Another Brick in the Wall

"Another Brick in the Wall"
Song series by Pink Floyd
from the album The Wall
Published Pink Floyd Music Publishers
Released 30 November 1979
Recorded April–November 1979
Genre Progressive rock
Length

9:08 (All three parts)

  • 3:21 (Part 1)
  • 3:59 (Part 2)
  • 1:48 (Part 3)
  • 5:43 (Radio Edit)
Label
Songwriter(s) Roger Waters
Producer(s)

"Another Brick in the Wall" is the title of three songs set to variations of the same basic theme, on Pink Floyd's 1979 rock opera, The Wall, subtitled Part 1 (working title "Reminiscing"), Part 2 (working title "Education"), and Part 3 (working title "Drugs"). All parts were written by Pink Floyd's bassist, Roger Waters.

Part 2 is a protest song against rigid schooling in general and boarding schools in the UK in particular.[1] It was also released as a single and provided the band's only number-one hit in the United Kingdom, the United States, West Germany and many other countries. In addition, in the US, along with the tracks, "Run Like Hell", and "Don't Leave Me Now", "Another Brick in the Wall" reached number fifty-seven on the disco chart.[2]

In the UK, Part 2 was Pink Floyd's first single since 1968's "Point Me at the Sky"; the song was also the final number-one single of the 1970s. For Part 2, Pink Floyd received a Grammy nomination for Best Performance by a Rock Duo or Group and lost to Bob Seger's "Against the Wind". In addition, Part 2 was number 375 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[3] The single sold over 4 million copies worldwide.[4]

That single, as well as the album The Wall, were banned in South Africa in 1980 after the song was adopted by supporters of a nationwide school boycott protesting racial inequities in education under the apartheid regime.[5][6]

Concept

Each of the three parts has a similar tune, and lyrical structure (though not lyrics, aside from the "all in all" refrain), and each is louder and more enraged than the one before, rising from the sadness of Part I to the protesting Part II to the furious Part III.

"Part 1"

"Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)"
Song by Pink Floyd
from the album The Wall
Published Pink Floyd Music Publishers
Released
  • 30 November 1979 (UK)
  • 8 December 1979 (US)
Recorded April–November 1979
Genre Progressive rock
Length 3:21
Label
Songwriter(s) Roger Waters
Producer(s)
Composition

Part 1 of the song is very quiet dynamically and features a long, subdued guitar solo. The vocals are softer and gentler in tone than in Parts 2 and 3, although there is a short, sharp rise in dynamics and tone for a brief period towards the end of the lyrical portion. Sniffing, shouting, wailing, calling, and children can be faintly heard in the background. The song's beginning coincides with the final chord of "The Thin Ice", and the echoing multi-guitar solo (after the lyrics) crossfades into the helicopter and yelling-teacher sounds of "The Happiest Days of Our Lives".

Plot

"The Thin Ice" discussed during the previous song breaks when Pink becomes older and learns of the death of his father. Pink is devastated by this reality and begins to build The Wall.

Film version

Pink's mother is seen praying in a church after the death of her husband overseas. Pink, however, is, at this point, oblivious of his death, and can be seen playing with a toy aeroplane. The song continues with Pink playing in a public park after his mother leaves him to go shopping. He sees a man who he takes a liking to in the absence of his own father. The man gives Pink a lift onto a ride, and it's clear Pink feels as if this man is his real father. Pink follows the man's son around, copying him, but doesn't understand why the other boy's father isn't paying attention to him. He grabs the man's hand but is shooed away, only to grab the man's hand again. The man pushes Pink away again, and dejectedly he sits on a swing (which is too far off the ground for him to swing himself). He looks over at the other parents swinging their kids, feeling even more alone.

"Part 2"

"Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)"
Single by Pink Floyd
from the album The Wall
B-side "One of My Turns"
Released
  • 23 November 1979 (UK)
  • 8 January 1980 (US)
Format 7-inch single
Recorded April–November 1979
Genre
Length
Label
Songwriter(s) Roger Waters
Producer(s)
Pink Floyd singles chronology
"Have a Cigar"
(1975)		 "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)"
(1979)		 "Run Like Hell"
(1980)
Audio sample
  • file
  • help
Composition

In the album version of The Wall, "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" segues from "The Happiest Days of Our Lives". The song has strong drums, a well-known bass line and distinctive guitar parts in the background with a smooth, yet edgy guitar solo. The song also features a choir of schoolchildren singing in the second verse: as the song ends, the sounds of a school yard are heard, along with a Scottish teacher who continues to lord it over the children's lives by shouting "Wrong! Do it again!", and "If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding! How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?!", and "You! Yes! You behind the bikesheds! Stand still, laddie!", all of it dissolving into the dull drone of a phone ringing. It trails off into the next song, ending with a deep sigh.

School choir

Producer Bob Ezrin had immediately recognised the hit potential of this song, but it took some manoeuvring behind the band's back until "Part II" took its eventual form. Waters originally rejected the idea, saying "Go ahead and waste your time doing silly stuff."[7]

It was Ezrin's idea to use a school choir for this song, as he explained to Guitar World in 2009:[8]

The most important thing I did for the song was to insist that it be more than just one verse and one chorus long, which it was when Roger wrote it. When we played it with the disco drumbeat I said: "Man, this is a hit! But it's one minute 20. We need two verses and two choruses." And they said, "Well you're not bloody getting them. We don't do singles, so fuck you." So I said, "Okay, fine", and they left. And because of our two [tape recorder] set up, while they weren't around we were able to copy the first verse and chorus, take one of the drum fills, put them in between and extend the chorus.

Then the question is what do you do with the second verse, which is the same? And having been the guy who made Alice Cooper's School's Out I've got this thing about kids on record, and it is about kids after all. So while we were in America, we sent [recording engineer] Nick Griffiths to a school near the Floyd studios [in Islington, North London]. I said, "Give me 24 tracks of kids singing this thing. I want Cockney, I want posh, fill 'em up", and I put them on the song. I called Roger into the room, and when the kids came in on the second verse there was a total softening of his face, and you just knew that he knew it was going to be an important record.

Griffiths approached music teacher Alun Renshaw of Islington Green School, around the corner from Pink Floyd's Britannia Row Studios, about the choir.[9]

Though the school received a lump sum payment of £1000, there was no contractual arrangement for royalties from record sales. Under a 1996 UK copyright law, they became eligible for royalties from broadcasts, and after royalties agent Peter Rowan traced choir members through the website Friends Reunited and other means, they lodged a claim for royalties with the Performing Artists' Media Rights Association in 2004.[10]

Disco beat

The idea for the disco beat came likewise from Ezrin. As David Gilmour explained in 2009:[8]

It wasn't my idea to do disco music, it was Bob's. He said to me, "Go to a couple of clubs and listen to what's happening with disco music," so I forced myself out and listened to loud, four-to-the-bar bass drums and stuff and thought, Gawd, awful! Then we went back and tried to turn one of the [song's] parts into one of those so it would be catchy.

Of the final outcome, Roger Waters has commented:

It was great—exactly the thing I expected from a collaborator.

David Gilmour said:

And it doesn't, in the end, not sound like Pink Floyd.
Plot

After being insulted by the teacher, Pink dreams that the kids in his school begin to protest against their abusive teachers. The song talks about how he had a personal wall around him from the rest of the world, and the teachers were just another brick in the wall.

Film version

Following "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" Pink starts to daydream during his class. He imagines several students marching in unison to the beat of the song, following a path until they enter a steamy tunnel section to re-emerge as putty-faced clones void of individual distinction and proceed to fall blindly into an oversized meat-grinder. Starting with Gilmour's guitar solo, the children destroy the school building using hammers (foreshadowing the subsequent neo-fascist Nazi-like animated sequence with its marching hammers) and crowbars, creating a bonfire, dragging their teacher out of the burning school kicking and screaming while chanting "We don't need no education." The song ends with Pink rubbing his hand, which the teacher slapped with a ruler in the song previously.

During the song, the teacher's "meat and pudding" lines are folded into the first few lines of the school choir's lines (with the instrumental breaks between shortened by a bar in 2 places), and are performed by the teacher in the film, played by Alex McAvoy.

Music video

Prior to the film, the first video for the track, directed by album/concert/film art designer Gerald Scarfe, depicted students running in a playground (Kings Square Gardens, Islington) and the teacher puppet from The Wall concerts was used. The video also mixed in some animated scenes later used in "The Trial" and "Waiting for the Worms". The opening shot, a pan across the London skyline was filmed from the top of Turnpike House in Islington, both St Lukes Church and St Clements Church (the one overlooking the playground) are both clearly visible in the shot. After the media furore surrounding the song, the Islington Green school head teacher Margaret Maden refused permission for the children who sang on the song to appear in the video or on Top of the Pops, although at the time they were told it was because they didn't hold Equity Cards.[11]

Once the film was completed, the actual scenes of "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" and "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" were combined into a new video, which now represents the music video for "Another Brick in the Wall".

Live Versions

When performed as part of the various live shows of The Wall, the teacher is represented by a giant inflatable puppet, based on the figure from Scarfe's animations. This puppet duly becomes the focus of the song's anger and frustration.

Alternative versions

All in all it's just another brick in the wall
All in all you're just another brick in the wall
Just another blunder
Just another lousy call
Just another clap of thunder
And apologies ring hollow
From the guilty in Whitehall
And there's no hint of sorrow
Just the whitewash on the wall
Just one man dead
And nothing is gained
Nothing at all
And Jean Charles de Menezes remains
Just another brick in the wall

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts
Chart (1979–80) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[14] 2
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[15] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[16] 2
Canadian RPM Top Singles[17] 1
Denmark (Hitlisten) 1
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) 1
France (SNEP)[18] 1
Germany (Official German Charts)[19] 1
Ireland (IRMA)[20] 1
Israel Singles Chart[21] 1
Italy (FIMI)[22] 2
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[23] 3
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[24] 4
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[25] 1
Norway (VG-lista)[26] 1
Portugal Singles Chart[21] 1
South African Chart[27] 1
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[28] 2
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[29] 1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[30] 1
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[31] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[32] 1
US Cash Box Top 100[33] 1
Chart (2012) Peak
position
France (SNEP)[34] 118
Year-end charts
Chart (1980) Rank
Australia [35] 4
Canadian RPM Top Singles 1
New Zealand [36] 5
US Billboard Hot 100[37] 2
US Cash Box [38] 3
Sales and certifications
Region Certification Certified units/Sales
France (SNEP)[39] Gold 841,000[40]
Germany (BVMI)[41] Gold 250,000^
Italy (FIMI)[42] Gold 15,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[43] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[44] Platinum 1,100,000[45]
United States (RIAA)[46] Platinum+Gold 1,500,000
Total available sales: 3,711,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

"Part 3"

"Another Brick in the Wall (Part 3)"
Song by Pink Floyd
from the album The Wall
Published Pink Floyd Music Publishers
Released
  • 30 November 1979 (UK)
  • 8 December 1979 (US)
Recorded April–November 1979
Genre
Length 1:48
Label
Songwriter(s) Roger Waters
Producer(s)
Composition

This song is louder than the previous two parts, expressing Pink's rage. It is also the shortest part of "Another Brick in the Wall", and cross-fades into "Goodbye Cruel World". On the live version the song gets an extended ending seguing into the instrumental "The Last Few Bricks" which continues its keyboard staccato.

Plot

Pink decides to finish this wall as a result of his rage after his wife's betrayal. He states that he has seen "the writing on the wall". He concludes that he no longer needs anything at all, dismissing the people in his life as just "bricks in the wall". The song also contains the line "I don't need no drugs to calm me", possibly foreshadowing what is going to happen in the song "Comfortably Numb", although Waters has stated that "Comfortably Numb" is not about drugs.[47]

Film version

In the film, the song is accompanied by a montage of events that contributed to the construction of the wall. This version was also completely re-recorded with a faster tempo.

Award

The song, part number unspecified, won Waters the 1983 British Academy Award for 'Best Original Song' from the movie of The Wall.[48]

Personnel

Part I

Part II

with:

Part III

Cover versions

"Another Brick in the Wall, Pts. 1–3"
Single by Korn
from the album Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
Released 2004
Recorded 2004
Genre Progressive metal
Length 7:08
Label Epic
Songwriter(s) Roger Waters
Producer(s)
Korn singles chronology
"Word Up!"
(2004)		 "Another Brick in the Wall, Pts. 1–3"
(2004)		 "Twisted Transistor"
(2005)

See also

References

Citations

  1. ↑ "'Wall' a perfect mix of rock, film". The State News. Archived from the original on 15 July 2003. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  2. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974–2003. Record Research. p. 203.
  3. ↑ Rolling Stone: The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time Archived 8 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Rock and Pop Music. "Pink Floyd: 10 things you didn't know about the band, Telegraph, February 28th, 2012". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  5. ↑ "Counting out time Pink Floyd the wall – song was banned in South Africa in 1980". Dprp.net. 30 November 1979. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  6. ↑ (UPI) "South Africa Bans Floyd's 'The Wall'" The New York Times 15 July 1980: C6
  7. ↑ Fielder 2013, p. 135.
  8. 1 2 Simmons, Sylvie, ed. (October 2009). ""Good Bye Blue Sky", (Pink Floyd: 30th Anniversary, The Wall Revisited.)". Guitar World. Future. 30 (10): 79–80.
  9. ↑ BBC News: Just another brick in the wall?, 2 Oct 2007
  10. ↑ "Payout after Pink Floyd leaves them kids alone". TimesOnline. 13 March 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  11. ↑ 'The Brick In The Wall Kids', BBC One, 3 October 2007
  12. ↑ "Echoes: the album credits". Pink Floyd. Archived from the original on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  13. ↑ "‘It’s a surprise to people': Roger Waters discusses the new song he’s added to The Wall tour". Something Else!. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  14. ↑ "The biggest hits that never made No. 1 in Australia". Daily Telegraph. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  15. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  16. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  17. ↑ "RPM Volume 32, No. 26". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. 22 March 1980. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  18. ↑ "Toutes les Chansons N° 1 des Années 80" (in French). Infodisc.fr. 12 April 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  19. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  20. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search charts". IRMA. 2008. To use, type "Another Brick in the Wall" in the "Search by Song Title" search var and click search. Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  21. 1 2 Mark Blake (2008). Da Capo Press Inc., ed. Comfortably Numb: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd. ISBN 978-0-306-81752-6.
  22. ↑ "The best-selling singles of 1980 in Italy". HitParadeItalia (it). Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
    12. Another brick in the wall (part II) - Pink Floyd [#2]
  23. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 3, 1980" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  24. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  25. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  26. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)". VG-lista. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  27. ↑ John Samson. "Another brick in the wall (part II) in South African Chart". Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  28. ↑ Davidalic (12 February 2010). "Listas de superventas: 1980". AFE. Listas De Superventas. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  29. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  30. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  31. ↑ "Archive Chart: 1979-12-15" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  32. ↑ "Pink Floyd – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Pink Floyd. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  33. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
  34. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  35. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
  36. ↑ http://nztop40.co.nz/chart/?chart=3869
  37. ↑ Billboard 20 December 1980: TIA-10
  38. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 2015-07-22.
  39. ↑ "French single certifications – Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall" (in French). InfoDisc. Select PINK FLOYD and click OK
  40. ↑ "Les Singles en Or :" (in French). Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  41. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Pink Floyd; 'Another Brick in the Wall')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  42. ↑ "Italian single certifications – Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall (part 2)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana.
  43. ↑ "Sólo Éxitos 1959–2002 Año A Año: Certificados 1979–1990" (in Spanish). Iberautor Promociones Culturales. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  44. ↑ "British single certifications – Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall Pt.2". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Another Brick in the Wall Pt.2 in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  45. ↑ Lane, Dan (27 June 2013). "Daft Punk's Get Lucky becomes one of the UK's biggest selling singles of all-time!". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  46. ↑ "American certifications – Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  47. ↑ "MOJO Issue 193 — Pink Floyd | MOJO". MOJO. 17 December 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  48. ↑ "Past Winners and Nominees – Film – Awards". BAFTA. Archived from the original on 10 January 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2010.
  49. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Fitch, Vernon (2005). 'The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). pp. 73, 76, 88. ISBN 1-894959-24-8.
  50. ↑ Song that's driving teachers up the wall, 9 (9), Libertarian Review, September 1980, pp. 42–43
  51. ↑ "Full Albums: Pink Floyd's The Wall, Pt. 1 » Cover Me". Covermesongs.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2011.

Sources

  • Fielder, Hugh (2013). Pink Floyd: Behind the Wall. Race Point Publishing. ISBN 978-1-937-99425-9. 

Further reading

Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Wall
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"Walking on the Moon" by The Police		 UK number-one single (Pink Floyd version)
15 December 1979 – 12 January 1980 		Succeeded by
"Brass in Pocket" by The Pretenders
Preceded by
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen		 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single (Pink Floyd version)
22 March 1980 – 12 April 1980 		Succeeded by
"Call Me" by Blondie
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