What the hell. That was my initial reaction to the musical journey that I just experienced. During a three-hour solo drive home, I was brainstorming ways to pass the time. Music wasn’t really hitting like I wanted it to, thoughts weren’t really processing productively, and I was just stuck in silence… until I realized… it was a perfect time for music exploration. One album that had been long in the listening lineup was “The Wall” by Pink Floyd. After my “Dark Side of the Moon” and “Wish You Were Here” moments, I knew that an entire chunk of time needed to be devoted to a complete, uninterrupted listen. And I definitely chose wisely, since it was perfect for this drive.
At one hour and twenty minutes total, Pink Floyd covers four sides of vinyl with this masterful “rock opera.” The album follows the life of a character, Pink (who can be compared to bassist Roger Waters and ex-member Syd Barrett). Pink is born fatherless, suffers through childhood, cheats on his wife, collapses under the rock star lifestyle, and tries to build himself back up. The whole metaphor of the “wall,” as referenced time and time again throughout pretty much every song, depicts the protective wall Pink tries to create for himself when he loses trust in the world. It blocks out emotions and rationality and is ultimately the root of his downfall.
I don’t normally go this in depth into trying to understand an album, but I don’t think anyone can truly appreciate Pink Floyd’s art without attempting to find out all of the underlying meanings. It is a craft. I must respect their masterful and unique craft. Similarly, if you begin their album “Dark Side of the Moon” at the same time as you start the movie “The Wizard of Oz,” the audios will match up. That is pure genius and artistic magic. “The Wall” is no different, so why not look into their motivations behind the album?
Anyway back to the music itself, prior to this listening experience, I had stumbled upon a few songs off of Disc 2, like “Comfortably Numb” and “Hey You.” But Disc 1 is definitely more me. From a first time listener’s experience, the Disc 1 songs flowed from one into another much more cohesively. The first WOW moment happened when going from “The Happiest Days of Our Lives” into “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2.” I think I audibly gasped. It is beautiful. If you don’t listen to any other part of the album, please just give that transition a try. I love how I can barely even tell when one song switches to another, but I get this sensation that a new moment is about to begin.
The song actually has something to do with Pink being mistreated by his teacher, which adds another brick to this mental wall he is building up around himself. There’s a nice little jivy-tune paired with some little guitar riffs. David Gilmour sings back and forth with a choir of school children, continuing the reflection of his harmful time in school. I kind of just like the little voices, it adds some cool depth to the innocence and vulnerability of the character. It makes sense how it was Pink Floyd’s biggest hit of all time.
Hey! Teacher! Leave us kids alone!
Another favorite transition of mine was “Empty Spaces” into “Young Lust.” The second song of the two actually offers a nice classic rock sound to the album. It is a standalone, nice little song about a “dirty woman.” How mysterious (it is actually one of the many groupies that Pink supposedly cheats on his wife with). I would even argue that the organ-type instrument in the back adds a jazzy-ness to this song.
As mentioned earlier, I really love Disc 1. My third notable mention would have to be “Don’t Leave Me Now.” It starts off nice and slow, a bit reflective even. Give it three minutes of this solemnity (I mean look at the title of the song, it is a very solemn song), and then you are suddenly thrown into the classic over-stimulating environment of guitar chords and hums that describes Pink Floyd. It is short lasting but well worth the wait.
Overall, I could probably research and tell you all so much more about the significance of each song, but I don’t really have the time or energy to do that. This album is cannot be described as just a musical work. I felt like I was transported into a movie for the entirety of the listen. Only Pink Floyd can transverse you through multiple different genres of music, dipping your toes in multiple styles and testing out countless new sounds. The album deserves a front-to-back, complete listen. For the story. And for the experience.
I offered up some of my individual favorite songs. But please, please allot a moment at some point in your life to listen to this album all the way through. It doesn’t have to be right now (because this music is pretty timeless), just at some point in your life. The lessons are transversal, and “the Wall” is forever. We all have our own bricks to unstack anyway.
Iz FM 
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