One of the Few
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| “One of the Few” | |||||
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| Song by Pink Floyd | |||||
| Album | The Final Cut | ||||
| Released | March 21, 1983 (UK) April 2, 1983 (US) |
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| Recorded | July-December 1982 | ||||
| Genre | Progressive rock | ||||
| Length | ~1:12 | ||||
| Label | Harvest Records (UK) Capitol Records (US) |
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| Writer | Roger Waters | ||||
| Producer | Roger Waters, James Guthrie and Michael Kamen | ||||
| The Final Cut track listing | |||||
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"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.
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[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 a cover of the song on their compilation Resonance, which also includes a version of "Goodbye Cruel World".
