The Wall (Pink Floyd) | Extended Play Lounge (Episode 32)

The very end of Bring The Boys Back Home is so "beautiful" in that it through nothing but audio conveys how mentally unstable Pink is at that moment. Every single traumatic event in his life playing over each other on loop, and then BAM, Comfortably Numb.

DonHaka

Just realized that some of the background guitar work here on Is There Anybody Out There? is the same as the central/spacey part of Echoes. (the crying bird sounds) What an interesting juxtaposition that is. I believe the guy changing the records is there to give you the complete original experience. Listen to the ending of each side. They are like four acts of a play. It wasn't meant to be listened to without any interruption, because that wasn't an option for the general public back then.

emmsdad

Beautiful interpretation of Pinks decline into fascism. He turned into a monster who he would have hated or did hate.

david kerkel

Waiting for the Worms is about being in a box. Dead. The worms are the decomposers

david kerkel

Bruce Johnston from the Beach Boys sing the harmonies in the next couple of songs!!

david kerkel

https://youtu.be/HsM_VmN6ytk?si=5sx1J4GoNXFWqfcv

david kerkel

Nobody Home

david kerkel

Richard's piano durge about his heroin addiction

david kerkel

Bravo!! So many people interpret Goodbye Cruel World as a suicide song but it's not. It's the final detachment. Feeling nothing. Beautiful interpretation of the music and the lyrics

david kerkel

The bombing of Britain

david kerkel

If you walk off everything that causes you pain you accidentally walk off ALL emotions. Love, friendship, hate, everything and that's Pink's mistake. You have to take the bad with the good.

david kerkel

Too much to say in a text . An album that shaped my life at the wise old age of 15. Would love to talk live to you about it but one very important comment I will make is anecdotal. Growing up in the 70s I never had vinyl, I was a cassette guy, so my music could play wherever I walked or hung out . I had a dual deck boom box that had a car stereo style tape player that had auto flip of the tape. We were all trying figure out that last line but it's abrupt and low and without the internet or Roger's phone number it was a mystery. When my tape flipped back to side one on a listen, the sentence was complete. Is this where we came in ? Although I always thought it said This instead of is and was a person watching a movie or show and telling there companion they could leave as they saw this part already. I actually ran out of my house and around the neighborhood seeking out friends to tell them it's a loop like a movie reel. Was a mind blowing night as the news spread. Another similar event was standing around my friend's turntable as he damaged his needle and the album using his finger to play backwards the part of Empty Spaces with the secret message.

Duff

One of my favorite albums and it was also one of the first albums that I bought on cd!

Wolverale12

Queesryche ripped so much from this album for Operation Mindcrime… the operator and the phone calls, and the wrap around, ending into the beginning…

Steve Hartke

I can't watch the video: Because of its privacy settings, this video cannot be played here.

Rime Pendragon

For me, although I bought this album when it was released, PF had run out of steam. A great improvising band which came to be burdened by intellectual conceits and bombastic themes.

George Davis-Stewart

I've been listening to The Wall for nearly 40 years and never knew about that little bit from the end to the beginning...WOW!

Henry Weisenborn

you now need to have a critical listen to The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hing

Jools Lee-Webb

Finally able to listen to the whole work, and Lord, what genius...both the recording and the commentary. Looking forward to Echoes!

MrWondrous David Beckwith

I've made myself time to watch this and, as expected, amazing. Doug, do yourself a favor and WATCH the movie!

Juan Ignacio Quesada

Brilliant- as always! Bugged me a bit that I thought you'd missed the "... we came in?" thing at the start but you were right not to mention it initially! It took years of listening to this album for me to pick up on it (and only, I think, when I first heard it through headphones!) BTW thought the kids playing outside your window was a brilliantly appropriate coincidence - sounded just like the playground on the album! Thanks.

Geoff Budd

As the Judge says, The Trial is Pink revealing his deepest fears. He's able to identify everything that terrifies him and the extent to which he blames them for his misery. I think The Trial is Pink coming to terms with the fact he himself is responsible for his own destiny. I don't think Waters hid fails to hold himself responsible. The Wall is Waters spilling his guts for all to see. It's an admission of guilt.

Could be, yes. But I'll notice—and leave it up to the listener to decide whether this is intentional or not—that while Pink seems able to identify the sources of his trauma (lost father, crushing mother, cruel teachers, a wife who cheats on him (uh, after - it would appear from "Young Lust" - he does the same...)—he never quite finds any way to hold himself at all responsible for any of it. A less-parodic ending might have cut too close. Whether for Pink, or for Waters himself? Up to you.

Jeff Norman

Couldn't agree more. "The Trial" crosses the line from brilliantly wrought rock opera to hammy musical theatre. Don't get me wrong, at its best, musical theatre can be fun and emotionally compelling, but more often than not, it's campy and bloated. To extend Roger Waters some grace, maybe that's what he was going for: maybe Pink's mind was so twisted that only a baroque caricature of self-awareness could snap him out of his isolating annihilation. But as a piece of art to stand alongside the rest of The Wall, it sure seems like Roger could have done better.

Adam Miles

ATTENTION DOUG AND FELLOW DOUGFANS: Roger Waters has released a studio version of the updated "Comfortably Numb" with which he opened his most recent tour's shows, along with the visuals from his video display. If you weren't able to go to the shows, you need to see and hear this. Even if you, like me, did see it, you need to hear all the details. This makes an excellent coda to Doug's analysis of The Wall. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JLN581QWxc

Adam Miles

Does anyone else feel that "The Trial" is a little overcooked? As the denouement of the whole plot—the moment when Pink is forced to face up to his own shit—it ought to feel...I dunno, both traumatic and cathartic? But Roger seems to have had too much fun doing all his voices (he's brilliant at it, no doubt—almost Pythonesque here), and between that and the comic-opera orchestration, I find that it's almost as if Waters himself couldn't quite honestly face up to the implications of the material...and put up a bit of a wall himself here: "ooh! funny voices and goofy orchestration!" Certainly not a fatal flaw—so much is so effective on this album—but that's kinda my take on it (not sure it's ever quite felt that way to me before though...)

Jeff Norman

FOR SURE!

R. Douglas Helvering

One more thought! I've noticed you often use solo sections to discuss the underlying harmony or lyrics which had recently been sung. I think it would be *fascinating* to hear your analysis of what makes some solos really effective - could be melodies, could be rhythms, could be the notes they choose in context of the chord, etc. The Comfortably Numb solo for instance has a number of magical qualities that all collide and make something singular in all the world.

Gary Thobaben

Doug, your analysis was great! Please do the movie also ; it will give a you another and broader perspective. The animations on Goodbye Blue Sky and Empty Spaces (the perfect mind fuck), for example, will blow you away. The Wall movie is made by Alan Parker (e.g. 'Midnight Express', that must rings a bell :-)!

Thomas Jongen

Thanks for doing this. Good job.

BRIAN MILLER

Thank you for this, Doug. I listened to this record in my teens, mostly as a budding musician who found bands like Floyd, Zep, and others interesting and talented. That was my focus while listening back then. In my 20s, I mostly found Roger being a total dick offputting and it made me empathize with him here less than I ought to have. In my 30s, I put this on the shelf entirely. Now I'm 40, and your guided tour has allowed me to lower my guard and approach this record with empathy and depth. Thank you.

Gary Thobaben

Goodness! I wish I'd been one of the kids in that class on a visit to the recording studio who were given the opportunity to add the children's vocals. Mind you, the teacher had hell to pay for letting them do it (another brick indeed). We had a teacher who looked just like the etiolated creature in the animation, right down to the blazer - he scared the daylights out of me when I was 10. Fabulous - if bleak - album. Thanks Doug

Sian Podmore

When the Tigers Broke Free should have been included in this album. It is in the movie. I hope one day Doug reacts to the movie

Tristram Coffin

17:30 isn't it amazing how the context of an album sets a song up?

Tristram Coffin

Bravo Doug, great work. You'll need to play that copy of Meddle at some point!

Mike Hill

It was a privilege to listen along with you to this dark but wonderful album. You have provided me with new insights to an album I have known for forty years, which is a great thing. I would add that I see one of the themes in this album is the emergence of neo-nazis in the UK in the 1970's. Rodger confronts the contradiction of how some of the children of a generation that died fighting fascism came to embrace that ideology. I would highly recommend watching the movie The Wall because it is a fine piece of art in its own right.

Dave Brockis

I was at that Nassau Coliseum show! Amazing.

Prog Rock Piano Bar

What a privilege it is to watch an informed music fan listen to such an album for the first time - an album that I have known for most of my adult life. I found it too dark back in '79 and have only recently listened to it intently enough to fully appreciate the picture that it paints. I probably listen to it monthly now and each time I hear something new or get a different take on the narrative. Doug's comments throw yet more into that mix and my thanks go for that. I would agree with the other comments about watching Roger's 2010 live performances - they are very much the musical theatre that Doug imagines. I had a chance to see it in 1980 and missed it. Damn!

Richard Stoney

Wonderful Doug! I thought the sound of the kids playing at the end couldn’t be more fitting! it took a double take of my ears to confirm it wasn’t part of the album for a sec! And yes, the movie is as significant visually as it is audibly.. you must do of video reacting to the movie. Gerald Scarfe’s animation is some of the most profound visual art you’ll ever witness trust me! Much love Doug thank you for this!

Jason Gregorius

Doug once again great reaction, well done. I couple of things. First off I always thought Vera Lynn was Pink thinking back to the moral boost she gave Britain during the blitzkrieg. In Pinks's life, she was the sole voice that made him feel good about himself, she made him feel loved in a real way, not in the overly protective way his mother did. Vera Lynn wasn't just a random memory in my interpretation, but mine is in no way meant to be definitive. Lastly, you mentioned the movie, I really recommend not watching it. I've seen the movie versions of The Wall, Tommy, and Quadrophenia and they all are pretty bad. Quadrophenia was the best of them but it's a pretty low bar. I do however suggest watching Roger Waters perform the entire Wall on stage, that is so much more enjoyable. As you said in your reaction the music and story are more like a theatrical play and Roger does just that with an eye-popping stage show where an entire wall is constructed as the show goes on. Then (with the band behind the wall, the wall itself becomes a giant projection screen with wonderfully imaginative & emotionally moving video, text & animations, along with a plane that comes from the back of the venue and heads straight for a section of the stage, giant puppets, and yes giant puppets as characters. I took my then 16-year-old nephew to the show (had 10th-row floor seats @ the Nassau Coliseum, they were $$$ but I knew he and I would never get the chance to experience something like this and he still talks about it so it was worth it).. ok that's all I have, another great reaction and I do hope the next EPL will be Quadrophenia because it's really great, so much better than Tommy.

Ron Swirson

"I'm afraid of what the movie did to this," referring to your "music-theater" comment. I agree, though, with other members who hope to see you review the actual film. The animations during "Goodbye Blue Sky" and "The Trial" are very thought-provoking (I'll just leave it at that--haha).

Allen

I believe the worms are the fascist minions that emerge in a society where people at large are building walls of isolation. Seeking to change external forces in a way they believe will grant them satisfaction, while there struggle is and always has been of an internal nature. Seeking change in vain.

Garrett

“More isolation, please.” 😂

Garrett

Also , at the risk of repeating myself and boring everyone can't wait until you have time to do this with Journey to the Centre of the Earth. I will be in heaven lol.

Steeleye 2112

Massive thank you from the UK. I knew my favourite reactor, listening to one of my most beloved albums was always gonna be good, but that was one hour and 40 mins. of complete bliss. It really makes it feel like the first time listening to an album when I watch these and that is a wonderful gift. Totally made my weekend and yes I agree, the album is an exercise in self reflection and a warning of where isolation and fear lead, which is basically fascism. Very profound message. Again, thanks for all your hard work.

Steeleye 2112

Fun fact: In Dream Theater’s Octavarium (the song/album representing cycles repeating), there’s a soft spoken quote in the title song just before the lyrics start in the “Full Circle” section … “Isn’t this where we came in” referencing the first and last lines of the Wall

Zachary Bell

It had been quite a minute since I'd sat down with The Wall, and I'd forgotten just how great it was. "Mother", "Nobody Home", and "Is There Anybody Out There?" are just stellar. When it comes to the Nazi rhetoric in the last act, I take it as a way to explore how only the dissolution of empathy and the abandonment of humanity could lead to that kind of thinking and the events of the war. In the cyclical ending, I think he's showing how, just as Pink's mother and schoolmaster pushed their own unhappiness unto him, and he did unto his wife, pain and trauma when left unchecked often become an almost contagious thing, spreading to those around you and especially to those who you should care for the most, and that it takes extra effort to overcome these griefs.

Michael LaPorte

The Wall isn't my favourite Pink Floyd album. As Doug doesn't have it on vinyl, I don't have it on CD and haven't managed to get it in more than 10 years since I started buying CDs. But I must admit that's the perfect example of a thoroughly constructed concept album. I can complain about how keyboards were underused in this album (as a direct consequence of disagreements between Rick and Roger), also how sometimes those short songs feel like filler, but the story does make a tremendous effect. You just cannot listen to separate The Wall songs, you need to consume the album as a whole. P.S. I remember seeing The Wall (movie) when I was 6 or 7. I wasn't in any music consciously yet, just what I heard on radio and television. The whole prog scene and Pink Floyd name were unknown to me. I thought, what a dark and scary movie. I didn't like it, but I always remembered that movie and it intrigued me. That was my introduction to Pink Floyd and it shows, how impactful their art can be. You may not understand any of it, but the visuals and soundscapes are so powerful it simply permanently sticks to your head.

Einaras Sipavičius

Thank you for covering The Wall! It has made quite an impact on my life from the first time I heard it, as a wee lad of 11 and had no idea what was going on and through the years, picking up pieces of meaning. Honestly, when I discovered hallucinogens and listening to Comfortable Numb, I thought it was about tripping on acid as it reflected some of the same experiences I felt, LOL. Also, I have had a decades long argument with my best friend on which concept album is better. The Wall or Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. I still vote for the The Wall. As much as I love some aspects of Lamb Lies Down, it just doesn't resonate as much as The Wall, as I identify with so many elements of isolation and longing to be seen. And once again, Doug, you add more color and added insight that I hadn't thought about. Great work. Also, watching them perform it Live in 1980 is amazing as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eZL4tIqmzI

Tom Brophy

God I hope so! Would be great if he did the same format, playing entire sides.

Richard Plante

Remember, Bob Ezrin was involved with both.

Richard Plante

Although I listened to this many times from when it first came out in 1979, it is not a Pink Floyd album I listen to for pleasure anymore. It is too dark and painful because of my own personal experiences. But, this listen was well worth it. It is epic, it is a great accomplishment, it is the best selling double album of all time. As always, you pointed out things that affirm what I enjoyed and some that I never realized. I particularly appreciate you pointing out how important Richard Wright's sound was to the band, however subtle. Roger fired him during the making of this album for his "lack of contribution" and threatened to not release the master tapes unless Richard left the band. You are circumspect about Roger and I think that is admirable. We do need to be vigilant about breaking down the walls that separate us and focusing on what we have in common rather than what separates us. Regardless of my opinions of Roger and the album, I thoroughly enjoyed your reaction and analysis of the music and story line.

Thom P

Will Quadrophenia be in the running for an EPL?

Frankie Cerniglia

Thank you for this EPL Doug… I was unexpectedly emotional while enjoying the music and your breakdown this morning. Some context… I was 18 when this album came out. Even at that tender age, I understood many of the underlying themes and knew immediately this was a masterpiece of epic proportions. But, I really had no understanding of my own ‘wall’ and simply took it at face value. In 1979 I’m quite sure I listened to this master work, front to back, a million times. But, in the subsequent 43 years (ugh) I’m not sure I’ve taken the opportunity to listen front to back until today. Today, at 61 I’m quite familiar with my own ‘wall’… my successes, failures, regrets, … the good, the bad and the ugly, all the while remembering the young man who first ripped the plastic off of this vinyl for the first time in 1979 and where I was at (not the best place) at the time. It allowed me to take in not only Roger’s personal journey, but offered reflection on my own. Left me with a smile on my face in the end. This is certainly part of the soundtrack of MY life and I enjoyed revisiting this very important classic. You would certainly enjoy revisiting the wall via the video ‘Roger Waters – The Wall (Live in Berlin)’… an endless cast of musicians, current (at the time) and historical (The Band, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchel….) join him to put on a live performance on location at the former site of the Berlin Wall not long after it was torn down. One of the most incredible live performances I have ever seen. Thank you, Doug.

Mark Houdlette

I agree and even I suggest you to do another extended play lounge for the movie.

Carlos Regidor Iglesias

The woman that spoke on One Of My Turns is Tenille from The Captain & Tenille.

Steven Biggs

He's mellowed and has admitted to how much of an asshole he used to be whereas Gilmour is the one that has become an asshole after being in the right. Gilmour is the reason it took 4 years to release Animals in 5.1, all over liner notes that are factual. If Gilmour delayed that release for that long over something as trivial as liner notes, how long do you think he's going to take to okay The Wall in 5.1?

Steven Biggs

Another Brick In The Wall part 2 is very similar to Alice Cooper's School's Out. He's been playing a live version that switches to Another Brick In The Wall part 2 for a moment. That's when you can recognize how similar they are.

Steven Biggs

It's sadly ironic that Roger has built some pretty big walls between himself and the surviving members of the band, and with his stance on current events regarding Russia and China. Hearing this album 40+ years ago I never would have thought he would have sided with the dictators of the world.

Kilgore Trout

I must commend the tribute band Brit Floyd. The few times I've seen them do significant parts of The Wall, including Nobody's Home, they synchronize the TV so that it's playing the exact episode of Gomer Pyle USMC, so that the "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!" happens at the exact right moment. (Among other bits...)

Great Scott

Didn't expect to stay up late tonight, but when I saw this drop, I figured I'd just listen to side 1. Then it was like... Okay one more side. I ended up listening to the whole thing in its glory. Loved hearing your first impressions.... Was especially looking forward to your reactions to the dark harmonic structure of Don't Leave Me Now, and the orchestral story of The Trial. You didn't disappoint YOU MUST watch the movie... A lot of your insights into the story are reflected there, and I found myself shouting at my phone "he's a Nazi, Doug! He's a Nazi!" with the movie you lose Hey You (included on the DVD as an outtake), but you get two very effective sequences/songs, When the Tigers Broke Free and What Shall We Do Now, an extension of Empty Spaces. The animations Roger did with Gerald Scarfe are equal parts disturbing and beautiful - definitely worth the time...and as the first commenter noted, worth a few puffs of herbal supplement. Thanks as always for the great content (you had great source material, after all!) I'm looking forward to Quardrophenia when the time comes, I know you're gonna love it. Peace. ~Kenny F. (typed on my phone late at night, hopefully there won't be too many typos!)

Prog Rock Piano Bar

Me two hours ago: "Ooh, Doug's new EPL! And it's The Wall! I'll just watch a few minutes..." That was phenomenal. As a piece of art, it's incredible, but man, The Wall is a tough listen, because it's impossible not to get emotionally invested in the story. A few thoughts: I honestly can't stand "Another Brick... 2" because it's so disco-y. It works fine in the context of the album as a whole, but I could live my whole life without hearing it by itself. It amuses me when people say "Mother" reminds them fondly of their moms. Lyrics! Roger did "In The Flesh" on his most recent tour and shot a (prop, of course) machine gun at the audience. It was brilliant and breathtaking and horrifying. Roger also opened the show with a rework of "Comfortably Numb". It was like Pink Floyd via Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Also brilliant. David's guitar sound was never better than it was on this album. They did things with sound that master painters did with colors. I really hope there's an EPL for The Final Cut. Yeah, it's the album that drove the last wedge between Roger and David, but it continues the examination into the depths of Roger's trauma. It also has some wonderfully pointed barbs at Margaret Thatcher. Thank you, Doug, for this tremendous video!

Adam Miles

You expressed some worry about the movie and how it would compare to the album; it's one of those precious few where the movie is as good or better than the original. You really got the plot and the meaning, with the movie you'll get another dimension of visual art which enhances it further. I would suggest the use of your best herbal supplement before enjoying the movie. Thank you for this presentation, you have added a wonderful memory to the forty years I've had with this album.

MarkM