Alf Razzell hatte die Aufgabe, die "Taschenbücher" der toten
Soldaten einzusammeln (eine Art Identifikationsmarke) und meistens
mussten die Leichen umgedreht werden, um diese aus der obersten
Tasche zu nehmen. Dadurch sieht man, woran der Mann starb, Es gab
solche mit leeren Hirnräumen, weggeschossene Gesichter, abgerissene
Gliedmaßen und die meiste Zeit lief er durch die Überreste toter
Soldaten
Die Deutschen nahmen Alf mit und brachten ihn zu den Schützengräben,
wo er Bill fand. Die Deutschen halfen dabei nicht. Bill hatte ein
großes Loch in seinem Rücken, aus dem seine Gedärme hingen und es
war alles verdreckt mit Öl, Kreide (Kalk) und dem ganzen Dreck aus
dem Schützengraben. Die Deutschen wollten, dass Alf ihn schnellstens
wieder zurückbringt, aber wegen der starken Verletzungen konnte Bill
das nicht durchstehen und weil die Deutschen immer ungeduldiger und
ausfallender wurden, musste er sich dafür entscheiden, ihn dort
zurückzulassen
Alf sieht wirklich gut aus für einen über 90 Jährigen. Seiner Meinung
nach ist Krieg völlig unnütz. Am Ende jedes Krieges sitzt jeder um
einen runden Tisch und man kommt zu irgendeiner Übereinstimmung.
Warum tat man das stattdessen nicht vor dem Krieg?
Julia, (pause) however, (pause - 2nd thunder in normal direction) In the light and visions of the issues of Stanley, (pause) we changed our minds. (pause) We have decided to include a backward message, (pause - 1st thunder in normal direction)
Stanley, (pause) for you, (pause) and for all the other book (short pause) partners.
[very loud, noisy, screamed sentence]
The story goes like this: Waters had asked Stanley Kubrick if he could use some lines and ``breathing effects'' from his ``2001: A Space Odyssey'' film on the album. Specifically, Waters wanted to include the part about HAL's shutdown [from the ATD song book]:
HAL: Dave, my mind is going...I can feel it...I can feel it...My mind
is going...There is no question about it...I can feel it...I can
feel it...I can feel it...I'm afraid...
Mr. Kubrick refused. So Waters dubbed in his own breathing effects, and recorded a nasty message for Kubrick's benefit. Heaven only knows if he's heard it, or more importantly, if he cares.
Some of the phrases were really hard to grasp because they were being spoken very quickly in the background of the high tempo beating drums.
Anyway I tried my best and here is the translation (although not very accurate) of what I could grasp:
At the end of the song, while Roger is singing the following:
"And in Tripoli, another ordinary wife
[....] in the street below"
a woman is shouting in the background in Egyptian Arabic. Apparently she is complaining to her husband and blaming him for her sufferings. Her words run as follows: ``.... And then what!!!! why don't you ever help me? you all the time leave me alone at home and go join your fat friends in your endless useless discussions...
I work for you and your family from dawn to dusk, and
you don't give a damn!
I badly need to rest, I just wish the devil's angel will
soon come and take me with him..."
Then the beating drums start, and here everything is very chaotic. There are different voices in the background. I was able to distinguish a TV (or radio) commentator talking (but I can't get what he's saying) and at the same time there is a crowd shouting slogans in Arabic. I could not grasp all their words. This what I could get:
"...is Great;...is Great; God is great...
Death, Death, Death to the... (imperialists?)..."
I am not sure if the last word is ``imperialists.'' Anyway you get the meaning. I think it's kind of a demonstration of fundamentalist Muslims. However I'm not really sure.
At the end of the beating drums, right before the missile explosion, the voice of the TV commentator becomes more clear, and he says the following:
"...his days are rarely spent at home... as for her, she stays
alone, she stays alone at home... while all the men are
out gathered at the square, she's left to loneliness
and (oblivion?)... BBBBBOOOOOOOOUUUUMMMMMMM"
That's it folks. I want to point out that this translation is not completely accurate, and it's not completely word by word. Arabic cannot be translated word by word into English because it won't make any sense. However, overall I think the translation is 90% accurate.
By the way I think Roger got these Arabic phrases from an Egyptian movie and mixed them into his song. I am certain the Arabic is Egyptian Arabic and not Libyan Arabic as it was meant to be; since this song is supposed to be about the bombing of the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
While Waters was less than pleased with this similarity, Echoesians have pointed out that such a chromatic pattern is fairly common; by no means a Floyd invention. However, the relevant dates make the charge of plagiarism at least possible, if not really likely -- Webber first used the riff in question on the film ``Gumshoe,'' released in December 1971. _Meddle_ was released on 11 November, 1971, with the live debut of ``Echoes'' having occurred on April 22.
Es ist ein gut aufgenommenes Buch und es lohnt sich, es zu lesen. Für alle Interessierten hier die Verlagsinformationen:
(Gebunden: New York: Viking, 1985; ISBN: 0670804541) (Paperback: New York: Penguin, 1986; ISBN: 0140094385)
Das Buch handelt vom Fernsehen und seinen Einflüssen auf die (amerikanische) Gesellschaft. Postman ist ein Kulturpessimist und seine Betrachtungsweise bezüglich des Fernsehens ist nicht sehr optimistisch, aber wohlbegründet.