So, what confuses you?

[mosespa]

I have been seeing in a couple of places around this forum that some people claim to be "confused" by The Wall.

I am going to stick my neck out on a limb (as I did once before at another board) and boast that I probably know more about The Wall than even many of the people involved with the album/movie/tour.

So...what confuses YOU about this work?

Right now, I am only able to come online on Wednesdays and/or Thursdays (USA time) but I will be happy to answer any and all questions to the best of my abilities.

So, come on. Test me

[nosaj]

Right, I remember posting that you can't improvise the Wall, but you said they did when maybe the fire broke out, or was it some other technical difficulty (I meant with all the other stuff - projectors and bricks and what not, improvising would not be so easy). I have since heard it, I think. So, I'm replying to this post, because somebody new has posted questions about the Wall rehersals...this way they know to contact you, I think simpledumbpilot or somebody already offered to help.

However, I ocassionally look through old posts, and think this one might be a good one...

For instance, I've heard that the FC was made up of Wall rejects to some extent. Is this true? What is a complete list of Wall songs - demo or otherwise...

...You know, like a list of all known recordings for the Wall 1978-1982 (film and everything).

In the days before CD, I tried several mixed tapes of Wall stuff, but included some of the FC and the ProsACOH in those tapes...I want to make a new Ultimate Wall for myself (not to alienate myself, just for fun - me producing the Wall) with these, maybe some of the rehearsal and under construction stuff too and maybe even film stuff...

[David Smith]

Question, when pink is singing Run Like Hell and Waiting For The Worms do you interpret him as singing them or singing something else but thinking about singing them?

[Devil man 665]

i have no idea what you mean dave

[Fox-Mike]

Dave, that made about as much sense as astrology.

[nosaj]

In an interview on this website, I believe Roger suggests that Pink is given a needle, then goes out to perform In the flesh, run like hell and waiting for the worms while . Maybe David was...

[David Smith]

Hmm, not to well expressed as a question

What i mean is in CN pink is given his injection and placed on stage to perform, all i'm questioning is if he actually sings RLH and WFTW or if the wall's purely mental and he's actually singing ITF as it was at the start and that the facistm imagery is all just a hallucination

Now before anyone says this is again not making sense let me remind you that the whole audience give his hammer salute and despite singing the wrong lyrics his band still play, so could it be that he's not actuallly singing the songs atall and just giving another ordinary concert thinking about something else as Roger claims he often did on the stadium shows?

[Stephen]

Hmm, not to well expressed as a question

What i mean is in CN pink is given his injection and placed on stage to perform, all i'm questioning is if he actually sings RLH and WFTW or if the wall's purely mental and he's actually singing ITF as it was at the start and that the facistm imagery is all just a hallucination

Now before anyone says this is again not making sense let me remind you that the whole audience give his hammer salute and despite singing the wrong lyrics his band still play, so could it be that he's not actuallly singing the songs atall and just giving another ordinary concert thinking about something else as Roger claims he often did on the stadium shows?

This thread is headed"What confuses you"..well folks!!! or is it me?

[mosespa]

1. Right, I remember posting that you can't improvise the Wall, but you said they did when maybe the fire broke out, or was it some other technical difficulty (I meant with all the other stuff - projectors and bricks and what not, improvising would not be so easy). I have since heard it, I think. So, I'm replying to this post, because somebody new has posted questions about the Wall rehersals...this way they know to contact you, I think simpledumbpilot or somebody already offered to help.


2. I've heard that the FC was made up of Wall rejects to some extent. Is this true? What is a complete list of Wall songs - demo or otherwise...

...You know, like a list of all known recordings for the Wall 1978-1982 (film and everything).

Okay...I have numbered nosaj's questions for easier answering.

1. As far as improvisation of The Wall...at one point in time, what is now called The Last Few Bricks was a bit of an improvisation...but one that was kind of worked out in advance so that everyone knew where everone else was going. I've heard that early on, it included bits of Any Colour You Like. But as the "tour" went on, it got more and more of a shape that was followed.

The only real places for improvisation with the context of The Wall are in the extended solos...for example...Bricks One and Two, Comfortably Numb...etc. etc.

When the fire broke out, what they did was stop the show until the fire was put out...and then resume the show more or less where they left off. It's on Azimuth Co-Ordinator Volume Three if you can find it.

2. Any attempt at a complete list of Wall songs is going to be incomplete guess work until someone comes up with a copy of Roger's original acoustic guitar and voice home made demos. The ones floating around known as Under Construction and/or Building The Wall are NOT these demos...they are a dry run of the album involving Gilmour AND Mason, so they wouldn't be the one's Waters brought in to the band...so, already changes have been made from the original demos.

The Final Cut is NOT composed SOLELY of Wall rejects. Some of the songs (Your Possible Pasts and The Gunners Dream have been indicated by Karl Dallas) that were thrown off The Wall were resurrected for The Final Cut, but most of the album was new material at the time.

I've always thought it would be interesting to take The Wall...and at the point where Brick One begins to fade, instead of the helicopter, fade up Your Possible Pasts and let the storyline tell us a bit about this teacher by following with One of the Few, The Hero's Return, The Gunner's Dream and Paranoid Eyes...then bring up the helicopter of The Happiest Days Of Our Lives and let us see what this teacher's experiences are bringing to his methods of teaching.

Sure, it would complicate the storyline...but it would also present a more three dimensional rendering of the schoolmaster's character.

Question, when pink is singing Run Like Hell and Waiting For The Worms do you interpret him as singing them or singing something else but thinking about singing them?

You are asking for my opinion here, so that's what I will give. Pink is hallucinating at this point in the story, anyway...I think what we hear on the album is what's going on in his head, NOT what's coming out of his mouth at the show.

It has also been suggested that Run Like Hell is not necessarily a part of the Pink concert, but the after show party and backstage adventure's rendered more sinister by Pink's drugged hallucination.

Waiting For The Worms has been described (by Roger) as the drug wearing off, leaving Pink flip-flopping between persona's. The first line, "Sitting in a bunker here behind my wall" even suggests that this is Pink backstage.

Just some thoughts.

[David Smith]

So it's not just me that has that thought... I always thought run like hell to be in his head though some people have a more literal interpretation. I even heard a theory that the wall takes place in the future below an oppressive regime and he's one of their approved rockstars

Now come on, how could my question confuse anyone? What is it about it that confuses you?

[jonesy]

i thought it was an example of what could happen (and has happened)if the wrong people ever came to power through polatics and what not and maybe the power of words to twist minds or to put fuel on the fire thats already burning to make it bigger eg; hitler
don't know????

[nosaj]

Nice answer to my questions Mosepea! Yeah, the actual Waters demos apparently sound terrible. I like the suggestion of dropping in the final cut stuff you mentioned, I'll try it out at some point. Along with PACOH, ITAOT (for the live stuff after CN), the film and maybe the PF demos (some interesting lyric differences)...

I thought there was an improvised piece at one of the gigs that was not the burning incident, nor the last few bricks song, but still the result of a technical problem...but then I'm not really sure (I do have Azimuth, so I know that one).

But on the question of weather RLH and WFTW is in his mind...

http://home.mchsi.com/~ttint/watersinterview.html

RW "No, RLH, is meant to be him just doing another tune in the show. So that's like just a song, part of the performance, yeah...still in his drug-crazed state." - interview with T Vance 1979

Roger Waters Online also has an interview from 1980 with Jim Ladd to check out.

Both the above are a song by song run down by Waters...now, some part of it is all in the mind and open to interpretation weather Roger wants that or not. But Waiting For The Worms is supposed to be where the drugs ware off, hence stop...then goes into the mind for the Trial.

Cheers!