Watch the rest of The Wall on YouTube!
Directed by Alan Parker
Produced by Alan Marshall
Written by Roger Waters
Narrated by Pink Floyd
Starring Bob Geldof
Christine Hargreaves
Eleanor David
Alex McAvoy
Bob Hoskins
Michael Ensign
Music by Pink Floyd
Cinematography Peter Biziou
Editing by Gerry Hambling
Distributed by MGM/UA Entertainment Company (theatrical)
Sony Music Video (SMV) Enterprises
Release date(s) 6 August 1982 (New York City)
Running time 95 minutes
[First posted 6 December 2008, reposted 15 May 2016 & 16 December 2016]
I was living in England when Pink Floyd first released this song, but I was too young and too dumb to realize how right they were. I know better now, though I still have a lot to learn, but our much-vaunted “education” is nothing more than brain-washing and indoctrination, to transform kids from creative geniuses into mindless slaves whose only purpose is to serve the State.
ReplyDeleteTony - That's why I simply had to share these 3 versions of "Another Brick in the Wall" with anyone into Floyd. 28 years later the song still packs a punch... especailly in Malaysia right now! Hey, thanks for dropping by. I notice you manage a bi-lingual blog. Are you living in France now & are you are an Anthony type Tony or an Antoinette type? Bit confused by what appears to be a pretty profile pic on your blog :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Antares!I'm actually Anthony, a Tamil who was born and raised in Singapore but who has lived most of his adult life in Europe, especially Switzerland where I am now a citizen.
ReplyDeleteAnd keep up the good work! Ciao!
You're definately an Alpha Scorpii... A Class M ...Sometimes its a Wonder i Understand You at all ...A Far cry from the Hot Blue Spectral B2.5
ReplyDeleteAntares,
ReplyDeleteNot many people take Pink Floyd seriously because they think PF represents some kind of psychedelic space rock music that is out of this world.
To me, although their music is a trite noisier than my usual taste, I admire them for their philosophical lyrics and album designs which are simply out of this world.
For me, the original version is my favourite. I don't like Part 2 cos of the leitmotifs used. BUT having said that, I must thank you for the 2007 Ottawa live version cos before this, I had never come across it at all. I think the lapse of decades have helped Waters mature in his take on this song and the delivery is more pounding and emphatic in the rhythm and arrangement. At least, that is how I look at it.
Well, from an education viewpoint,radical as this may sound as I used to lecture haha - I fully agree with Waters, Tony and you too for the type of education as portrayed in this song speaks of the education system as being restrictive, controlling where ideas are being thought in such a methodical way much like what Orwell discussed in 1984 - so in such a system (so obvious in bolehland) students are being stripped of free thought, free expression or even forms of creativity that do not conform to the norm! That to me is treating students like animals to be toilet-trained!
From a literary viewpoint - the first line "We don't need no education" is a double negative...but one with a hidden message. :-)
A satire perhaps? Of the system of education being pushed down our throats in an effort to make a better society, a utopian society but in actual fact - a society fraught with deepset problems, nightmares etc that could lead to the disintegration of many institutions? This is hinted in the chaotic scene of the classroom ....and the anarchy that breaks out at the end of the song. Brilliant!
The kids wearing masks being mechanical like robots..similar masks, walking in the same way, following strict orders made by the teacher, showing no emotions. It's all about communism. I hate it when we are always being told what to do and how to do them, but never really being told why. "We don't need no education/
We don't need no thought control"
Basically, he is telling us "Don't f******* tell us what to do, we're human beings, we can think for ourselves."
Sadly, many have lost their ability to think in an environment that suppresses free thought, free expression, creativity...
Man - look at Pink Floyd! Their music makes us THINK - that is if we bother to listen lah to the lyrics and feel the pounding rhythm, the sense of hopelessness...the grinding mechanism of suppression that gets to us....
So brick in the wall = to me represents the average conformist who goes along with people, follows the trend much like mob behaviour, mindless, little character just like a brick in the wall...that looks much like that other bricks...
Geeeez...so sorry this has been a classic case of verbal diarrhoea. Think is this one is the longest comment i have ever written in my life. Can't wait to discuss music with you face to face and perhaps jam a little and go on a natural high... a little Orwellian, a little Floyd mixed with this and that...a potpourri of culture-vulture potions LOL.
Thanks Antares for putting this up. Brings me down memory lane of my teenage years of Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Santana - strangely i find some similarity in the leitmotif of Black Magic Woman...just echoes of it....
Cheers....time to dig more of old songs
Tony - Swiss citizen huh? Can't imagine living there myself... though somebody I'm extremely fond of married a Swiss bloke & now lives by an alpine lake. Too bad she became overly religious & severed ties with me, that's what comes from monotheism - a rigid adherence to monogamy, even when it gets stifling!
ReplyDeleteKnights Templar - So you know about my Hot Blue companion... not many know about her! Well, she's a good friend, but I can't understand why she has such a soft spot for blue-skinned beings like that infamous pornographer, D.P. Vijandran (erstwhile Despeakable Member of Parlormints). Defler was seriously into Double Penetrations, that's how he got his initials...
MWM - Waaaah! Your analytical software is really efficient! That's what makes you a damn good teacher - you know how to deconstruct literary & musical works into their components and explain how they work together synergetically to trigger specific emotional responses. I have a healthy respect for the way Pink Floyd evolved... from an acidhead UFO-obsessed psychedelic band led by the madcap Syd Barrett to a genuinely heavy-duty multimedia performance outfit led by Roger Waters, inspiring & influencing other supergroups like Queen, Supertramp, Magma & U2. Floyd always came out with exquisite album covers designed by a group of cutting-edge visionary artists called HipGnosis. My favorite Floyd album covers were Atom Heart Mother (with that gorgeous photo of a cow reprsenting the Milky Way galaxy) & Wish You Were Here (with hints of secret government black ops & human clones).
Antares,
ReplyDeleteI also know about your Hot blue companion lah :-)Antares B, of spectral type B2.5 at a separation of about 2.9 arcseconds, or 550 AUs at Antares' estimated distance.
LOL I love your description of blue skinned beings and your play on words re D.P.Vijandran.
*blush* Thank you for your kind comments...*blush*
Which version of Wish You Were Here do you like? Is it:
a) the one with two guys shaking hands?
b)or is it the circular emblem?
c) the scenery one?
I thought the LP labels had some hidden meanings too...Do they? The beauty of Pink Floyd's lyrics is that they are so amazingly elusive and one is seldom sure of the precise meaning! Er...pray tell me how did u detect the secret govt black pps and human clones???T hat is so interesting! I never got that hint... I thought the song was about Syd Barrett and his death fr drug abuse or perhaps someone torn between two or is it a choice between illusion and reality or is it about about society and making choices and finding our identity independent of society's implications???
Until today, I am NOT sure of the meaning behind Wish you were here and that, to me, is the hallmark of their music.
I thought this line is particularly sad:
"..we're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year.."
There is so much that we could write and talk about their music. Sadly, NONE of my Sociology students ever did a term paper on Pink Floyd even though I tried to persuade them...Guess we are from a different generation...They had no problems about Eminem or Tupac etc...*sigh*
Do you still have these in vinyl???? Those are worth a FORTUNE now!!!
Think my fav cover would be A Saucerful of Secrets and The Division Bell. Hmm Maybe Relics too. Sadly, I stupidly gave away my vinyls to a friend and she threw them all away!!!! ARRRRGHHH!!!
Your posting of the videos has really opened up one part of my teenagehood again....Thanks so much! Have a nice weekend!
Great Post and very informative and thanks for posting.
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