High Hopes (Pink Floyd song)
"High Hopes" is a song from the 1994 Pink Floyd album, The Division Bell, composed by David Gilmour with lyrics by Gilmour and Polly Samson. Its lyrics speak of the things one may have gained and lost in life, written from an autobiographical angle by Gilmour, who has previously mentioned that the song is more about his early days and leaving his hometown behind than about the seeds of division supposedly planted in Pink Floyd's early days.[1] Douglas Adams, a friend of Gilmour, chose the album title from one verse in this song.
Song information
"High Hopes" was included on the 2001 compilation, Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd with a shortened slide-guitar solo.
Hidden recordings
After the song is finished on The Division Bell, the sound of Pink Floyd's manager Steve O'Rourke talking to one of David Gilmour's children can be heard. On the LP version, the needle then passes over into the inner groove where a heartbeat is etched, playing on a loop until the needle is taken off. Bells, similar to those of a church, can be heard at the beginning and end of the song. These bells are the same bells that open and close on the song Fat Old Sun which means the two songs can segue into eachother.
Quotations
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I wasn't trying to [create something more personal]. Again, all I can really say is that it is just the way it seemed to come up. It probably had something to do with "High Hopes", my first composition for the album. The song originated from a phrase that my girlfriend suggested, about how time brings you down. Oddly, that line that she gave me wasn't really important. There was just something in it that sparked me into thinking about my childhood and my life in Cambridge, England. So, if you like, the first thing that got written for the album was much more personal than I've tended to be. And I suppose it set the scene for what was to follow. |
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—David Gilmour, 1994[2]
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The process in the recording studio is just as important. Or more. That is a very... frustrating and satisfying process at different times. When you get something and it sounds just how you heard it in your head and you think, "That's going to get across to people." There are moments when something happens quickly and wonderfully. "High Hopes" on the last record. I wrote it very quickly, the words with my now wife Polly. I went into the studio on my own and demoed the whole thing, played everything. Did it in a day. Came out of the studio at the end of the day {quiet whisper} feeling fucking fantastic. That moment. That joy, the pride at having got to that point was absolute magic. And the obverse is when you just can't... but I'm not going to name tracks. |
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—David Gilmour, 1995[3]
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"High Hopes" was really the last one, it was written after all the other (songs) were sort of, in some form or another. I think I wrote it in July or something. It was very, very quick. It's one of those ones that works, quickly, but beautifully, almost immediately and, I came up with a tiny bit of music, just had it on a cassette, just a few bars of piano. And then I went off to get away to a small house somewhere with my girlfriend, Polly, and try and make some progress on the lyric writing. And she gave me a phrase about something about before time wears you down. And I took it from there, and...got stuck into a whole sort of thing about, I suppose, my, it's autobiographical really, I suppose I'd have to say on that one, it's about my life, Cambridge life, and my childhood, I suppose. Yeah, we came up with it very, very quickly, we wrote the words to it in, most of the words to it in a day. And then I went back to the studio, with no one else there, the minute I got back, and put a demo down of it. Did everything myself on it, and it was virtually complete in a day. |
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—David Gilmour talking about "High Hopes" from the US radio premiere of The Division Bell with Redbeard, March, 1994.
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Music video
The music video to "High Hopes" was used as a screen film on tour for The Division Bell, as seen on P•U•L•S•E and is set mostly on Fenland in Cambridgeshire. The video was directed by Storm Thorgerson and features a man looking over the Fens at Ely Cathedral, the same building which can be seen between the metal heads on the cover of the album. Also, the video has many references to Cambridge, where Syd Barrett, Roger Waters and David Gilmour grew up, the university scarves, bikes and punts on the river being obvious ones. In particular many scenes are set in St. John's College, including the Bridge of Sighs. Also shown is an oversized bust of Syd Barrett.
Personnel
Cover versions
Track listings
- CD single
- "High Hopes" — 7:57
- "Marooned" — 5:31
- CD maxi
- "High Hopes" (radio edit) — 5:16
- "Keep Talking" (radio edit) — 4:55
- "One of These Days" (live) — 6:57
Charts
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| End of year chart (1994) |
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| French Singles Chart[7] |
36 |
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References
- ^ Fuller, Graham (July 1994). "The Color of Floyd". Interview Magazine, p. 20-21. http://www.pinkfloydfan.net/t1481-david-gilmour-color-floyd-interview.html. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
- ^ "Sounds of Silence" interview, Guitar World, September 1994, retrieved 28 July 2010
- ^ Phil Sutcliffe (July 1995). "The 30 Year Technicolor Dream". Mojo. http://www.pinkfloydfan.net/t1484-gilmour-mason-wright-30-year.html#post23744. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
- ^ "High Hopes", French Singles Chart Lescharts.com (Retrieved January 22, 2008)
- ^ "High Hopes", UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved January 30, 2009)
- ^ Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved January 30, 2009)
- ^ 1994 French Singles Chart Disqueenfrance.com (Retrieved January 30, 2009)