White> Were you pleased with the movie? I was kind of disappointed
with the movie.
Waters> So was I. I sat with Alan Parker when we fin... and we had
a.... It was a nightmare making it. We just screamed and
screamed at each other, particularly through the editing of the
thing. Then, then I dubbed it with James Guthrie reel by reel
and as we got to the end of each reel we would look at the
reel and go "Hey, that's not bad you know. It's a little bit
busy, but it's okay." But then when we put all 13 reels together
and sat and watched it, I felt my heart going lower and lower
and lower and sank into my boots. I found it almost unwatchable.
Which is why I think it's so successful on video; 'cause you
don't have to watch the whole thing. You can watch your favorite
bits or you can fast forward or you can... and you don't have to
sit there and be bombarded with this unremitting assault on the
senses, like you had to in the cinema.
White> In a huge... with a huge screen and big sound system.
Waters> Yea, with all that boom boom up and so um.... In fact when we
finished works on these 13 reels I potted off to the bar and
Alan came through and we stood in the garden and both felt very
depressed. We were hardly speaking when Stanley said "What
d'ya think?" and I said "We've got to cut out reel 7." and he
went "Okay... What else." and uh....
White> What was reel 7?
Waters> Hey you. Just threw it away. The thing was just too long and
too... and on it's own it's great. It's been destroyed unfortunately;
I tried to find it and ah about 6 months ago. It was
all kinds of stuff with lines of um British Bobbies in riot gear
and uh you know. There was lots and lots of rioting. Which was
very prophetic. This was 3 years before the Brixton riots which
was the first time their new riot gear was used.
The forthcoming DVD version of 'The Wall' film (scheduled for September 1999) will include the deleted scene, which was actually stored for 17 years, not thrown away.
Roger Waters' father, Eric Fletcher Waters (to whom _The Final Cut_ was dedicated) died in that invasion, so it is partially (if not wholly) autobiographical. The song was split into two parts in the movie, and released as a single. The single came in a special picture gatefold sleeve, had the movie version of ``Bring The Boys Back Home'' as a B-side, and featured the note ``Taken from the album 'The Final Cut''' -- which, of course, never featured the song.
As for digital availability, the song was on a special DJ sampler CD issued to highlight the more recent achievements of Waters' career as a marketing thing for the Berlin concert. It's also on the Westwood One's radio disc, ``A CD Full of Secrets.'' These are the only places that it is officially available on CD. It is, of course, available in digital sound on the Wall laser disc, but it's broken up into two parts. There is also a decent non-Floyd version of it on the _Orchestral Maneuvers_ disc.
"Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the Funny Farm, Chalfont."
and, in the background, after that, even softer:
"Roger, Carolyn's on the phone!" <pause> "Okay."
The following interpretations are culled from the album, movie, concert RoIOs, special shows (including the Berlin '90 show and the Walden Woods benefit that Roger was part of), and various interviews.
Note the word choice: interpretations. The interpretations presented here are those that seem to be the most popular whenever we engage in Lyric War 47, and are the ones that seem to have the best evidence in their favor. This does not mean that your interpretation is wrong simply because it differs from what is suggested here. What it does mean, however, is that I and a great many other people would appreciate it if you would refrain from starting the next Lyric War just so you can have your say. It won't resolve anything and it's just not worth it...
At the very very very end of The Wall, very quietly, is said ``Isn't this where...'' and at the very beginning, ``...we came in?'' It has been pointed out that this kind of makes The Wall a complete musical ``cycle,'' right down to the note.
This cyclical nature was a common phenomena of the Mid/Late Waters Era albums -- DSotM begins and ends with a heartbeat, WYWH with the delicate veil of ``SOYCD'' synth-strings, and _Animals is bracketed with ``Pigs on the Wing.'' And Radio KAOS features a similar ``cyclical'' message broken between beginning and end (or end and beginning, actually), while ATD begins and ends with Alf Razzel.
The first line is a certainty, based on a Wall-era interview with Waters (the one done by Tommy Vance). The second is more controversial, but based on the following two facts: - In the original plot idea for the Wall movie, there was to be a segment where the audience was bombed, the parallels of concerts and war being one of the many themes of _The Wall_. - The diving plane sound that follows these words was specifically identified by Waters in the Tommy Vance interview as being that of a bomber.
"You! Yes, you! Stand still, laddy!"
Another common interpretation is ``Stand still will ye!'' At the Walden Woods benefit concert where Roger performed the song, it is fairly clear it is ``laddy.''
"An acre is the area of a rectangle whose length is one furlong and whose width is one chain."
Glenn Connell wrote:
An acre is 160 square rods, or 4840 square yards, or 43,560 square feet... a furlong (derived from long furrow..) is 220 yards... a rod is 5 1/2 yards... a little math says a furlong is 40 rods... (this is going somewhere folks) or...
An acre is 160 rods^2 / 40 rods = 4 rods wide... or 22 yards wide... 66 feet... and 4 rods is a tenth of a furlong...
"You! Yes, you behind the bike sheds! Stand still laddy!"
This one causes a lot of controversy, particularly among people who don't understand the reference to bike sheds. ``Behind the bike sheds'' is a common British phrase for those things at school that take place outside the view of teachers. Stuff like smoking, drinking, a bit of Ummagumma, etc.
Other suggestions have been ``bedstead'', ``bike stand'', and others. But again, the Walden Woods show is pretty decisive on this. (And what would a bedstead be doing in a school...?)
"Look mummy, there's an aeroplane up in the sky"
There are all sorts of other interpretations here, the most common being ``small plane'' and ``no plane.'' Given the context, ``aeroplane'' makes the most sense (especially if you've seen the movie).
"Shut up!" "I've got a little black book with me poems in"
"Ein, zwei, drei ... alle!" (One, two, three ... altogether)
-=-
"We're {waiting to succeed} and going to convene outside Brixton
Town Hall where we're going to be..."
-=-
"The Worms will convene outside Brixton Bus Station. We'll be moving
along at about 12 o'clock down Stockwell Road
{...} twelve minutes to three we'll be moving along Lambeth Road
towards Vauxhall Bridge. Now when we get to the other side of
Vauxhall Bridge we're in Westminster Borough area. It's quite
possible we may encounter some Jew Boys by the way we go. {...}"
Some of this I'm sure of, again based on the Tommy Vance interview. Other parts just make sense from the context.
"Go on Judge! Shit on him!"
Defecate being a more polite synonym for ``shit.''
``What Shall We Do Now?'' was to come right after ``Goodbye Blue Sky,'' followed with ``Empty Spaces'' showing up later (before ABitW 3) as a sort of reprise. Also, on side 3 of the album, they had planned to place ``Hey You'' after ``Comfortably Numb,'' but that too was changed at the last minute.
"The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot"
Christmas comes but once a year
For every girl and boy
The laughter and the joy
they find in each new toy
I'll tell you of a little boy
Who lives across the way
The little fella's Christmas
Is just another day
He's the little boy that Santa Clause forgot
And goodness knows he didn't want a lot
He sent a note to Santa
For some soldiers and a drum
It broke his little heart
When he found Santa hadn't come.
The crucial last verse, not included in the film, explains why Roger Waters
used this song. The lyrics were transcribed by Dave Ward
I'm so sorry for that laddie,
He hasn't got a daddy,
The little boy that Santa Claus forgot.
Roger must have felt some identification with the little boy described in the song, who was troubled by the loss of his father as Waters was by the loss of his own.
A RoIO ('The Film') of the movie also includes at the end of side three another song sung by Vera Lynn, ``We'll Meet Again.'' This is the song that Waters was alluding to in ``Vera,'' and goes something like this:
We'll meet again,
Don't know where,
Don't know when,
But I know we'll meet again,
Some sunny day.
The song also appeared at the very end of the movie ``Dr. Strangelove,'' when the world was being destroyed by the ``Doomsday Machine.''
Do you remember
The way it used to be?
Do you think we should have been closer?
I put out my hand
Just to touch your soft hair
To make sure in the darkness
That you were still there
And I have to admit
I was just a little afraid
Of the ones living under
Their dirty old macks
And the ones who were pointing
The guns in their backs
"Is it just a waste of time?"
in the movie is sung:
"Am I really dying?"
Interestingly, the written lyrics in some early Wall LPs (and Harvest CDs) have this change as well. In other words, the original lyric was apparently ``am I really dying,'' which was changed at the last minute to ``Is it just a waste of time'' for the album, and then changed back to ``dying'' for the movie. In between, at some live shows, it was sung ``what a crazy time'' (see, for example, 'Brick by Brick').