One of the Few

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"One of the Few"
Song by Pink Floyd
from the album The Final Cut
Released	March 21, 1983 (UK) April 2, 1983 (US)
Recorded	July-December 1982
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	~1:12
Label	Harvest Records (UK) Capitol Records (US)
Writer(s)	Roger Waters
Producer(s)	Roger Waters, James Guthrie and Michael Kamen
The Final Cut track listing
Your Possible Pasts (2)	"One of the Few" (3)	When the Tigers Broke Free (4)

"One of the Few" is a song by British progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was released as the third track on The Final Cut album in 1983.

Contents 1 Composition 2 The Wall 3 Meaning 4 Covers

[edit] Composition

The song is short at 1 minute and 12 seconds length. It features a ticking clock in the background and a steady drumbeat. It also features a lyrical pattern and is overall slow.

[edit] The Wall

The song has relevancy to Pink Floyd's The Wall. When in recording, the song was to be used on The Wall under the title "Teach". The song was later taken out of the album to be used on The Final Cut. After the line "What would you do to make ends meet?" the word "teach" is faintly spoken and repeated.

[edit] Meaning

On The Wall, the lyrical meaning consists of the demoralizing actions of the teachers to the students.

On The Final Cut, it relates to the main character's mental state, though this is disputed.

All together, it is the cyclical effects of the teacher's frustrations over his memories of the war which leads him to take out his pain on the students. The idea of cycle-based themes is rampant in Waters' work. Similar lyrics ("Make em laugh, make em cry, etc.") are revisited in "Not Now John," showing how effects of such emotional manipulation are carried on and reintroduced into adult life by the children of the postwar era.

[edit] Covers

British doom death metal/atmospheric rock band Anathema has an interesting cover of the song on their compilation Resonance which also includes a version of "Goodbye Cruel World".