Pink Floyd All the Songs
Page 65
Hook End Recording Studios, Checkendon: June, October 1982
Mayfair Recording Studios, London: June, October–November 1982; January 19, February 1983
Olympic Studios, London: June, September–October 1982
Abbey Road Studios, London: July 22 and 23, 1982
Eel Pie Studios, Twickenham: September 1982
RAK Studios, London: October 1982
Audio International Studios, London: January 26–30, 1983
Technical Team
Producers: Roger Waters, James Guthrie, Michael Kamen
Sound Engineers: James Guthrie, Andy Jackson
Assistant Sound Engineers: Andy Canelle, Mike Nocito, Jules Bowen
Genesis
Roger Waters, with characteristic dark irony, has taken his father’s middle name as the name of the “memorial home” at the center of this song. It is a way of honoring Eric Fletcher Waters, killed by the German Tiger tanks during Operation Shingle in January 1944. “He was in London all through ’40, ’41 and ’42,” explains Roger Waters, “and during that time he became interested in politics, and his politics became more and more left-wing until he joined the Communist Party, at which point he had a struggle with the dialectic between his Christianity and communism. In the end, he took the view that it was necessary to fight against the Nazis. He went back to the Conscription Board and said, ‘Listen, I’ve changed my mind and so I would like to volunteer for the armed forces.’”81 And Waters adds: “To have the courage to not go—and then to change your mind and have the courage to go—is a sort of mysteriously heroic thing to have done, which my brother and I have to live with.”81
In fact the Pink Floyd songwriter’s preoccupations here go beyond the Second World War. He would like to see gathered together in this retirement home the incurable tyrants and kings who have plagued the world since the war. And Waters, as master of ceremonies, introduces them one after the other: firstly the president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, and his ultra-authoritarian secretary of state Alexander Haig; then the Israeli leader Menachem Begin and his friends Margaret Thatcher and Ian Paisley (a Protestant and die-hard opponent of any kind of agreement with the Catholics in Ulster); then Leonid Brezhnev and his Communist party; then there is a bald man—the ghost of Senator Joseph McCarthy—along with the ex-president of the United States, Richard Nixon, and all the South American dictators. Waters deems all of these leaders guilty, referring to them as wasters of life and limb. And he would like to see the final solution applied to them…
Production
Not only is he a highly talented lyricist, Waters is also a very eclectic composer, his work reflecting a much more diverse range of musical influences than that of Gilmour or Wright, for example. You just have to compare “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun,” “Grantchester Meadows,” “Cymbaline,” “San Tropez,” “Money,” and “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)”: all are musically very different. And “The Fletcher Memorial Home” is another example of this. This song puts the National Philharmonic Orchestra center stage. The arrangements written by Michael Kamen (who also plays the piano) are fantastic and obviously help raise Waters’s writing to another level. Waters delivers a successful, moving performance; he alternates between quiet passages, with spoken parts, and his customary flights of lyricism (which he doubles). The only criticism concerns the way he seems to systematically opt for a strained voice, always stretched to its limits. It is a bit like the recurring use of echo on the ends of lines or on isolated words. One can have too much of a good thing. But the fact remains that the production is of an extremely high caliber, something that has always been a hallmark of Pink Floyd from the very beginning. We get a glimpse of the old Floyd trademark style in a superb instrumental sequence with Gilmour and Mason back in their familiar roles. Gilmour embarks on an excellent solo on his “Black Strat.” He uses his Big Muff and his Electric Mistress, giving that characteristic sound that he has developed since Animals, via his Hiwatt amplifier and his WEMs. He harmonizes one of the lines of his solo with thirds, then with fifths (from 2:55). It is a three-guitar formula that he has only used on rare occasions, another example being the solo in “Dogs” on Animals (with different harmonization). Nick Mason holds his own, too, with a wonderfully effective accompaniment. The sound of his Ludwig has a near-live feel to it, much like on “In the Flesh” (The Wall). Meanwhile, Waters, who has been on the bass since the beginning of the piece, does a great supporting job, as does Michael Kamen with his piano and his orchestra. After a final verse, “The Fletcher Memorial Home” ends on a final chord, to the sound of seagulls screeching overhead.
Southampton Dock
Roger Waters / 2:12
Musicians
Roger Waters: vocals, bass, acoustic guitar, synthesizer (?)
Michael Kamen: piano and orchestral conducting
National Philharmonic Orchestra: orchestra
Recorded
The Billiard Room, London: May–October 1982
Hook End Recording Studios, Checkendon: June, October 1982
Mayfair Recording Studios, London: June, October–November 1982; January 19, February 1983
Olympic Studios, London: June, September–October 1982
Abbey Road Studios, London: July 22 and 23, 1982
Eel Pie Studios, Twickenham: September 1982
RAK Studios, London: October 1982
Audio International Studios, London: January 26–30, 1983
Technical Team
Producers: Roger Waters, James Guthrie, Michael Kamen
Sound Engineers: James Guthrie, Andy Jackson
Assistant Sound Engineers: Andy Canelle, Mike Nocito, Jules Bowen
Genesis
Southampton dock, which gave its name to the ninth track on The Final Cut, was the place from which the allied troops involved in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, departed and the place to which numerous British servicemen returned after the German capitulation. It was from here, too, that the cruise ship Canberra set sail on April 9, 1982, with two thousand men on board, to assist in the recapture of the remote Falkland Islands (four days after the main task force, which had embarked at Portsmouth).
The first verse is plain enough: silent and restrained, the British greet the return of the soldiers, many of whom are missing from the line. Then, in the second verse, we are left to wonder about the identity of the woman who, with her handkerchief in her hand and her summer dress clinging to her skin, bravely waves the boys goodbye again. Is this a mother watching her son set off, or a wife? Or is it Margaret Thatcher, prime minister of the United Kingdom, who made a point of being present for the departure (or return) of her soldiers? Which, in Roger Waters’s eyes, would be the height of cynicism. The third and final verse is about war in general, with another reference to poppies, the red flower (the color of blood) worn on Remembrance Day (November 11). Fish (the singer with the progressive rock band Marillion) called “Southampton Dock” “the most powerful comment on the Falklands,”36 though he lamented the fact that “Pink Floyd’s The Final Cut didn’t reach as many people as it should have. You know why? Because everyone was told it was sooo unhip [at the time] to like anything by the Floyd.”36
Production
We hear the solitary cries of seagulls over Southampton dock. Roger Waters is on the acoustic guitar, which he plays with a capo placed on the third fret, in the key of F major (Martin D-35?). He accompanies himself with strumming, and the lyrics are half sung, half spoken, rather in the manner of Leonard Cohen. It is an emotional performance, and we sense he is genuinely moved by his words. A bass line is added in from the fourth line. A note played on the synthesizer (most probably a vocal sound) adds to the solemnity of the atmosphere (from 0:20). In the second verse, the subtle swell of some French horns is heard, admirably orchestrated by Michael Kamen. A ship’s horn sounds in the distance (at 0:53). In the last three lines, Waters resumes his singing an octave higher, his voice at the breaking point, and the effect�
�although repeated—brings a sense of tension to the words, especially as the vocal is undermixed (from 0:54 onward). Then, for the last verse, Michael Kamen is on the piano, accompanied by the brass and strings sections of the National Philharmonic Orchestra. Waters’s performance is poignant and infused with sincerity, making “Southampton Dock” one of the most successful tracks on the album.
It is evident, listening to this superb song, that Waters had come to a point where he was no longer willing or able to continue with the Pink Floyd formula. He had set off in a new artistic direction. As Waters himself had said, referring to Rick Wright, they were no longer on parallel paths… This gives us a clue as to why Gilmour had wanted his own name removed from the credits: while the quality of the album was not in doubt, the problem was that this was no longer his record.
For Pink Floyd Addicts
This song is one of Roger Waters’s favorite tracks on The Final Cut: “I love all that ‘Southampton Dock’ stuff, that little section—I’m really proud of that.”36
Roger Waters / 4:46
Musicians
David Gilmour: acoustic rhythm guitars, electric lead guitar
Roger Waters: vocals, bass
Nick Mason: drums
Ray Cooper: tambourine
Michael Kamen: piano, harmonium, orchestral conducting
National Philharmonic Orchestra: orchestra
Recorded
The Billiard Room, London: May–October 1982
Hook End Recording Studios, Checkendon: June, October 1982
Mayfair Recording Studios, London: June, October to November 1982; January 19, February 1983
Olympic Studios, London: June, September–October 1982
Abbey Road Studios, London: July 22 and 23, 1982
Eel Pie Studios, Twickenham: September 1982
RAK Studios, London: October 1982
Audio International Studios, London: January 26–30, 1983
Technical Team
Producers: Roger Waters, James Guthrie, Michael Kamen
Sound Engineers: James Guthrie, Andy Jackson
Assistant Sound Engineers: Andy Canelle, Mike Nocito, Jules Bowen
Genesis
The album’s title song, which had been rejected as a contender for The Wall, is the darkest work on The Final Cut, an album that already doesn’t exactly inspire optimism! The narrator tells us he is spiraling down to the hole in the ground where I hide. This could be interpreted as the RAF gunner (who subsequently became the teacher in The Wall) experiencing another flashback in which his aircraft is downed by antiaircraft fire. Roger Waters actually composed this song for The Wall, but the narrator was not the teacher, who was both the bully and the bullied, but Pink himself, who slid into insanity. There were various reasons for his decline. Isolation, of course, though initially that was what he wanted, but also sexual frustration, which so plagues him that he is gripped by a big hallucination/Making love to girls in magazines. We also understand that he is feeling the pain of rejection: Could anybody love him/Or is it just a crazy dream?/And if I show you my dark side/Will you still hold me tonight? Roger Waters wonders.
So the final curtain is coming down on Pink’s career, and the lives of all those left behind, be they fragile rock stars, marginals resigned to their fate, or sacrificed soldiers. And it seems there will be no encore. This realization dawns when we hear a gunshot ring out at the words behind the wall. In other words, behind the wall there is death, a void. So “the final cut” would be Pink’s ultimate gesture, his sacrificial suicide. Unless… The last line contains a glimmer of hope: I never had the nerve to make the final cut… The “final cut” can be interpreted in various ways: it can be taken to mean the “final take,” the “final edit,” or “final cut” in a movie sense. According to David Gilmour, “it’s also an expression for a stab in the back, which I think is rather the way Roger sees the film industry.”36
Production
“The Final Cut” follows on naturally from the end of “Southampton Dock,” with Michael Kamen on the piano introducing the first verse of the song. Roger Waters is on vocals, his voice quiet, and still in the same emotional register. He adds a bass, and is accompanied on the ride cymbal by Nick Mason. Dog barks can be heard in the distance (from 0:30 onward). Then the orchestration becomes denser, with the National Philharmonic Orchestra, Mason’s drums, Ray Cooper’s tambourine, and two strummed acoustic guitar parts played by David Gilmour. The last line of the second verse is emphasized with a crescendo of strings, which is abruptly interrupted by a gunshot, then an enthusiastic shout heard in the distance (1:09). Waters brings more power into his voice in the third verse, whose harmonies and strings parts bear quite a resemblance to the chorus of “Comfortably Numb” on The Wall. We also hear backing singers in the instrumental bridge that leads to the next section (from 1:49). In this section Waters is accompanied only by Michael Kamen on the harmonium, before the band and the orchestra join in, and he sings in a strained voice with plenty of delay added. David Gilmour, on his “Black Strat,” launches into an excellent solo, the sound distorted by his Big Muff and colored by his Alembic F-2B preamp and his rotating Yamaha RA-200s. He harmonizes some of his lines and makes extensive use of his vibrato bar. At 3:25 a second guitar comes in briefly, probably an extract from another take that had not been wiped and was eventually kept. Finally, after the last verse, Roger Waters ends the song on the phrase that gave the album its name, the final cut. In the closing seconds of the piece we hear a voice, apparently from an answering machine, which disappears with a laugh.
For Pink Floyd Addicts
“The Final Cut” appears on the eponymous video, as well as on the B-side of the promotional single for radio, “Selections from The Final Cut” (with “Your Possible Pasts” on the A-side).
Roger Waters mentions a “priest hole,” which is a hiding place built into Catholic houses in England during the reign of Protestant Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603), when Catholics were persecuted by law.
Not Now John
Roger Waters / 3:42
Musicians
David Gilmour: vocals, electric rhythm and lead guitars, synthesizer (?), acoustic guitar (?)
Roger Waters: vocals, bass, acoustic guitar (?), synthesizer (?)
Nick Mason: drums
Andy Bown: Hammond organ
Ray Cooper: percussion
Doreen Chanter, Irene Chanter: backing vocals (?)
Recorded
The Billiard Room, London: May–October 1982
Hook End Recording Studios, Checkendon: June, October 1982
Mayfair Recording Studios, London: June, October–November 1982; January 19, February 1983
Olympic Studios, London: June, September–October 1982
Abbey Road Studios, London: July 22 and 23, 1982
Eel Pie Studios, Twickenham: September 1982
RAK Studios, London: October 1982
Audio International Studios, London: January 26–30, 1983
Technical Team
Producers: Roger Waters, James Guthrie, Michael Kamen
Sound Engineers: James Guthrie, Andy Jackson
Assistant Sound Engineers: Andy Canelle, Mike Nocito, Jules Bowen
Genesis
“Not Now John” stands as a kind of synthesis of everything Roger Waters is denouncing in The Final Cut. Margaret Thatcher, a recurring figure on the album, is targeted again: the United Kingdom, victorious over Argentina, apparently sees itself overpowering the “Russian bear,” or, failing that, Sweden (a neutral country, moreover). We get the message: it is with an enormous snort of derision that the songwriter greets the return to the international scene of the intrepid Britannia of old! In this song he also suggests that the media, too, had a lot to answer for during the Falklands conflict. The songwriter likens the way in which the press and broadcast media (or some of them, at least) covered the war in the South Atlantic to a Hollywood movie: Hollywood waits at the end of the rainbow./Who cares what it’s about/As long as
the kids go. The humor is ferocious—and highly effective.
War, misinformation: two of the ills of liberal societies—the United States, Europe—that Waters condemns. And at work, the pressure to keep up crazy rates of production, due partly to competition from countries like Japan, inevitably leads to alienation. Can’t stop. Lose job. Mind gone! Silicon!: the first line of the second verse says more than any long speech. For Waters, the only means of escape for British blue-collar workers, like their peers throughout the so-called free world, is alcohol or drugs. Come at the end of the shift/We’ll go and get pissed. Could he be any clearer? “It’s a very schizophrenic song,” Waters would later say, “because there’s this one character singing the verses who’s irritated by all this moaning about how desperate things are, and doesn’t want to hear any of it any more. There’s part of me in that. Then there’s this other voice which keeps harping back to earlier songs, saying, ‘Make them laugh, make them cry, make them dance in the aisles,’ which is from ‘Teach.’ So it’s a strange song.”36
“Not Now John,” the only song on The Final Cut in which Roger Waters shares the vocals with David Gilmour, would be released as the A-side of the only single taken from the album—with “The Hero’s Return (Parts 1 and 2)” on the B-side. It peaked at number 30 on the UK charts on May 7, 1983, and made it to number 7 in the United States (Mainstream Rock Tracks).
Production
The song opens on a crescendo by Andy Bown’s distorted Hammond organ (on the right) and feedback from David Gilmour’s “Black Strat” (on the left). Then, for the first—and last—time on the album, Gilmour’s voice rings out. The piece has a rock vibe, much like that of “The Nile Song” (More). He accompanies himself on his Strat, the Big Muff very prominent. Roger Waters is on the bass, which itself has a slightly distorted sound. The playing is rhythmic and powerful, and meshes perfectly with the excellent drum part by Nick Mason, who delivers one of his best performances on this album. His Ludwig has a live tonality that perfectly matches the garage rock ambiance of the piece. We hear regular contributions from Ray Cooper on percussion instruments that are hard to identify (listen at 0:15). Gilmour’s vocal is answered by two backing vocalists, Doreen and Irene Chanter. Waters takes over from Gilmour on the lead vocal (from 0:32 onward) with a bridge based on vocal effects—a high singing voice alternating with a spoken voice. This part ends with a resounding bingooo!, which is echoed by the backing vocals. Waters then sings the first chorus, which is a repeat of the chorus of “One of the Few,” from the same album. He is accompanied by the backing singers, as well as two acoustic guitar parts on what sounds like a twelve-string guitar. There is also a synthesizer in the mix, producing an arpeggiator-style sound. David Gilmour is back on vocals for the second verse, which he concludes with a very good solo played on his Strat. The piece really lifts off with these spirited lines, which he delivers with the same feeling and fluidity as ever. Interestingly, at 1:52, he repeats a motif that had featured as part of his solo on “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)” (listen at 2:23). Knowing nod, or coincidence? His lyrical playing is underpinned by the accompanying vocals of the backing singers toward the end of the solo. The number continues with another verse/chorus, before ending with a final verse, this time sung by Waters in a kind of frenzy. His words are illustrated with shouts, laughs, and applause, and he rounds off with a classic na na na na na! He then launches into a series of questions in Italian, Greek, French, and English, accompanied throughout by a Gilmour solo (from 4:01 onward): One, two, three, four!/Scusi, dov’é il bar (what?)/Se para collo, pou eine toe bar?/S’il vous plaît, où est le bar? (ooh, say it in English!)/Oi, where’s the fucking bar, John? And fervent voices from the crowd reply: Rule Britannia! Britannia rules the waves!… Go Maggie!… Hammer, hammer, hammer… ! [a reference to The Wall]. The song fades out to the sound of applause, giving way to the sounds of passing traffic on a road… “Not Now John” is an excellent single, admirably produced, which probably deserved a higher position on the charts.