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| Pink Floyd The Wall |
| Directed by: Alan Parker Running Time: Apprx. 95 mins. Ranking: #1 out of 5 videos Video Highlight: What Shall We Do Now? Video Weak Point: Stop! Comments: Most of the music for "The Wall" was taken directly from the studio album. However, there were a few song re-recorded specifically for the film, as well as a song written for the film, and a song taken out of the album but used on the film. These songs are usually the best out of all their subsequent versions. I won't review every single song on "The Wall", but I will do complete reviews of all the songs that are found in different version on the video. |
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| When The Tigers Broke Free Written by: Waters Rating: ***** Comments: This song, composed specifically for the film version of "The Wall", is the song that opens the movie. It's divided into two parts, with the first verse played during the opening scene in which Pink's father is scene loading his gun in darkness amidst sounds of bombs flying and shells exploding. The second half comes later, when Pink finds his father's old uniform and ammunition in a drawer. The lyrics to this song are unlike the rest of "The Wall" in that they have little universality. They are very 1-dimensional, but this is done for a purpose, in order to make the film narrative more clear. This is a beautiful, passionate song, and works extremely well within the context of the film. Lyrics: it was just before dawn one miserable morning in black forty-four when the forward commander was told to sit tight when he asked that his men be withdrawn and the generals gave thanks as the other ranks held back the enemy tanks for awhile and the anzio beachhead was held for the price of a few hundred ordinary lives and kind old king george sent mother a note when he heard that father was gone it was i recall, in the form of a scroll with gold leaf and all and i found it one day in a drawer of old photographs hidden away and my eyes still grow damp to remember his majesty signed with his own rubber stamp it was dark all around there was frost on the ground when the tigers broke free and no one survived from the royal fusiliers company c they were all left behind most of them dead, the rest of them dying and that's how the high command took my daddy from me |
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| In The Flesh? Written by: Waters Rating: ***** Comments: The only real difference between this and the album version is that the lyrics are not sung by Roger Waters but by Bob Geldof, the actor who plays Pink. This is the first scene of heavy action in the film, in which the police are seen beating a bunch of hyper teenagers ruching to see their hero, the rock star Pink, who emergences from a balcony looking like a crazed dictator. This gives the lyrics a less abstract and more concrete meaning, and serves the film well. Lyrics: so you thought you might like to go to the show? to feel the warm thrill of confusion that space-cadet glow tell me, is something eluding you sunshine? is this not what you expected to see? if you want to find out what's behind these cold eyes you'll just have to claw your way through this disguise |
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| Mother Written by: Waters Rating: **** Comments: This song has perhaps the most difference between the album and film version. I prefer this version, partly because of the eclectic styling of music used for this recording, as well as the images on the screen. The music is not just the simple strumming of a guitar, but a broad range of think ranging from just a light drum-beat to violins playing. And at one point, you do indeed get a nice, raging guitar solo that is juxtapositioned right after a very soft passage, so it sounds even more powerful. On the screen, instead of just dealing with the issue of Pink's mother, it cycles between his childhood and adulthood comparing his relationship to his widowed mother and his distant relationship to his wife. This is one of the most brilliant passages in the film, and one of the most interesting parts of the film to watch. Lyrics: mother, do you think they'll drop the bomb? mother, do you think they'll like the song? mother, do you think they'll try to break my balls? ooh ah, mother, should i build the Wall? mother, should i run for president? mother, should i trust the government? mother, will they put me in the firing line? ooh ah, mother, am i really dying? hush now, baby baby, don't you cry mama's gonna make all of your nightmares come true mama's gonna put all of her fears into you mama's gonna keep you right here under her wing she won't let you fly, but she might let you sing mama's gonna keep baby cozy and warm ooh babe, ooh baby, ooh babe of course mama's gonna help build the Wall mother, do you think she's good enough for me? mother, do you think she's dangerous to me? mother, will she tear your little boy apart? ooh ah, mother, will she break my heart? hush now, baby baby, don't you cry mama's gonna check out all your girlfriends for you mama won't let anyone dirty get through mama's gonna wait up until you get in mama will always find out where you've been mama's gonna keep baby healthy and clean ooh babe, ooh baby, ooh babe you'll always be a baby to me mother, did it need to be so high? Words: (Pink's wife): hello...hello...is there anybody in there? do you remember me? i'm the one from the registry office. |
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| Empty Spaces / What Shall We Do Now? Written by: Waters RANKING: #12 ****** Comments: One of the most dissappointing things about the studio album of The Wall is the absence of this song. This is the best song of the first half of the album, and it's not even on the album. Luckily, owners of the film "The Wall" get this song in it's full and best version. The build-up for Empty Spaces features one of Gerald Scarfe's more suggestible animations, in which two flowers transform into something sexual, and then the female devours the male and flies away. The lyrics then boom on as the animation continues, sung with a lot of power and very effective echoes behind them. Once they end, What Shall We Do Now? comes blaring on as the animation shows the screaming head emerging out of the Wall, which would become the signature image of the film. Then the lyrics starts, very angry and powerful lyrics that can get your blood boiling. There is so much anger and emotion behind this song, and it works incredibly here. With the end of the final line, a hammer emerges and then smashes into glass ending the animation and the song in a brilliant climax that exedes the level of power in most of the other songs in the film. Lyrics: what shall we use to fill the empty spaces where waves of hunger gnaw? shall we set out across this sea of faces in search of more and more applause? shall we buy a new guitar? shall we drive a more powerful car? shall we work straight through the night? shall we get into fights leave the lights on drop bombs do tours of the east contract diseases bury bones break up homes send flowers by phone keep people as pets train dogs race rats fill the attic with cash bury treasure store up leisure but never relax at all? with our backs to the Wall |
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| Bring The Boys Back Home Written by: Waters Rating: **** Comments: Instead of being sung by Roger Waters, this version of the song is sung by a male voice choir. It is a heart-wrenching scene, as young Pink wanders through a train station while all the soldiers come home, hopelessly looking for his father, whom he knows is not coming back. He tugs on the coat of a soldier, who turns around to greet him, but then his family returns and they unite while he forgets about Pink. Then, they all break into a very powerful chorus of Bring The Boys Back Home, repeating the chorus. This song works much better on the film than the album, and is one of the most emotional moments in the film. Lyrics: bring the boys back home bring the boys back home don't leave the children on their own, no no bring the boys back home bring the boys back home don't leave the children on their own, no no bring the boys back home |
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| In The Flesh Written by: Waters Rating: ***** Comments: This is the reprise of the first rock song of the film, and it is also sung, or rather, shouted by Bob Geldof, who does a terrific job in interpreting these lines. At this point, he has fallen deep into his mind, seeing himself as a cold, hateful dictator, rallying a bunch of skin-heads to hateful cries. Geldof is not singing here, but shouting like a true dictator, and really makes the lines believable. Lyrics: so you thought you might like to go to the show to feel the warm thrill of confusion that space-cadet glow, hah! i've got some bad news for you, sunshine Pink isn't well, he stayed back at the hotel and they've sent us along as a surrogate band now tonight, we're gonna find out where you fans really stand! are there any queers in the audience tonight? get 'em up against the Wall! there's one in the spot-light, now he don't look right have him up against the Wall! and that one looks jewish and that one's a coon! who let all of this riff-raff into the room? there's one smoking a joint and another one's got spots if i had my way, i'd have all of you shot! |
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| Stop! Written by: Waters Rating: *** Comments: This is hardly even a song at all. This is a pitiful, yet well-done scene in which Pink, now completely insane, is hiding in a bathroom stall, reciting lines from a piece of paper he's holding. These are actually lines from other Roger Water's songs, which reappeared as lines in The Final Cut (Your Possible Pasts) and The Pros and Cons of Hitch-Hiking (The Moment Of Clarity). Once that's done, he cries out pathetically for all of this to "Stop" recites the lines to that song, which echo behind him until a police officer opens the stall and begins the Trial, the climax of the film. Lyrics: do you remember me? the way it used to be? do you think we should be closer? and i put out my hand just to touch your soft hair to make sure in the darkness that you were still there and i have to admit, i was just a little afraid of the ones living under their dirty old macks and the ones who were pointing the guns in their backs stop i wanna go home take off this uniform and leave the show but i'm waiting in this cell because i have to know have i been... have i been guilty...all this time |
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| Outside The Wall Written by: Waters Rating: ***** Comments: This is one of the saddest songs ever recorded. The album version doesn't even come close to this. It's amazing how different the version of this song can be. In the live wall recording, Is There Anybody Out There?, this song is very up-beat and happy, while in the film, it is so heart-breakingly sad. It's amazong to listen to both versions of the song back to back. This song starts with the gently blowing of a horn in the film's closing scene, in which small children are left to clean up in a pile of rubble, the aftermath of a terrible war. The lyrics come on just as the credits begin, and the song continues until they end. When the lyrics end, there is a gentle and heart-breaking horn solo that may just be one of the saddest and simplest pieces of music ever written. This is the perfect ending to such a nearly perfect film (despite what any of the people involved in making the film might say). Lyrics: all alone or in twos the ones who really love you walk up and down outside the Wall some hand in hand some gathered together in bands the bleeding hearts and the artists make their stand and when they've given you their all some stagger and fall after all it's not easy banging your heart against some mad bugger's wall and when they've given you their all some stagger and fall after all it's not easy |
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| Other Songs from The Wall The Thin Ice (Waters) Comments: Basically identical to the album version, main portion shows Pink floating in a pool of a hotel and flashing back to the horrific scenes of his father's death. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing particularly special. Another Brick In The Wall part 1 (Waters) Comments: Same as the album version, shows very young Pink being left in the park by his mother and trying to "adopt" a father, who pushes him away and scolds him as he goes to sit alone on a swing with no one to push him. This scene can easily be related to, and while it's nothing that will make you cry, it still achieves the emotion the director was going for. Goodbye Blue Sky (Waters) Comments: In a different placement for the film, and slightly shorter, this features the first animated sequence, in which there are many disturbing scenes of war and terror. This is Scarfe's personal favourite, and it is a very well done piece, but not as powerful as What Shall We Do Now? in my opinion. The Happiest Days Of Our Lives (Waters) Comments: The first part of the most popular meddley of The Wall, this begins after a scene in which Pink places one of his father's bullets on a railroad track, and sees thousands of masked faces on the train that passes by. It then goes to the school, where his teacher reprimands him for writing poems (the poem is the lyrics to Money from DSotM) and Pink imagines his wife thrashing him. There's nothing too original here, it just puts an image to the already familiar lyrics. Another Brick In The Wall part 2 (Waters) Comments: Similar but not identical to the album version, this begins with children on at desks on a conveyor belt, being tossed into a mincer and becoming worms. The second verse shows children trapped inside a maze of walls, singing the lyrics. Once they end, the fun begins as the students proceed to tears of the classroom and burn down the school. This is a great portion of the film, just putting a fun image onto the most recognizable Pink Floyd tune. Young Lust (Waters, Gilmour) Comments: Identical to the album version, this is why the film is rated R. It takes place backstage after one of Pink's shows, where a bunch of girls find their way backstage and take off their shirts. This is one of the low-points of the film, and really has little to offer other than naked breasts. One of My Turns (Waters) Comments: One of the most underrated songs of The Wall, this puts the obvious image onto it. The difference lies in the beginning, where the actress says the infamous "look at this tub! wanna take a bath? etc." lines, while Pink just sits watching a war movie (The Dam Busters), and finally totally flips out at her, trashing the hotel room and breaking everything in sight, culminating with him throwing the television through the window and slicing his hand open on the broken glass. This is one of my favourite scenes, although there is not much originality to it, it's definitely fun to watch. Don't Leave Me Now (Waters) Comments: They did us a favour when they shortened this song but omitting a lot of the lyrics. In this scene, animation mixes with live action as Pink apparently hallucinates the shadow of his wife turning into a monster and trying to eat him. This is perhaps the most bearable version of this tedious, yet highly necessary song. Another Brick In The Wall part 3 (Waters) Comments: It's the very subtle difference in how Roger sings this that makes it better than the album version: he accents the "you" in "all in all you were all just brick in the Wall" rather than the "were". The scene is just compiling a bunch of flashbacks and riot footage, and gets the job done of making a powerful climax to the first half of the film. Goodbye Cruel World (Waters) Comments: There is nothing special here, just Pink sitting in a chair and staring at his now completely built and highly impassive wall. It achieves the emotion it's going for, but is not very powerful. Is There Anybody Out There? (Waters) Comments: The song "Hey You" was omitted from the film, thus making the direct jump to this song, and actually improving it by making the narrative flow more smoothly. It basically just shows Pink banging himself up against the wall and crying for help, then the gentle guitar solo shows him back in his apartment, neatly arranging the debris and scraps of food. This is a perfect image to show how Pink's mind is descending into madness. Nobody Home (Waters) Comments: This is identical to the album version, except for the film playing in the background (still The Dam Busters). It's the scenes that follow the song that are extremely powerful. They show the young Pink walking through trenches and staring at the horrible carnage of the corpses. One of the most chilling scenes is when he enters what appears to be an empty mental institution and finds his adult self, shaved and laughing like a madman in the corner. His crazed adult self turns to look at him, and he runs away frightened. A powerfully haunting scene. Vera (Waters) Comments: Also identical to the album version, this begins as Pink enters the train station that later erupts into song during "Bring The Boys Back Home" This is just transition music, and serves little purpose other than nostalgia revolving around Vera Lynn, who is heard singing "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot" a the very beginning of the film. Comfortably Numb (Gilmour, Waters) Comments: The best song ever written, there is nothing really special about what is seen on the screen. During the lyrics it cycles between Pink's managers trying to revive him, and him dreaming about a time in his childhood where he found a diseased rat that he tried to care for but died. The solo shows Pink being dragged down the hall, as the "worms eat into his brain" At the end, he tears off all the junk and he is seen for the first time since In The Flesh? as the dictator. Run Like Hell (Gilmour, Waters) Comments: This is shortened slightly, and shows little more than scenes of violence, the most memorable being a scene in which a gang of skin-heads barge in on a black couple in a car, beat the man and proceed to rape the woman. Waiting For The Worms (Waters) Comments: Like the song before it, this serves mainly as a transition, and is significantly shortened through the removal of several lines of lyrics. It shows dictator Pink shouting a hateful sermon through a megaphone, and finally culminating with one of the trademarks of the film: the marching hammers, which seems to moves faster and faster as the song speeds to it's end, and Pink shouts "Stoooooooop!" at the top of his lungs. This is a very powerful scene. The Trial (Waters & Bob Ezrin) Comments: This is the first animation Gerald Scarfe did for The Wall, and in it all the characters come back to testify against Pink, who is seen as just a little doll with a faceless head. It climaxed when the judge, a giant worm, transforms into a gigantic ass, speaking through his anus, and condemning Pink. He finally shouts the order to "tear down the Wall" and another montage of flashbacks ensues until the chanting dies away and the flashbacks fade to just a giant image of the Wall itself. Once the screen has just showed the Wall in silence for awhile, there is an explosion and the wall comes crumbling down, with pieces of it flying at the camera. This is the climax of the film, and a very effective one. The images of The Trial are the real trademark of "The Wall" and are more twisted than you could think any mind could come up with. |
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