Pigs on the Wing
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| “Pigs on the Wing” | ||
|---|---|---|
| Song by Pink Floyd | ||
| Album | Animals | |
| Released | January 23, 1977 (UK) February 2, 1977 (US) |
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| Recorded | November 1976 | |
| Genre | Folk-rock | |
| Length | 1:25 (Each) 2:50 (Put together) |
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| Label | Harvest / Capitol | |
| Writer | Roger Waters | |
| Producer | Pink Floyd | |
| Animals track listing | ||
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"Pigs on the Wing" is a two-parted song by the progressive rock band Pink Floyd from their 1977 concept album, Animals, starting and wrapping up the album. According to various interviews, it was written by Roger Waters as a declaration of love to his wife.
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[edit] Composition
The song is divided in two parts, which are the first and last tracks of the album. Both are in stark contrast to the album's middle three misanthropic songs, and suggest that companionship can help us overcome our flaws. The casual listener may ignore them for the most part; however they are keys to the album, summing up the album in its entirety in their short 1:25 time spans. Also, it is believed that Roger Waters refers to himself as a "dog" in Part 2: "Now that I've found somewhere safe to bury my bone, And any fool knows, a dog needs a home, A shelter, from pigs on the wing."
The songs are constructed simply and feature no instrumentation besides a strummed acoustic guitar played by Waters.
On the 8-track cartridge release (which looped), Parts 1 and 2 were linked by a guitar bridge performed by Snowy White. Snowy would play the guitar solo at the end of part 2 in live performances on the 1977 Animals tour which also included drums, rhythm guitars and keyboards. On the last US leg of the performances, David Gilmour would play bass guitar instead of the electric rhythm guitar he played on the European and first US legs of the Animals tour.
[edit] Personnel
- Roger Waters - Acoustic guitar, vocal
- Snowy White - Guitar solo (8-track version only)
- Richard Wright - Hammond organ (8-track version only)
[edit] Trivia
Roger Waters was playing Pigs on the Wing when he made his infamous "Oh for fucks sake..." speech. For more information see Pink Floyd live performances.
[edit] Cover version
A cover version of Pigs on the Wing by Tortfeasor appears on the 2003 Pink Floyd tribute album A Fair Forgery of Pink Floyd
Another cover was also released by Les Claypool's Frog Brigade on the album Live Frogs.
