Whilst on Facebook, I stumbled across a group titled "The Other Vinyl Record Collectors Club" and an article written by someone named Brendan Franz. I found his thoughts on Roger's possible inspiration and contribution to the albums interesting. His article posted herewith:
THE FINAL CUT: THE ROAD TO THE FINAL CHAPTER.
This is possibly Pink Floyds most polarizing work. Many love it, many hate it, and many more just don’t understand it.
For me I find it a satisfying – if unnerving - conclusion to the 5-part saga which begins with Dark Side of the Moon.
I’m not interested in starting a Waters vs Gilmour war here today, but the inescapable fact is that Roger wrote the overwhelming majority of the songs from 1973-1983, and they follow a storyline which connects directly with much of Waters life experience, evolving and unfolding in parallel to the man.
This is my take on it – you are welcome to disagree with me on my opinions but try to separate those from fact. If you wish to contest the facts, you can take it up with someone else please…
It’s difficult to work this in reverse, but I’m going to try:
THE FINAL CUT takes up directly from where THE WALL ends. The lead character “Pink” has been exposed as an emotionally frail being, haunted by the death of his Father (amongst other things). He’s tortured by the futility of war and the contempt he has for its aggressors. He’s deeply troubled by racist ideals and a life which seems pointless to live, as highlighted in Not Now John.
In the end, he decides there’s no other way out but to employ The Final Cut – yet, at the moment of truth – there’s an excuse, and he turns out to be just as human and afraid of death as the rest of us.
The mighty Pink – who has survived so much – is a pathetic shadow of a man, desperately crying out for help. It’s the story of isolation and depression.
In one of those cryptic thought-provoking Waters moments, he offers this: “dial the combination, open the priest-hole, and if I’m in, I’ll tell you…“(GUNSHOT).
If you read the lyric on the jacket, the line actually finishes with “… what’s behind the wall”, but it seems our hero never makes it this far.
And finally, as he’s predicted, there’s the Two Suns in the Sunset. The end of life as we know it.
And so after 5 albums, the story pretty much has to end there…
.
Prior to this is THE WALL, a psychological epic which documents the emotional destruction of Pink. The telling of the story see-saws between the present – a time where Pink has become an arrogant and self-deified Rock Star, and the past – where a succession of negative life experiences have all contributed to his conscious detachment and construction of his wall. It’s an emotional barrier he’s built from the bricks of life to shield himself from further harm, and protect himself from the fans who are no longer listening to him.
In the end the wall has to be torn down, and Pink is left naked and exposed.
In fact, the concept of this album was borne from a single event on the Animals Tour in 1977, when in Montreal, Roger found himself overwhelmingly irritated by a fan in the front row. For the entire performance, the fan screamed and (in Rogers words) “beat the air like a demented insect”.
Waters could tolerate it no longer, and beckoned the fan closer – before spitting in his face.
This was the moment Roger cracked. He’d become the thing he hated most.
And thus began the writing of THE WALL.
.
His journey of contempt had begun with stardom and the success of Dark side of the Moon, but it really manifested itself with the album which prefaces THE WALL – entitled ANIMALS.
It’s an overtly cynical work, which casts people into 3 basic personality types – Pigs, Dogs and Sheep. It’s in some ways inspired by Orwell’s Animal Farm, but it’s a more direct comparison rather than a political euphemism.
Using metaphorical analysis, it describes how we use these behaviors, and sees little good in humanity. It’s a hardened opinion of social and moral decay, galvanized by a misguided self-belief in superiority which has been growing inside Waters as a result of the constant praise and elevation which massive commercial success affords to one.
Basically, he was beginning to believe the hype, and it went to his head.
ANIMALS is bookended by “Pigs On The Wing pts 1 & 2” – a very humanistic lament to frailty and fallibility – a contradiction to the main messages on the album – and possibly a brief moment of sincere positivity. Of course, the title is a reference to the saying “Pigs might fly”…
.
The alienation and contempt Waters felt towards his audience initially stemmed primarily from overwhelming guilt – exhibited on the previous LP WISH YOU WERE HERE.
The album over and over again examines the loss of the “other” Roger – Syd Barrett. As Waters’ close friend and mentor, Roger struggled with the decision to leave Syd behind, and carried with him the guilt of the success which Pink Floyd had experienced which Barrett was unable to share in – despite his founding the group.
Roger described the music industry as “the machine” and jibed at its single-minded greed to make more and more money (Have A Cigar), again referencing the success of DSOTM.
It’s also a lament to the feelings of the group that the camaraderie they once felt towards each other was gone, and that this was now strictly a business operation.
Roger’s inability to reconcile Syd’s mental disintegration was the major recurring lyrical theme on the album.
It’s ironic that Barrett visited the band in the studio whilst recording this album. Apparently fat and balding, no-one recognized him.
.
The opening act of this story was THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, which was conceptualized around the pressures of modern life - greed, religion, time, death and madness.
And whilst songs like Breathe, Time and Money need little explanation, it’s the finale of the album which ties directly into the chapter which followed it.
This finale is a culmination of all the concepts explored on the album, intertwined, and how none of them really matter “when the band you’re in starts playing different tunes…" and the sun is eclipsed by the moon.
No prizes for guessing who Roger promises to see on the dark side of the moon.
THE FINAL CUT: THE ROAD TO THE FINAL CHAPTER.
This is possibly Pink Floyds most polarizing work. Many love it, many hate it, and many more just don’t understand it.
For me I find it a satisfying – if unnerving - conclusion to the 5-part saga which begins with Dark Side of the Moon.
I’m not interested in starting a Waters vs Gilmour war here today, but the inescapable fact is that Roger wrote the overwhelming majority of the songs from 1973-1983, and they follow a storyline which connects directly with much of Waters life experience, evolving and unfolding in parallel to the man.
This is my take on it – you are welcome to disagree with me on my opinions but try to separate those from fact. If you wish to contest the facts, you can take it up with someone else please…
It’s difficult to work this in reverse, but I’m going to try:
THE FINAL CUT takes up directly from where THE WALL ends. The lead character “Pink” has been exposed as an emotionally frail being, haunted by the death of his Father (amongst other things). He’s tortured by the futility of war and the contempt he has for its aggressors. He’s deeply troubled by racist ideals and a life which seems pointless to live, as highlighted in Not Now John.
In the end, he decides there’s no other way out but to employ The Final Cut – yet, at the moment of truth – there’s an excuse, and he turns out to be just as human and afraid of death as the rest of us.
The mighty Pink – who has survived so much – is a pathetic shadow of a man, desperately crying out for help. It’s the story of isolation and depression.
In one of those cryptic thought-provoking Waters moments, he offers this: “dial the combination, open the priest-hole, and if I’m in, I’ll tell you…“(GUNSHOT).
If you read the lyric on the jacket, the line actually finishes with “… what’s behind the wall”, but it seems our hero never makes it this far.
And finally, as he’s predicted, there’s the Two Suns in the Sunset. The end of life as we know it.
And so after 5 albums, the story pretty much has to end there…
.
Prior to this is THE WALL, a psychological epic which documents the emotional destruction of Pink. The telling of the story see-saws between the present – a time where Pink has become an arrogant and self-deified Rock Star, and the past – where a succession of negative life experiences have all contributed to his conscious detachment and construction of his wall. It’s an emotional barrier he’s built from the bricks of life to shield himself from further harm, and protect himself from the fans who are no longer listening to him.
In the end the wall has to be torn down, and Pink is left naked and exposed.
In fact, the concept of this album was borne from a single event on the Animals Tour in 1977, when in Montreal, Roger found himself overwhelmingly irritated by a fan in the front row. For the entire performance, the fan screamed and (in Rogers words) “beat the air like a demented insect”.
Waters could tolerate it no longer, and beckoned the fan closer – before spitting in his face.
This was the moment Roger cracked. He’d become the thing he hated most.
And thus began the writing of THE WALL.
.
His journey of contempt had begun with stardom and the success of Dark side of the Moon, but it really manifested itself with the album which prefaces THE WALL – entitled ANIMALS.
It’s an overtly cynical work, which casts people into 3 basic personality types – Pigs, Dogs and Sheep. It’s in some ways inspired by Orwell’s Animal Farm, but it’s a more direct comparison rather than a political euphemism.
Using metaphorical analysis, it describes how we use these behaviors, and sees little good in humanity. It’s a hardened opinion of social and moral decay, galvanized by a misguided self-belief in superiority which has been growing inside Waters as a result of the constant praise and elevation which massive commercial success affords to one.
Basically, he was beginning to believe the hype, and it went to his head.
ANIMALS is bookended by “Pigs On The Wing pts 1 & 2” – a very humanistic lament to frailty and fallibility – a contradiction to the main messages on the album – and possibly a brief moment of sincere positivity. Of course, the title is a reference to the saying “Pigs might fly”…
.
The alienation and contempt Waters felt towards his audience initially stemmed primarily from overwhelming guilt – exhibited on the previous LP WISH YOU WERE HERE.
The album over and over again examines the loss of the “other” Roger – Syd Barrett. As Waters’ close friend and mentor, Roger struggled with the decision to leave Syd behind, and carried with him the guilt of the success which Pink Floyd had experienced which Barrett was unable to share in – despite his founding the group.
Roger described the music industry as “the machine” and jibed at its single-minded greed to make more and more money (Have A Cigar), again referencing the success of DSOTM.
It’s also a lament to the feelings of the group that the camaraderie they once felt towards each other was gone, and that this was now strictly a business operation.
Roger’s inability to reconcile Syd’s mental disintegration was the major recurring lyrical theme on the album.
It’s ironic that Barrett visited the band in the studio whilst recording this album. Apparently fat and balding, no-one recognized him.
.
The opening act of this story was THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, which was conceptualized around the pressures of modern life - greed, religion, time, death and madness.
And whilst songs like Breathe, Time and Money need little explanation, it’s the finale of the album which ties directly into the chapter which followed it.
This finale is a culmination of all the concepts explored on the album, intertwined, and how none of them really matter “when the band you’re in starts playing different tunes…" and the sun is eclipsed by the moon.
No prizes for guessing who Roger promises to see on the dark side of the moon.
