
[Machine gun sound, followed by plane crashing]
Vera
Pink, who never really got to meet his father, laments over a woman named Vera. Vera references Vera Lynn, a British singer popular during World War II. Her signature song was “We’ll Meet Again”.
The song’s intro features a collage of superimposed audio excerpts from the 1969 film Battle of Britain. Among the used clips are a piece of dialogue (“Where the hell are you, Simon?”), a BBC broadcast and battle sound effects.
Vera Lyrics
Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn?
Remember how she said that
We would meet again
Some sunny day?
Vera! Vera!
What has become of you?
Does anybody else here
Feel the way I do?
Bring the Boys Back Home
The lyrics of course, refer to bringing WWII soldiers back home but the cacophony of sounds and recaps at the end is clearly the cries of a broken man. According to Waters, the song is indeed anti-war but also relates to “not allowing rock and roll, or making cars, or selling soap, or getting involved in biological research, 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.”
Bring the Boys Back Home Lyrics
[several snare drums articulating a march beat]
Bring the boys back home.
Bring the boys back home.
Don’t leave the children on their own, no, no.
Bring the boys back home.
“Wrong! Do it again!”
“Time to go! [knock, knock, knock, knock]
“Are you feeling okay?”
“There’s a man answering, but he keeps hanging up!”
Is there anybody out there?[Waters’ voice alone, agonized and struggling to sustain a high note. A lone snare drum also remains, continuing its now-threatening march beat, as insane laughter and voices from Pink’s past and present mingle while his manager pounds on his hotel-room door.]
Comfortably Numb
Comfortably Numb begins with the conversation of paramedics and band members trying to get Pink to respond. He is ultimately medicated so he can perform for the show. The lyrics alternate between the doctor explaining the procedure and Pink’s reaction to it.
Waters has said the song was inspired by his experience of being injected with tranquilizers for stomach cramps before a 1977 performance in Philadelphia. He recalled, “”That was the longest two hours of my life, trying to do a show when you can hardly lift your arm.”
Waters and Gilmour recall viscous arguments over the song. Gilmour wanted a grungier style for the vocals while Waters preferred a clearer “conversation”. In the end, they compromised. Waters’ preferred opening was used and Gilmour’s final solo was used resulting in one of the most popular songs on the album.
Comfortably Numb Lyrics
Hello?
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anyone at home?
Come on, now,
I hear you’re feeling down.
Well I can ease your pain
Get you on your feet again.
Relax.
I’ll need some information first.
Just the basic facts.
Can you show me where it hurts?There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship, smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re saying.
When I was a child I had a fever
My hands felt just like two balloons.
Now I’ve got that feeling once again
I can’t explain you would not understand
This is not how I am.
I have become comfortably numb.O.K.
Just a little pinprick.
There’ll be no more aaaaaaaaah!
But you may feel a little sick.
Can you stand up?
I do believe it’s working, good.
That’ll keep you going through the show
Come on it’s time to go.There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship, smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re saying.
When I was a child
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown,
The dream is gone.
I have become comfortably numb.
The Show Must Go On
Pink has begun to mentally unravel and is unsure whether or not he can perform in the state he is in.
The album sleeve has lyrics that do not appear in the actual recorded song.
Do I have to stand up
Wild eyed in the spotlight
What a nightmare
Why don’t I turn and run
After this, the line “There must be some mistake…” starts.
The song is the only one from the album which Waters does not perform. However, a demo of unofficially released recordings has Waters’ voice singing a verse that never appeared on the album.
Am I really unsure,
Wild eyed in the spotlight?
f*ck me, what a nightmare
Who’s there?
Have they all gone?It’s okay, now you’re in luck,
The worms have fled the rising sun.
Their evil power is on the way.
Forget the past and start again.There must be some mistake…
The Show Must Go On Lyrics
Ooooh, Ma, Oooh Pa
Must the show go on?
Ooooh, Pa. Take me home
Ooooh, Ma. Let me goThere must be some mistake
I didnt mean to let them
Take away my soul.
Am I too old, is it too late?Ooooh, Ma, Ooooh Pa,
Where has the feeling gone?
Ooooh, Ma, Ooooh Pa,
Will I remember the songs?
The show must go on.
In The Flesh
The reprise of In The Flesh finds Pink in a drug-induced state. He begins to hallucinate and demands the fans conform to his wishes and place undesirables “against the wall”.
In the concerts, Pink is shown to be hallucinating that he is a fascist dictator, crowing over his faithful audience. After exhorting the fans show their devotion to him, the crowd changes Pink’s name as the song segues into Run Like Hell.
In The Flesh Lyrics
So ya
Thought ya
Might like to
Go to the show.
To feel that warm thrill of confusion,
That space cadet glow.
I’ve got some bad news for you sunshine,
Pink isn’t well, he stayed back at the hotel
And they sent us along as a surrogate band
We’re gonna find out where you fans really stand.Are there any queers in the theater tonight?
Get them up against the wall!
There’s one in the spotlight, he don’t look right to me,
Get him up against the wall!
That one looks Jewish!
And that one’s a coon!
Who let all of this riff-raff into the room?
There’s one smoking a joint,
And another with spots!
If I had my way,
I’d have all of you shot!
Run Like Hell
Pink, believing to be a fascist dictator over his fans, turns his faithful audience loose on the “riff faff”. In concerts, Waters would, ironically, encourage the crowd to clap and play along during performance of the song. Sound effects are used in the song to create a sense of paranoia, with the sound of cruel laughter, running footsteps, car tires skidding, and a loud scream.
Run Like Hell Lyrics
“Pink Floyd, Pink Floyd”
Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run,
Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run.
You better make your face up in
Your favorite disguise.
With your button down lips and your
Roller blind eyes.
With your empty smile
And your hungry heart.
Feel the bile rising from your guilty past.
With your nerves in tatters
When the co*ckleshell shatters
And the hammers batter
Down the door.
You’d better run.Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run,
Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run.
You better run all day
And run all night.
Keep your dirty feelings
Deep inside.
And if you’re taking your girlfriend
Out tonight
You’d better park the car
Well out of sight.
Cause if they catch you in the back seat
Trying to pick her locks,
They’re gonna send you back to mother
In a cardboard box.
You better run.
“Hey, open up! HaHaHaHaHaaaaaaaaaa!
[sound of car skidding, followed by loud scream]
“Hammer, Hammer”
Waiting for the Worms
As the crowd shouts “Hammer, Hammer”, the song begins with the German phrase, “one, two, three, everybody”. Pink’s hallucination continues and increases in violence. His mind has decayed and the thought of “worms” mingled with near incomprehensible violent babble permeates as Pink nears his final destruction.
The intensity of Waters’ rant through his megaphone and the crowds submissive chanting grows louder until the song abruptly ends with a shout of “Stop!”
Waiting for the Worms Lyrics
“Eins, zwei, drei, alle!”
Ooooh, you cannot reach me now
Ooooh, no matter how you try
Goodbye, cruel world, it’s over
Walk on by.Sitting in a bunker here behind my wall
Waiting for the worms to come.
In perfect isolation here behind my wall
Waiting for the worms to come.
We’re {waiting to succeed} and going to convene outside Brixton
Town Hall where we’re going to be…
Waiting to cut out the deadwood.
Waiting to clean up the city.
Waiting to follow the worms.
Waiting to put on a black shirt.
Waiting to weed out the weaklings.
Waiting to smash in their windows
And kick in their doors.
Waiting for the final solution
To strengthen the strain.
Waiting to follow the worms.
Waiting to turn on the showers
And fire the ovens.
Waiting for the queens and the coons
and the reds and the jews.
Waiting to follow the worms.Would you like to see Britannia
Rule again, my friend?
All you have to do is follow the worms.
Would you like to send our colored cousins
Home again, my friend?All you need to do is follow the worms.
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 {…..} by the way we go. {… ..}.”
Stop
Pink recognizes his plight and regrets living his life as a fascist dictator.
Stop Lyrics
Stop!
I wanna go home
Take off this uniform
And leave the show.
But I’m waiting in this cell
Because I have to know.
Have I been guilty all this time?
The Trial
Pink breaks and in his shattered state, puts himself on trial. Throughout the song, he is confronted (or supported) by various characters who have influenced his life – his schoolmaster, wife, and mother. Each characters part is sung by Waters using a different accent – co*ckney, Scottish, Northern English, and his normal voice.
Prompted by a prosecutor intent on condemning Pink, each witness provides “testimony” in Pink’s trial. During the trial, Pink laments “Crazy. Toys in the attic. I am crazy. Truly gone fishing”. Ultimately the judge finds Pink guilty and sentences him to “be exposed before your peers”. The judge orders Pink, “Tear down the wall”.
The wall comes tumbling down.
The Trial Lyrics
Good morning, Worm your honor.
The crown will plainly show
The prisoner who now stands before you
Was caught red-handed showing feelings
Showing feelings of an almost human nature;
This will not do.
Call the schoolmaster!I always said he’d come to no good
In the end your honor.
If they’d let me have my way I could
Have flayed him into shape.
But my hands were tied,
The bleeding hearts and artists
Let him get away with murder.
Let me hammer him today?Crazy,
Toys in the attic I am crazy,
Truly gone fishing.
They must have taken my marbles away.
Crazy, toys in the attic he is crazy.You little sh*t you’re in it now,
I hope they throw away the key.
You should have talked to me more often
Than you did, but no! You had to go
Your own way, have you broken any
Homes up lately?
Just five minutes, Worm your honor,
Him and Me, alone.Baaaaaaaaaabe!
Come to mother baby, let me hold you
In my arms.
M’lud I never wanted him to
Get in any trouble.
Why’d he ever have to leave me?
Worm, your honor, let me take him home.Crazy,
Over the rainbow, I am crazy,
Bars in the window.
There must have been a door there in the wall
When I came in.
Crazy, over the rainbow, he is crazy.The evidence before the court is
Incontrivertable, there’s no need for
The jury to retire.
In all my years of judging
I have never heard before
Of someone more deserving
Of the full penaltie of law.
The way you made them suffer,
Your exquisite wife and mother,
Fills me with the urge to defecate!
“Hey Judge! sh*t on him!”
Since, my friend, you have revealed your
Deepest fear,
I sentence you to be exposed before
Your peers.
Tear down the wall!
Outside the Wall
The wall has been destroyed and Pink sings his final song. The dismantling of his psychological “wall” has impacted everyone he loves and holds dear.
The song ends abruptly with the words, “Isn’t this where…” If the album is played from the beginning, a loop is formed with the words “we came in” kicking off In the Flash?
Outside the Wall Lyrics
All alone, or in two’s,
The ones who really love you
Walk up and down outside the wall.
Some hand in hand
And some gathered together in bands.
The bleeding hearts and artists
Make their stand.And when they’ve given you their all
Some stagger and fall, after all it’s not easy
Banging your heart against some mad bugger’s wall.
“Isn’t this where….”
