Friday, February 26, 2010

Bring the Boys Back Home (Wall film)

Bring the Boys Back Home 1:46
     (written by Roger Waters)

Lyrics:
Bring the boys back home (2x)
Don't leave the children on their own, own, own
Bring the boys back home
Don't leave the children on their own, no, no


Teacher: Wrong! Do it again! (echoed)
Rock and Roll Manager: Time to go! (echoed)
Operator: It's a man answering, but he keeps hanging up. (echoed)
American Groupie: Are you feelin' okay? (echoed)
Is there anybody out there?

This song was newly recorded for the film, featuring the Pontardoulais Male Voice Choir, which Roger traveled to Wales to record, as well as additional brass and orchestral instrumentation. This is a somewhat longer and fuller version than the album cut, with an additional repetition of the lyrics. It was released as the B-side of the When the Tigers Broke Free single [see separate entry]. The soldiers and their families on the platform, upon hearing the regimental drums, break into heartfelt song, expressing their desire for peace and happy reunion of loved ones.

Interestingly enough, this film was released with impeccable timing: in a coincidence that could not possibly have been anticipated, Pink Floyd The Wall premiered at the Empire Theatre exactly 30 days after the end of the War in the Falklands. Suddenly, its statements on war, especially a song like this one, gained a new relevance and currency in the light of the bloody and pointless conflict which writer J. L. Borges ridiculed as "two bald men fighting over a comb."

TRACK LISTING
Overture/Prelude
When the Tigers Broke Free Part 1
In the Flesh?
Thin Ice, The
Another Brick in the Wall part 1
When the Tigers Broke Free Part 2
Goodbye Blue Sky
Happiest Days of Our Lives, The
Another Brick in the Wall part 2
Mother
What Shall We Do Now?
Young Lust
One of My Turns
Don't Leave Me Now
Another Brick in the Wall part 3
Goodbye Cruel World
Is There Anybody Out There?
Nobody Home
Vera
Bring the Boys Back Home
Comfortably Numb
In the Flesh
Run Like Hell
Waiting for the Worms
Stop
Trial, The
Outside the Wall

1 comment:

  1. Does anyone know who voices the Manager's part "Time to go"?

    ReplyDelete