Pink Floyd

Released: November 22, 1988

Songwriter: Richard Wright Roger Waters

[Verse 1: David Gilmour (backed by Richard Wright)]
Us and them
And after all we're only ordinary men
Me and you
God only knows it's not what we would choose to do
"Forward" he cried from the rear and the front rank died
And the general sat
And the lines on the map moved from side to side

[Verse 2: David Gilmour (backed by Richard Wright)]
Black and blue
And who knows which is which and who is who
Up and down
And in the end it's only round and round
"Haven't you heard it's a battle of words?"
The poster bearer cried
"Listen son", said the man with the gun
"There's room for you inside"

[Interlude]
I mean, they're not gonna kill ya
So if you give 'em a quick short, sharp, shock, they won't do it again
Dig it? I mean he get off lightly
Cause I would've given him a thrashing
I only hit him once!
It was only a difference of opinion
But really, I mean good manners don't cost nothing do they, eh?

[Verse 3: David Gilmour (backed by Richard Wright)]
Down and out
It can't be helped but there's a lot of it about
With, without
And who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about?
Out of the way, it's a busy day
I've got things on my mind
For the want of the price of tea and a slice
The old man died

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

The Later Years 1987-2019

From the albums

Delicate Sound of Thunder (1988)
The Later Years 1987-2019 (2019)

Pink Floyd popular songs

Us and Them (Live at Nassau Coliseum 1988)Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd

The Later Years 1987-2019