Sixth of October City, EGYPT – There is no coincidence as to why Pink Floyd remains popular with music listeners worldwide.
The progressive and psychedelic rock pioneers are most well known for their album, The Dark Side of the Moon. But it’s their 1979 album The Wall never fails to bring me to the edge of my seat.
The Wall has a clear sonic difference to its predecessor albums, but there’s a lot more to its success than its cutting-edge guitar and incredible synth.
Roger Waters – bassist and co-vocalist – first created the idea for the album after spitting at a fan during the “In The Flesh” tour, a fact he confirmed in a 2012 radio interview with Howard Stern.
Waters expressed his discontent with the audience and how they paid little attention to the band, and rather attended concerts as a partying event. So at his final show, Waters got agitated by a group of people near the stage causing a noise – and decided to spit at one of them.
The incident caused Waters to want to build a wall between himself and the audience, he admitted to Stern.
Waters created a storyline for the album, following a fictional rock star called Pink Floyd, who goes through struggles of isolation, symbolized by a wall.
Themes in The Wall include abandonment, rage and mental health struggles. Part of its success was how uncomfortable these topics were to listeners, and how it shed light on the most isolating parts of what it means to be human.
The double-album has two units consisting of 13 tracks each, totaling 26.
The Wall was a clear example of how incredibly complex music can be. From its instruments, to production, lyrics and structure – it’s an art to be admired. Part of that art is the emotion that it invokes in the listener, as Waters’ voice echoes, “is there anybody out there?”
In that sense, the listener is left helpless to the surprises as the album progresses and changes from orchestra to rough guitar and rhythmic bass.
There are three tracks in this album which fascinate me the most.
“Comfortably Numb” was set during a part in the album when Pink Floyd was found unresponsive in his room after having experienced a set of flashbacks. He received drug shots from doctors in order to perform a show later that night.
The sonic arrangement of this track was a mix of both orchestral and rock-style sounds. This mix of sounds continues to hypnotize me whenever it plays.
“In The Flesh,” which is to be differentiated from the first track, “In The Flesh?” The call-back to the first track is incredible. The song also depicts Pink Floyd hallucinating during a show and is one of the most controversial songs on the album.
This track felt like a reality explored to the many depths of the human mind. It shows how it can distort us in ways that are shameful to us, yet unknown to many how eerily human it is, as mental health was a heavily stigmatized topic during this time.
“The Trial” explores Pink Floyd hallucinating a scene of him going on trial for his crime of “showing feelings of an almost human nature.” This song alludes to how Pink has gone against his strict ways of attempting self-isolation.
In this track, Pink faces his courtroom hallucination of the judge, who is characterized by Pink’s inner subconscious. His punishment is to “tear down the wall.”
The Wall is not a passive listen. I love to sit down and admire this album from start to finish. If you’re looking to broaden your understanding of music and its more complex parts, “The Wall” is a great album to listen to.
You’ll travel through tunnels of different sounds, which is always exciting. More importantly, this album can make you understand some parts about yourself that you hadn’t quite understood yet.
This record may shape those words or ideas for you, just like it did for me. Happy listening!
Jana Salama is a Junior Reporter with Youth Journalism International.
