Pink Floyd Lyrics, Themes & Meanings: Wearing The Inside Out

Wearing The Inside Out
(written by Wright, Moore)

Lyrics:
From morning to night
I stayed out of sight
Didn't recognize I'd become
No more than alive
I'd barely survive
In a word — overrun

Won't hear a sound
...He's curled into the corner
From my mouth
...But still the screen is flickering
I've spent too long
...With an endless stream of garbage
On the inside out
...To Curse the place
My skin is cold
...In a sea of random images
To the human touch
...The self-destructing animal
This bleeding heart's
...Waiting for the waves
Not beating much
...To break

I murmured a vow of silence and now
I don't even hear when I think aloud
Extinguished by light
* Might turn on the night
Wear its darkness with an empty smile

I'm creeping back to life
My nervous system all awry
I'm wearing the inside out

Look at him now
He's paler somehow
But he's coming around
He's starting to choke
It's been so long since he spoke
Well, he can have
The words right from my mouth

And with these words, I can see
Clear through the clouds that covered me
Just give it time, then speak my name
Now we can hear ourselves again

I'm holding out
...He's standing on the threshold
For the day
...Caught in fiery anger
When all the clouds
...And hurled into the furnace
Have blown away
...He'll Curse the place
I'm with you now
...He's torn in all directions
Can speak your name
...And still the screen is flickering
Now we can hear
...Waiting for the flames
Ourselves again
...To break

Rick wrote all the music for this song, while Anthony Moore wrote all the words. This is Rick's first lead vocal since 1973.

Dave Gilmour: "Rick's got a very good voice, you know, an instantly recognizable voice, you can't miss Rick's voice. I've always wanted to use it, but you have to find the right place, the right vehicle for him; and this is substantially his song. Anthony Moore was working with us again on this album, and he came up with the idea for that one, and Rick sang it. What can I say, it's very nice, a very lovely piece. And everyone who listens to it that I know goes 'God, it's that voice, it's that voice' that used to be a part of the Pink Floyd sound and hasn't been so much lately, and it's kind of a thrill for people." [Redbeard]

Rick Wright: "[The album] was fulfilling because I wrote on it, and I wrote with Dave on it. And I sang on it for the first time since, I mean a lead vocal, since Dark Side of the Moon. So that was very fulfilling. 'Cause you see, I have to say, I've never, ever, had any confidence in my voice. But I wrote this song, Wearing the Inside Out, and so I had to sing it. And it was quite interesting because I haven't really sung... I'd rehearsed it with Anthony Moore who wrote the lyrics, but I basically hadn't really sung for twenty years. I did one take, and Bob Ezrin said 'Okay, that's it' which I couldn't believe. I went in and listened to it, and yes, it is nearly it. We worked on it a bit. But it's a song that really suits my voice. I don't have a versatile voice. I'm not a Dave. There's certain ways of singing I can do, like the choruses of Time, Us and Them. I have a voice that can do certain ways of singing. And Wearing the Inside Out, cause I wrote it, would suit my voice. I couldn't sing Money, for example." [Redbeard]

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Cluster One