Pink Floyd

Released: November 30, 1979

Songwriter: Roger Waters

Producer: James Guthrie Pink Floyd Bob Ezrin Roger Waters

[Intro]
"Three, two... fire!"

[Verse 1]
So ya thought ya might like to go to the show
To feel the warm thrill of confusion, that space cadet glow
I've got some bad news for you sunshine
Pink isn't well, he stayed back at the hotel
And they sent us along as a surrogate band
We're gonna find out where you fans really stand

[Verse 2]
Are there any queers in the theater tonight?
Get them up against the wall
(Against the wall)
Now there's one in the spotlight, he don't look right to me
Get him up against the wall
(Against the—)
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 with spots
If I had my way, I'd have all of them shot!

[Instrumental Outro]

Pink Floyd was a British rock band who managed to carve a path for progressive and psychedelic music in a way that was uniquely fascinating at the time and has remained equally momentous in the modern age. The name “Pink Floyd” came from two blues musicians that founding member Syd Barrett idolized—Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.

The band was formed in 1965 London by Barrett (guitars, vocals), Nick Mason (drums), Roger Waters (bass), and Richard Wright (keyboards). Sometime after releasing their debut album, 1967’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the group saw the addition of a second singer-guitarist, David Gilmour. This acted largely as a means of replacing Barrett, who was forced to leave in 1968 for mental health reasons, resulting in Waters taking over as the main vocalist.

The band broke into the mainstream with 1973’s Dark Side of the Moon, an album that became one of the best-selling and most influential records in music history. Their follow-up efforts, 1975’s Wish You Were Here and 1977’s Animals, also sold well. However, the band started to see some in-fighting while making their next album, a rock opera about how Waters felt frustrated and detached from his audience. Waters seemingly became extremely controlling, firing Wright over disputes about touring and his contributions to the album. The result, 1979’s The Wall, became the best-selling double album of all time. It spawned iconic songs such as the #1 hit, “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2,” and the melodic “Comfortably Numb.”

more tracks from the album

Shine On

From the albums

The Wall (1979)
Shine On (1992)

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