Pink Floyd - In The Flesh(?) and The Trial

“The Wall” is about many things.

In many ways “The Wall” is a sensation, dramatization of Roger Waters life. Many of the struggles facing the narrative character Pink Floyd are real struggles that Waters faced himself. The loss of a father due to war, an over bearing mother, soul crushing educational experiences, failed marriage, drug addiction, and mixed feelings about a successful music career. How some of these I do not know if they happened to Water’s personally, like I do not know what his mother or early schooling was like, but some of these things do fit, like the untimely death of his father and his multiple divorces.

In many ways, the character Pink Floyd in “The Wall” is a personification of all the members of Pink Floyd. The drug abuse of Syd Barret, and the general unhappiness of the musician’s life from all. It is only fitting that Waters’ has the most in common with this fictional manifestation, since he was the driving force of creativity in the band.

If there is one thing “The Wall” is about, it must be madness.

For many years I have pondered the true overarching theme of the story within “The Wall” and this is the conclusion I must draw, insanity is the deepest message of Roger Water’s Magnum Opus. All the suffering discussed in the last two reviews, that is the driving force, the plot, but not the point, the end result is the madness.

Like any good musical there is a continuity in “The Wall,” a return there to, with similar styles and sounds. If “The Wall” has an overture it must be “In The Flesh(?)”

The first track on “The Wall” is “In The Flesh?” Initially the song may appear to be little more than a meta introduction to the album. A singer is addressing an audience, provoking them with assumptions and questions. To the uninitiated this introduction could be a little jarring. In the movie edition, Bob Geldof portraying Pink is dressed an awful lot like a Nazi as he greets a crowd of spectators. It is a very short song, and quickly the short unnerving speech ends with a dark invitation:

“If you want to find our what’s behind these cold eyes,
You’ll just have to claw your way through this disguise.”

How could we refuse? We must see past the disguise and learn more about Pink Floyd, both the band and the fictional avatar representing them. What we learn is summarized in the two earlier reviews, we see a man tortured by loss, disappointment and isolation. The climax of the album hits with “Comfortably Numb” and what follows is madness.

In the movie “The Wall” the dual elements of drugs abuse and disillusionment ruin and wreck the protagonist to the point where the other within begins to emerge. This is visuall represented with Geldof’s Pink’s skin melting and the character frantically tearing away at his own flesh until he rips the flesh open and is revealed underneath to be the fascist we saw in the opening track.

We are then greeted with a return to continuity, and “In The Flesh” plays. There is no longer a question mark, as the mystery is solved, we now see what was behind those cold eyes, a tortured man, now a ruined soul, a Nazi allegory. 

In The Flesh:

During the second version of “In The Flesh,” Pink exposes his more disgusting intentions and feelings and unleashes segregation and racism upon his audience:

“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 going to find out where you fans really stand.

Are there any queers in the theater tonight?
Get 'em up against the wall,
Now, there's one in the spotlight,
He don't look right to me,
Then get him up against the wall (get them)

Now, that one looks Jewish,
And that one's a coon,
Who let all this riffraff 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.”

This, combined with the use of Nazi imagery in “The Wall” caused a lot of concern for some. Simple minded fools with no appreciation for context jumped to the ridiculous conclusion that Pink Floyd were supportive of Nazism. The first fundamental flaw in this thinking is failing to see that this dark transformation is used as a metaphor for insanity. After years of abuse the Pink Floyd character devolves into an evil tyrant, and possibly only a tyrant within his own mind, since the primary theme of “The Wall” is madness, and madness is a prerequisite for acceptance of something as vile as Nazism. The second enormous flaw is this simple-minded interpretation is the rather obvious fact that the visuals are brutality is equally influenced by Stalin’s Soviet Union. The marching hammers is one of the most memorable visuals in “The Wall” and this is clearly a direct refence to the hammer and sickle of the Soviet Union. However, missing the first point is poetically disastrous.

The entire Wall album is about losing one’s self. Note the line “Pink isn’t well he stayed back at the hotel,” suggesting that the character who once was, is no longer present. Another mind has taken over and with it segregation and possibly genocide. This works symbolically for two major reasons, one it shows the duality of man, good and evil. The truth is, there are no monsters, just other humans. It is easy to label horrible people as monsters because it is a simple explanation that requires no depth of thought, also it is more comfortable because it aids in the separation of the reality that we share a lot in common with our fellow humans, including the one’s who disgust and horrify us. Secondly, insanity is the theme, and Pink Floyd, the character has lost his mind and become the worst thing imaginable, a Communist/Nazi allegory, the modern day demons and boogiemen of the world.

This made perfect sense to me when I was young. It takes something complicated and horrible for someone to become quantifiably evil, and insanity and losing control, the worst outcome would be to become that very evil thing.

All that is left is a rampage and a lamentation.

Then after much beautiful musical ugliness we reach the end, we reach “The Trial.”

The Trial:

The events of Nazi rampage in “The Wall” can still be interpreted as taking place within the mind of the narrative character. In his mind he has become so self hating that he sees himself equivalent as the great evil of modern history. It is also unclear if “The Trial” is taking place is reality or the mind. All the demons of Pink’s past come together to torture him one last time, bombarding him with harsh judgements most of which seem incredibly unfair. Pink reaffirms his insanity by stating:

“Crazy,
Toys in the attic, I am crazy,
Truly gone fishing.
They must have taken my marbles away.
Crazy, toys in the attic he is crazy.”

And then:

“Crazy,
Over the rainbow, I am crazy,
Bars in the window.
There must have been a door there in the wall,
When I came in.
Crazy, over the rainbow, he is crazy.”

And these two versions of “The Trial’s” chorus sum up the end nicely. Pink has lost his mind and been trapped within the wall for so long he has lost himself.

It is a powerful ending. It haunted my dreams for years. What if I lost my mind and all my deepest fears were revealed? Would my peers be sympathetic or would they castigate me, banish me behind a wall, separating me from everyone else, leaving me as some mad bugger beating heart against the wall? It is a natural concern, not the hyperbolic doom that is the conclusion of “The Wall” but the feelings of isolation, distrust and even fear of those around you, and having it stem entirely from self-doubt and self-loathing. Everyone, in theory can marginally at least relate to this, but “The Wall” is a such a extreme showcase of such emotions that it can frighten and intimidate and even confuse many listeners. It is an ugly truth, that underneath melting skin something ugly lays in wait, and it is inside all of us. All of us are a composition of positives and negatives, and it is a combination of strength and condition that keeps us from slipping into madness, but everyone is capable of falling into it.

There is a lot to ponder, but of course there is, there is so much emotion and phycology captured within “The Wall.” “The Wall” is all in all a very sad album, but that is par for the course with Pink Floyd. The saddest thing is the greatest rock album ever needed to be so sad. Pink Floyd, all of them, had so much sadness within them, yet they took that and made something so beautiful. That was the great inspiration for me when listening to “The Wall” so much when I was young, taking something negative and making it a positive. So much so, that when I listen to “The Wall” now, I rarely feel sad, all I feel, is inspired. Maybe that is why I consider it to be the greatest album of all time.

Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.

- Colin Kelly

Pink Floyd - Vera, Bring the Boys Back Home and Comfortably Numb

I have always enjoyed the second half of “The Wall” more than the first. The first half focuses a lot on the narrative character, named symbolically “Pink Floyd,” and his troubled youth. Many injuries are inflicted upon young Pink, he loses his father to the war, his mother is overbearing, school sucks, marriage falls about, and drugs happen. It is a good musical tale of hardship, and a fine collection of struggles many of us can relate too, but what was always more interesting to me was the aftermath of so much hurt. The disillusionment and the numbness that consumes the adult Pink. That is more interesting I believe.

For a lot of people, myself included, “Comfortably Numb” is the greatest Pink Floyd song, and the focal point of “The Wall.” In a great many ways “Comfortably Numb” is a perfect Pink Floyd song, it is dark and atmospheric, it has a great guitar solo, it is part of a bigger story, the lyrics are deep and complex, did I mention it was dark and atmospheric, well it is that twice over and that is key to being a perfect Pink Floyd song.

A reoccurring theme in Pink Floyd music is drug use. Many, if not most, if not all, of Pink Floyd’s music is or has psychedelic elements through out. “Comfortably Numb” is balance of things, the literal and the metaphorical. It is literally about slipping deeper and deeper into your mind because of excessive drug use. In the movie “The Wall” the character Pink is dying of a drug overdose during “Comfortably Numb.” It is likely a safe bet that Roger Waters and the rest of Pink Floyd experimented with drugs a lot. But a major reason we see this return, over and over again, to the dark side of drug use, and self destruction, is because of founding member Syd Barret doing just that. It is highly appropriate that a fictional character named after the band would suffer, severely, from over use of drugs.

Another reoccurring theme in Pink Floyd’s music is the metaphorical side of “Comfortably Numb.” We do not need drugs as a conduit to the dissidence described in “Comfortably Numb,” no, delusion would perhaps better serve us in understanding this song. There is a lot of disillusionment in the music of Pink Floyd as there was in their lives. Things never went as planned for Waters and the team, and with that a lot of misery made up their music. “The Wall” is about a lot of things, but suffering is a major element within. “Comfortably Numb” is the breaking point.

“Comfortably Numb” maybe, and in fact is, the best song off of “The Wall.” However, it’s presence on the second half of the album is not the sole reason I love that half so much, I love every song surrounding “Comfortably Numb” starting from “Hey You” right to the end with “Outside the Wall.”

That is the thing about the wall, it is twenty-six songs ranging from very good to the greatest music ever; as a consequence, any song, or combination there of, would be a fine choice for one of my amateur reviews. The obvious attack points were the two most famous songs “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2” which I discussed last time, and now “Comfortable Numb,” but to some extent this review is a vehicle to discuss two lesser know songs that come just before “Comfortably Numb.” A pair of songs that flow together as seamlessly as “The Happiest Days of our Lives” and “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2,” that is “Vera” and “Bring the Boys Back Home.”

Vera:

“Does anybody remember Vera Lynn?”

As a matter of fact, I do not Mr. Waters. Thankfully I live in the age where all human knowledge is at my finger tips.

Vera Lynn was a popular singer in the 1940s. She had a popular song at that time called “We’ll Meet Again.” Waters invokes this reference for a few reasons. First it is a deliberate attempt to draw the listener to the feelings of hope many shared regarding their loved ones combating in the second world war, the exact message Vera Lynn expresses in “We’ll Meet Again.” Does anyone remember that feeling of hope? Meanwhile the narrative of “The Wall’s” story is bleaker, the character Pink’s father does not come home, and he will not meet him again. Just like the real-life Roger Waters whose father went off and died, never to come home again fighting in that same war.

The second angle of approach for “Vera” is symbolic, and metaphoric, because of course it is, this is a Pink Floyd song.

Does anyone remember Vera Lynn? Most of the listeners of Pink Floyd and “The Wall” likely have no clue who that is. I had forgotten altogether until about a month ago when I was refreshing my memory about this album and song. It is insanely easy for modern listeners to relate to Wates and his fictional avatar Pink Floyd, most of us cannot recall who Vera Lynn is, or what that dark hope wishing and waiting for loved ones to return home feels like. We cannot relate to the common mood, so we too feel isolated and singled out for unique, and in this case cruel, treatment.

“Does anybody else in here feel the way I do?”

The story, as it unfolds, is meant to be taken that few, if any, do feel the way Pink Floyd, the character, does. This is particularly ironic because everyone who listens to “Vera” does feel the way Roger Waters does. We all feel the way he does because he has so perfectly captured this sad emotion of loss that no one can escape feeling the way he does.

It is perfect art really.

Which leads us to “Bring the Boys Back Home.”

Bring the Boys Back Home:

“Bring the Boys Back Home” is something of an epic little song. It only runs for eighty-eight seconds. It opens gradually with a marching drum beat but swiftly picks up pace and unleashes the excited group proclamation that simply decries:

“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.”

That’s it. That’s all the words we get. Waters comes from the school of thought of less is more, which may sound strange since we are discussing a double album with twenty-six songs, but Waters knows to hit us with small but powerful pieces through out, not over explaining or rambling on with repetitive choruses or wasteful filler. “Bring the Boys Back Home” enters the stage and exists after unleashing a devastative message, the joy of others is additional pain to the self.

In “The Wall” the movie “Bring the Boys Back Home” presents the young version of the character Pink Floyd as being bombarded by the mirthful celebration of a mob all of whom are reunited with loved ones returning from the war, while the boy, Pink, stares helpless at them lost in his loss, arrested by his grief, unable to do anything but watch in uncomfortable contempt while all the happy people unintentionally, but unavoidably, mock his pain.

It is another short but perfect song, that strikes the heart strings and leaves us numb.

Which perfectly leads us to “Comfortably Numb.”

Of all the many reasons discussed above we can safely conclude that “Comfortably Numb” is akin to perfection to songs like “Stairway to Heaven” or “Lady in Black,” but in addition to these many powerful points, “Comfortably Numb” has the benefit of being introduced at the perfect time, in the perfect place, in a perfect album. It is almost unreal how amazing “Comfortably Numb” is when taken into it’s full context. After battering the listener with dark tales and numerous cruel misgivings of plain ordinary human suffering, Waters gives us a song that breaks the mood and the story. He gives us a song about absorbing all that pain and no longer being meaningfully effected by it. Waters sings about letting go and transforming into something else, a duel identity puzzling whether or not there is anybody out there, both in the real world but also in the inner self.

In the story “The Wall” what is birthed from “Comfortably Numb” is a twisted reflection of the worst of human nature. The dark side takes control and the character Pink Floyd takes a very dark turn. This of course leads us to our terrible climax of the tale, but that must be address next time where we take a big picture analysis of “The Wall.”

“Comfortably Numb” on its own is majestic, but when grouped with it’s sister songs we see something so much more. A perfect song, placed perfectly, in a perfectly album. It is a workmanship of songcraft the world has ever rarely seen, and even fewer have ever dared to dream of such an fantastic artistic creation.

King of Braves

Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall

I think a lot of people have the same experience as I had with my early discovery of Pink Floyd. It all began with “The Wall.” “The Wall” was one of the first and only albums I ever owned on cassette tape and it was listened to hundreds of times. To this day I hold “The Wall” as the single greatest rock album ever, barely edging out Led Zeppelin’s “Physical Graffiti.”

I guess really like double albums.

Before my mother got me my “The Wall” cassette for as a Christmas gift so long ago now, my only exposure to Pink Floyd was through the radio and in turn it was songs like “Comfortable Numb” and “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2” that brought me to listen to Pink Floyd and their magnum opus “The Wall.”

A powerful drawing emotion of rock and roll is the spirit of rebellion and affectively all youths go through a period of rebellion. “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2” has this as a chorus:

“We don’t need no education.
We don’t need no thought control.
No dark sarcasm in the classroom.
Teacher leave them kids alone.”

The message of “we don’t need no education” naturally resonates with young people, all of whom want to find themselves and develop their own identities which can only be done outside the confines of conformity. Like I said I think a lot of people have a similar experience to my own.

“Another Brick in the Wall Part 2” is a perfect song to garner a new young audience, and has been a contributing factor to Pink Floyd’s extreme trans generational appeal. Unsurprisingly a prudish culture was fearful of the message rejecting education, and apparently being incapable of listening a song’s lyrics in full failed to grasp the deeper and truer meaning of the song’s intent, which was a rejection of thought control. I mean it’s says it right there in the chorus, it is literally the second line.

Nonetheless “The Wall” and it’s highest ranking song “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2” were considered very controversial.

A lot of people fail to realize that most versions of the song they hear is actual two songs, “The Happiest Days of our Lives” and the afore mentioned “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2.” These two songs are meant to be heard together, but then again, the entire album “The Wall” is designed in such a way that every song leads into the next. However, in the case of “The Happiest Days of our Lives” and “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2” the two songs are truly linked as one. “The Happiest Days of our Lives” details the lives of the brutal teachers, and then Pink Floyd proclaims the lack of necessity that education offers.

A lot of people also fail to realize the song title is in fact “Another Brick in the Wall Park 2,” assuming a title like “We Don’t Need no Education” instead. A very specific title like “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2” should raise some questions to the casual Pink Floyd fan, like what is part 1 like? Or is this song a part of a larger whole? Anyone with any meaningful knowledge of Pink Floyd already knows the answers to these questions but we shall go over them anyway.

There are three parts to “Another Brick in the Wall” to properly appreciate what make them special one must understand “The Wall” the album, but more so the metaphor. Roger Water’s “The Wall” is a very real barrier separating the narrator from the rest of the world. The bricks, within this wall, at painful moments and events that damage the narrator, and create the divide between himself and the rest of the world. In the famous part 2, we see the abuses of overly determined disciplinary teachers and a soul crushing education system lasts with him forever.

Another Brick in The Wall Part 1:

The first brick in the wall is altogether different. “Another Brick in the Wall Part 1” is three minutes in length and is primarily a guitar song using a lot of long lasting notes creating a lot of atmosphere. The only lyrics is a single verse:

“Daddy's flown across the ocean,
Leaving just a memory,
Snapshot in the family album,
Daddy what else did you leave for me?
Daddy, what did ya leave behind for me?
All in all it was just a brick in the wall.
All in all it was all just bricks in the wall.”

The second world war has a lot of visual influence over Water’s creation, and anyone who has watched “The Wall” the movie will concur that the father’s departure is due to him leaving to fight in the war.

Another Brick in The Wall Part 3:

The third part of the “Another Brick in the Wall” set is sort of a conclusion to the brick laying as it were. Appropriately similar to the previous two parts of this trilogy the third part is a short song with very little actually being vocalized and once again we are left with a single chorus to develop this story:

“I don't need no arms around me,
I don't need no drugs to calm me,
I have seen the writing on the wall,
Don't think I need anything at all.
No don't think I'll need anything at all.
All in all it was all just bricks in the wall.
All in all you were just bricks in the wall.”

The rejection of everyone and everything finally comes. Enough bricks have been laid and the wall is now high enough for the narrator to hide himself away, socially and emotionally from the world. This is a fitting end to the first half of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall,” the only song to follow “Another Brick in the Wall Part 3” on side two is “Goodbye Cruel World” a lamenting song about letting go of everything and everyone. This is the true metaphor Roger Waters has created, a wall of misery standing too tall to climb, or ever look over. All that is left for the narrator to do is turn his back on the world and say goodbye.

And everything was just bricks in the wall.

I have often pondered over how to begin a conversation about my favorite album. “The Wall” has twenty-six songs in total; inarguably there are multiple launching points. At last I thought, what is a wall, metaphorical or otherwise, but a collection of bricks? Why not begin with those?

- King of Braves

27 Songs about the End of the World

The world was suppose to end in 2012.  Disappointed?  Here are twenty-seven songs to cheer you up.

REM – I’m Gonna DJ

According to the lyrics, REM singer Michael Stipe plans on DJing at the end of the world. An admirable goal if there ever was one.

Soundgarden – Black Hole Sun

Disjointed lyrics symbolizing the devil, sex, shame, death and according to everyone the end of the earth is mentioned somewhere in there too. I never liked Soundgarden or this song. I don’t hate Soundgarden and I don’t hate “Black Hole Sun,” but this is a very immature song and the only reason I am convinced it’s about the end of the world is it would follow from the dark themes blatantly brought up in the beginning. I may not love it, but it still counts as a song about the end of the world and it still makes the list.

Muse – Apocalypse Please

The end is coming but Muse is surprisingly hopefully about the whole ordeal. Something will “pull us through” and “change the course of history.” It’s a nice song, not Muse’s best, but a good one, and definitely one of the more optimistic songs on this list.

Josh Ritter – Temptation of Adam

“Temptation of Adam” is the first of many songs about world war three ending everything. Josh Ritter is a great guitarist and light rocker, and he can’t help himself but be romantic and sing about love even when the end of the world is coming. If you have ever heard Josh Ritter before you know what to expect here, it’s another heartfelt, well written, rock ballad, only this one is about the end of the world too.

Metallica – The Four Horsemen

“The Four Horsemen” of the apocalypse, that’s pretty straight forward. Metallica have a lot of songs about death, destruction and dismay, but this was the only song of theirs I could pinpoint as being specifically about the end of the world. Off of their first studio album “Kill ‘Em All,” like many musicians Metallica’s first album was their rawest, and I believe this was the album that focused the most around death, so how fitting their only true end of the world song be there.

Elvis Costello – Waiting for the end of the World

How do you cope with the end of the world? Understandably Elvis Costello would be somber and sad, he would also pray. There should be no surprise the biblical reference and hopeful prayers are a reoccurring theme on this list. If you believe all of that it would make sense to pray to god to save us since he would technically be the cause of the end as well as the beginning. “Dear lord I hope you coming, because you really started something,” there is a couple different ways to interpret that line.

Barry McGuire – Eve of Destruction

Barry McGuire? I thought this song was by the The Turtles, oh they covered it, McGuire wrote it, cool. There is maybe a dozen or more cold war and fear of the reds references in this song. This is the second song about the cold war or world war three ending the earth on this list. McGuire is politically topical in this song, he mentioned the reds in China, the space race, southern racism, and probably a bunch of other important events I am too young and/or ignorant to get. No wonder this song was so popular in the sixties.

Eels – End Times

The end is coming and no one realizes it, except Eels lead man Mark Oliver Everett, and now does Mark take the news? Reflections are made by drawing parallels between the “ends times” and “she is gone now,” how do most people deal with a lover gone, somber sadness and eventual acceptance; “I don’t feel nothing now, not even fear. Now that end times are here.” Very nice, arguably more of a poem then a song, if such a distinction exists.

The Thermals – Here’s Your Future

Arguably a song that is not about the end of the world, “Here’s Your Future” is more about biblical violence, but I cannot escape the feeling that god proclaiming “Here’s Your Future” after laying out the horrors of past biblical destruction wrought by him could imply anything other than the violent end of all things as describe in “Revelations.” The Thermals are a modern punk band, interpret that however you want, but “Here’s Your Future” is a fast hard hitting song that does a good job of depicting god as a bully killing us and torturing us with fear.

The Temper Trap – Soldier On

Best known of their hit song “Sweet Disposition,” not everyone knows Australia’s The Temper Trap have an entire good album in “Conditions.” The world is slowly dying and what we must do is soldier on. This song is awesome for a few reasons; first of all it is a really good song just in general, second the message to tough out the end of the world is just so badass. The Temper Trap is not a loud hard rock band so this message of incredible toughness and resolve is for some reason somewhat unexpected, it’s like stealth badassier, which is not a real word.

Pink Floyd – Two Suns in the Sunset

“Two Suns in the Sunset” is off of Pink Floyd’s twelfth studio “The Final Cut” (1983). The second sun rising in the east is meant to be the explosion of a nuclear bomb the sign of the beginning of the end. This is not the first song about nuclear war destroying everything on this list and it won’t be the last. This is Pink Floyd, the song is great, and if anything I’m surprised they don’t have more songs about the end of the world.

Tom Lehrer – We Will All go Together

Finally a funny song about the end of the world!

Tom Lehrer may have received an AB in Mathematics from Harvard where he lectured for several years but he most likely will be best remember for his witty commentaries about politics through song. Nuclear war is coming, but don’t fret we will all leave this world together like one big happy family. Sure puts things into perspective.

Nena – 99 Luftballoons

“99 Luftballons” is one of the best known popular radio songs that happen to be about the end of the world, and like any pop song with subtext most people don’t know what it’s about. What are the 99 red balloons? If you still have to ask after actually paying attention to the lyrics to this 1982 German pop song than you may be an idiot.

Credence Clearwater Revival – Bad Moon on the Rise

And all these years I thought this song was about werewolves. The appropriate inclusion of this song on the classic horror film “An American Werewolf in London” gave me and others the false impression that CCR front man John Fogerty had written “Bad Moon on the Rise” specifically for the movie, however in an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine John Fogerty explained that the song was inspired by the movie “The Devil and Daniel Webster” in which a hurricane destroys a town. Fogerty thought it would be something if a storm destroyed more than just a town, how about the world. So that settles that, “Bad Moon on the Rise” is about the end of the world.

WWE – Armageddon Theme

Who could get forget promos with the Undertaker proclaiming himself the “angel of darkness and reaper of wayward souls,” or Triple H promising to stain New York City with Mick Foley’s blood? Ah the good old days of professional wrestling when the pretenses of it being real were replaced with overtop impossible characters and situations. Wrestlers have been predicting the end times since Wresltemania five when Hulk Hogan declared that when he and the Machoman Randy Savage battled the earth was going to open up and devour the audience and presumably the rest of the earth would be destroyed when the mega powers explode. As comical as wrestling has become there was something charming about the old Armageddon pay per views and how they advertised it as if the world would actually end because two strong men were going to wrestle, but what really sold those trailers was the song they used often called “The End.” I could not find any information about who wrote the song so I do not know who to credit, but whoever did write and perform this song was clearly influenced by The Doors, and their song “The End.” The voice sounds a little like Jim Morrison, the atmosphere of the song is forbidding and dark, and even the lyrics seem like something that would have fit in with the rest of The Doors end times song. Despite being created under very different circumstances the WWE Armageddon Theme has always sent chills down my spine.

Alan & Lande – Judgement Day

What happens when Symphony X guitarist Russell Alan and Gamma Ray/Masterplan lead singer Jorn Lande collaborate? We get great metal of course. To this day “Judgement Day” appears to be Alan & Lande’s biggest hit, and rightfully so, out of all the songs I have heard by the duo this is definitely my favorite. Once again we hear biblical references in this song and a sense of knowing what is to come. The message of this song seems to suggest that waking up surprised to find judgement day may be more of a consequence of misdeeds or lost spiritual awareness. All in all “Judgement Day” by Alan & Lande is a great song.

Morrisey – Everyday is like Sunday

I could argue that this song is not about the end of the world since it is set in a post apocalyptic setting, which would imply that the earth still exists and so does some remnants of humanity. However I would be probably be splitting hairs if I did that, and besides like I could resist putting this song on the list. World War Three has come and gone but here in the seaside town they forgot to bomb people linger on. Morrisey brings the severe sadness that is emo to the Armageddon in this song, and I suppose if there were ever a time to be morbidly sad it would be the end times, it is an appropriate fit and the end result is a very good song.

Prince – 1999

No Prince’s “1999” is not a pop cliché it is actually a meaningful song. People who actually bothered to listen to the lyrics of “1999” will quickly identify the song as one that is about the end of the world. The lyrics explicating state that the world with end in the year 2000, so we might as well make the best of it till then and party like it’s....

REM – It’s the End of the World as we Know it

Perhaps the most famous end times song ever recorded. REM struck gold when they wrote “It’s the End of the World as we Know it,” a humorously fun and infections song accepting/celebrating the end of the world, as far as we know it anyway.

Black Sabbath – War Pigs

The war pigs in question are those pesky politicians that start wars and send men off to die, but when the ultimate war unfolds and we began the end of days what will god think of them? War Pigs is something of a combination of end of world themes insofar that there is a huge war destroying mankind and also the apocalypse foreseen in revelations. Just when you think the war couldn't possible get any worse the fucking four horse men show up.

Black Sabbath – Electric Funeral

Ozzy predicts if the four horsemen don’t get us first the nuclear bombs will. Like so many songs earlier on this list the end of the world comes in the form of nuclear war, but this song is the most “metal.”

The Rolling Stones – Gimmie Shelter

Not exactly a song about the end of the world since the song is about surviving in a post apocalyptic world, however as stated earlier for “Every Day is like Sunday” that’s close enough. This song would have made the top five since it maybe the best song on this list but since it is not explicitly about the end of the world it only gets sixth. On an additional side note this song always reminds me of Mad Max.

Johnny Cash – When the Man Comes Around

Revelations again. Johnny Cash is a badass and I like his method narrating, very matter of fact. I also like Cash’s word choice is referring to god as “the man,” as if god is more like some kind of badass alpha male/top hierarchy corporate political champion, and when he comes around... we’re fucked. When god comes to clean this mess up, he’s going to be pissed. It’s a fun story and a great song.

Zager and Evans – In the Year 2525

In the 2525, if man is still alive, and if woman can survive, they may find....

And so on we count the years while foretelling the strangeness of millenniums past, until everything is dead.

A song this high on the list deserves special attention, it gets a full review:

http://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.ca/2012/11/zager-and-evans-in-year-2525.html

Prism – Armageddon

Out of all the upbeat songs about the end of world Prism’s “Armageddon” has to be the best. A unusual and truly unique song that wins the hearts of all who have ever heard it.

A song this high on the list deserves special attention, it gets a full review:

http://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.ca/2012/11/prism-armageddon.html

The Doors – The End

The ultimate end of the world song, The Doors “The End.” Not only is this song simply fantastic in quality and in poetry but it captures every possible interpretation and reaction to the end, not just the end of the earth, or the end of humanity, this is the end of everything.

A song this high on the list deserves special attention, it gets a full review:

http://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.ca/2012/11/the-doors-end.html

David Bowie – Five Years

This is the greatest song about the end of the world ever written, David Bowie “Five Years.” Like The Doors “The End,” Bowie’s “Five Years” means a lot to me. This is a song I have been listening to with perked interest and deep love for the better half of my life. There are so many memories attached to songs like “The End” and “Five Years” they mean more to me than just amazing songs about the end times, these songs even transcend the greatness of the historical and cultural impact on music, they are totems of our culture and species. The fear of death, the original conflict, the original antagonist, the endless battle between life and death sang to us by arguably the greatest song writer ever capturing all our fears and predictable reactions in one perfect song. “Five Years” is the greatest end of the world song.

Way back in May of 2007 I reviewed “Five Years,” and it shows just how much things have changed, in my writing, in my life and in me. That was five years ago....

http://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.ca/2011/03/may-2007-david-bowie-five-years.html

- Colin Kelly

Pink Floyd - High Hopes

“The grass was greener,
The light was brighter,
The taste was sweeter,
The nights of wonder,
With friends surrounded,
The dawn mist glowing,
The water flowing,
The endless river,
Forever and ever.”

The upside to being dead is people finally start appreciating you. Syd Barrett, a mess of a man and not a great song writer, but he’s dead so people really think he’s great. Dave Gilmour, amazing song writer, fantastic musician, still alive, no one spares a word of praise. It’s not fair, and honestly I think it’s cruel as well as stupid.

I have always lived by the philosophy that if you want to be honest with the world that means two things, saying both the complementary and condescending things about people and things, and I would consider it rude to wait until Dave Gilmour passes away before I gave him the credit he so richly deserves.

Most anyone will tell you the driving force behind Pink Floyd was Roger Waters, and they’re right, Waters was without question the most talent musician and song writer in Pink Floyd, but the second man was clearly always Gilmour.

I always felt sorry for Gilmour, he played lead guitar (arguably the most important role), he sang vocals, and was strong in the song writing process for Pink Floyd, but people tend to remember Waters more so as the lead man of Pink Floyd, but that is fair, Waters was huge in song writing, bass guitar, and vocals, involved so much he did somewhat eclipse Gilmour’s awesome contributions. That’s not what upsets me, what upsets me is something else.

You see Pink Floyd hates each other. Most of the animosity seems to be between the two champions of the band Waters and Gilmour. Now think of this, how many songs did Pink Floyd write about missing Syd Barrett? The answer is like ten or twelve, including an entire album titled, as you know, “Wish you were here.” As history will remember when Syd Barrett destroyed his brain it was Dave Gilmour who stepped in and replaced him, and that single key element, changed everything; Pink Floyd was Waters, Mason, Wright, and Gilmour, not Waters, Mason, Wright, and Barrett, but on numerous occasions Waters was quoted saying how much he wished Barrett was there... you know instead of Gilmour. Gilmour even had to sing songs about how the rest of the band “Wish you were here,” he basically had to sing songs about how the rest of the band indirectly wished he wasn’t there. I always thought that was really sad, it seemed like the rest of the band never appreciated Gilmour as the talent and friend he was, at least that’s now it always seemed to me at this long distance from musicians to fan.

I got some feedback from March’s part 1, Music in Review, mentioning albums like “Animals,” which is a good album, but I never really got into it. If I had to pick a fourth best album for Pink Floyd, after the obvious three, it would have to be “The Division Bell.” It seems like no one agrees with me on this and the albums of choice for Floyd these days are “Animals,” and “Meddle,” but I stand by my choice. What I never realized until recently is that Roger Waters left Pink Floyd in the 1980’s and Pink Floyd carried on as a three piece band without him, recording their last two studio albums “A Momentary Lapse in Reason,” and “The Division Bell,” both of which were heavily written by Dave Gilmour. That was the final reason for me to take a step back and give a shout of admiration and respect to Mr. Gilmour, those were really good albums, all the more impressive knowing how late they were created in Gilmour’s life, as I have stated before it gets harder to write really good music as you get older, as eventually you run out of ideas.

Maybe it has something to do with the time I got into Pink Floyd, around 1995 or so, and “The Division Bell,” came out in 1994, so I was exposed to several of the tracks when I bought their live album “Pulse” (1996), several of the tracks performed were from Floyd’s last two albums, and damn I really liked them, especially “High Hopes.” I played “High Hopes,” at work, and as am I constantly disappointed with people not a single person had idea what song it was, even other Pink Floyd fans. Now, you, my friends, will know and remember this great track, and do yourself a favour and listen to “The Division Bell,” its Pink Floyd’s fourth best album, I swear.

Just listen to “High Hopes,” and you can hear the bitterness and sadness in Gilmour’s voice. Being a rock star never ended up being glamorous and sweet for Pink Floyd, they lost a close friend, struggled for a long time to get support from critics and fans alike, refused to sell out and were punished for it, and in time they even grew to hate each other. It’s amazing that music so beautiful could come from such anguish; there are no words to describe it really.

Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.

- Colin Kelly

Pink Floyd - Shine on you Crazy Diamond

“Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.”

I grow up listening to Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin; these were by far my two favourite bands.  I started listening to Pink Floyd when I was in the sixth grade or so around 1996.  The general consensus among everyone, radio DJs, music critics, casual fans, hardcore Pink Floyd fans, and me, was that there were three pinnacle albums to own by Pink Floyd “Wish you were here,” “Dark Side of the Moon,” and “The Wall.”  I was always curious about their other eleven albums but with few exceptions I never really got into them.  One day I had the mixed fortunate of catching “Piper at the gates of Dawn,” on much music retro, and all I could think was “what is this shit?”  I then learned that the general consensus was also that, Syd Barrett sucked.

When Pink Floyd started out they did not have David Gilmour as lead, they had a drugged up idiot named Syd Barrett.  Syd Barrett went on to do acid every day for a year and after guess what, brain damage.  Roger Waters, Richard Wright, and Nick Mason really missed their friend but carried on with Gilmour anyway.  Everything made sense, Syd Barrett did drugs and wrote bad music and as soon as he was gone the rest of Pink Floyd got their act together and produced three of the best classic rock albums of all time, makes sense right?

Then Syd Barrett died.

Barrett managed to live to the age of sixty 1946-2006, and at the time of his death humanity being the shallow petty creatures we are for some reason had to pretend that Barrett’s life meant more than a stupid ass who destroyed his brain with drugs, idiots started to believe he was a genius, and slowly but surely I started to hear people say that Pink Floyd was nothing without Syd Barrett.

How could anyone possibly believe that?  Pink Floyd without Syd Barrett became arguably the second greatest rock band of all time, how could the junk produced beforehand even be compared to the powerhouse triptych of “Dark Side of the Moon,” “Wish you were here,” and “The Wall.”  It’s amazing the lies people tell themselves to feel better about death, even the death of a man they never knew and had no reason to like.  But the story gets worse; I slowly realized that Pink Floyd took a long time to get their act together after Barrett’s demise, three albums to be exact.  You see Syd Barrett’s involvement in Pink Floyd really only existed on their first album “Piper at the gates of Dawn.”  He was sort of around for the second album “A Saucerful of Secrets,” but by that point he was brain dead.  So when people kiss dead people’s asses and tell you Syd Barrett was the real genius of Pink Floyd they are indirectly telling you that “Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” is a better album than “Wish you were here,” “Dark Side of the Moon,” and “The Wall,” combined, and seriously how is anyone that stupid?

To be perfectly honest, “Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” isn’t terrible, but that’s the problem with greatness, we aren’t comparing “Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” to the average musical album, or even the average classic rock album, if we were it would be below average and we would be done with it, but we have to compare it to the rest of Pink Floyd’s discography and compared to everything past “Meddle,” “Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” is garbage.

Something good did come from Barrett’s existence however, and that was the positive impression he left on Roger Waters.  Waters is inarguably the main man behind Pink Floyd and apparently he really loved his friend Syd, not only does Waters constantly give Barrett credit for lots of his own hard work, but wrote multiple tributes to his friend. 

The most memorable tribute to Syd Barrret was the album “Wish you were here,” with the title track quite point blank referring to Barrett.  The cover art should have given away something as well, two men shaking hands goodbye, one of them on fire. 

Pink Floyd’s music was always psychedelic, long adventures into the minds of calm madness, and the best song on “Wish you were here,”  to capture that is “Shine on you Crazy Diamond,” another song about Syd. 

Thanking Syd Barrett for Pink Floyd is like thanking anthrax for Louis Pasteur, or thanking slavery for Mark Twain.  While the members of Pink Floyd may hold Syd Barrett and all they shared with him dear it was not Syd Barrett who was a friend to them, rather Pink Floyd was the best friend of Syd Barrett, we would have no idea who Syd Barrett was if it wasn’t for them, they also loved him so much they wrote some of the greatest classic rock music ever about him.

Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.

- Colin Kelly