From sampling teachers screaming at kids in “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. This is another staple in Pink Floyd’s style, but it is used for excellent narrative effect here. The band also samples random sounds throughout several of their songs. The song sounds like something comforting and inviting, but as it crescendos to an incredible guitar solo at the end, there is a sort of existential oppression that the song gets at. Pink needs drugs to give him any sense of freedom, which ironically shows how trapped he is by the mental wall he has built for himself all of his life.
At this point in the narrative, Pink is heavily medicated and he’s putting on a show while incredibly high. An example of this is one of the band’s most iconic songs, “Comfortably Numb”. With each song, there is a constant feeling of claustrophobia, like walls are closing in, which helps the listener understand the mental state of Pink. It’s a common trait of Pink Floyd’s sound, but The Wall takes advantage of this for the narrative. The soundscape is filled with reverb and airiness, which is simultaneously relaxing and oppressive. The album takes advantage of its soundscape and the film takes advantage of its visual presentation to create this desired overwhelming feeling, and the band is able to say much more and strike a deeper nerve than any words possibly could. With surrealism, what you see is never what it seems to be rather, it is a representation of something more visceral, an indescribable, overwhelming feeling that overtakes you. The story is about Pink’s isolation which is represented by a metaphorical wall that is constantly being built over time by different people and events in his life such as the death of his father, his overprotective mother, his abusive teachers, and his tumultuous life as a successful rock star with marriage and drug problems.īoth the album and film are experiments in surrealism. The narrative of The Wall follows a jaded rock star named Pink, who in many ways is a representation of Waters, as well as Syd Barrett, one of the founding members of the band who left at the very start of their career. The Wall, their 1979 release (and last great album), is the epitome of these traits that characterized a number of their songs and releases, and it spawned a cult classic film adaptation in 1982 written by the band’s main songwriter and bassist, Roger Waters. This includes the demons that accompany fame and their love for creating metaphorical songs and concept albums. This exhibit was funded in part by Sony Music Entertainment Inc.Anyone familiar with Pink Floyd’s discography will be well versed with the band’s fascination with the human condition. Also featured is a surreal 20-foot tall inflatable “Teacher” character. One element of the exhibit, the long-limbed figure with striped tie and glasses, is a recreation of electronic musician Thomas Dolby’s teacher costume worn during the 1990 Berlin performance. The text on the wall itself outlines the circumstances that inspired Roger Waters to create the album. This installation, created for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for the museum’s opening in September 1995, mirrors portions of the set used for Waters’ Jall-star charity performance of The Wall at Potzdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany, commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall. The concert tour stage set featured a massive 340-brick wall that was built up brick by brick during the first half of the show as a physical symbol of Pink’s increasing reclusion from both his fans and society as a whole, and then was demolished during each concert’s finale. The three-part song “Another Brick in the Wall” outlines Pink’s traumatic life, from the death of his father to being the target of school bullies to a violent mental breakdown. Released in November 1979, The Wall was a huge success, spawning three singles, a 1980-81 concert tour and a 1982 feature film.
so this record started out as being an expression of those feelings.”