Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)

Album: The Wall (1979)
Charted: 1 1
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Songfacts®:

  • Roger Waters of Pink Floyd wrote this song about his views on formal education, which were framed during his time at the Cambridgeshire School for Boys. He hated his grammar school teachers and felt they were more interested in keeping the kids quiet than in teaching them. The wall refers to the emotional barrier Waters built around himself because he wasn't in touch with reality. The bricks in the wall are the events in his life that propelled him to build this proverbial wall around himself - his school teacher was just another brick in the wall.

    Waters told Mojo, December 2009, that the song is meant to be satirical. He explained: "You couldn't find anybody in the world more pro-education than me. But the education I went through in boys' grammar school in the '50s was very controlling and demanded rebellion. The teachers were weak and therefore easy targets. The song is meant to be a rebellion against errant government, against people who have power over you, who are wrong. Then it absolutely demanded that you rebel against that."
  • The children's chorus that sang on this track came from a school in Islington, England, and was chosen because it was close to the studio. It was made up of 23 kids between the ages of 13 and 15. They were overdubbed 12 times, making it sound like there were a lot more of them.

    The addition of the choir convinced Waters that the song would come together. He told Rolling Stone: "It suddenly made it sort of great."
  • Pink Floyd's producer, Bob Ezrin, had the idea for the children's choir. It wasn't the first time he enlisted schoolkids to sing on a rock song: Ezrin used a choir of kids when he produced Alice Cooper's "School's Out" in 1972 - he liked to use children's voices on songs about school.

    When performing "School's Out" live, Alice Cooper often transitions it into the chorus of "Another Brick In The Wall," a nod to Ezrin's work on both tracks.
  • There was some controversy when it was revealed that the kids in the chorus were not paid. It also didn't sit well with teachers that kids were singing an anti-school song. The chorus was given recording time in the studio in exchange for their contribution; the school received £1000 and a Platinum record.
  • The disco beat was suggested by producer Bob Ezrin, who was a fan of the group Chic. This was completely unexpected from Pink Floyd, who specialized in making records you were supposed to listen to, not dance to. Ezrin got the idea for the beat when he was in New York and heard music Nile Rodgers of Chic was making.
  • Pink Floyd rarely released singles that were also on an album because they felt their songs were best appreciated in the context of an album, where the songs and the artwork come together to form a theme. Bob Ezrin, who is Canadian and didn't have the aversion to singles common in the UK, convinced the band that "Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)" could stand on its own, and that issuing it as a single would not hurt album sales. When the band relented and released it as a single, it became a huge hit, going to #1 in many countries, including the US and UK. It didn't seem to hurt album sales; The Wall sold a staggering 23 million copies in America and also did big business internationally.

    Two more songs from the album were subsequently released as singles in America and various other countries, but not in the UK: "Run Like Hell" and "Comfortably Numb." They had little chart impact.
  • The general concept of the album is to explore the metaphorical walls we put up to protect ourselves. Any time something bad happens, we withdraw further, putting up "another brick in the wall." Within that concept there are many layers, including the impact a heavy-handed education system can have on kids, which is explored here.

    The album follows the character Pink, who in many ways is a proxy for Roger Waters, who was using the story as a kind of therapy (according to Waters, he started actual therapy in 1981).
  • The album is centered on the character Pink, a proxy of sorts for Roger Waters, who was using the story as a kind of therapy (according to Waters, he started actual therapy in 1981). Bob Ezrin took the unusual step of writing a script to help tie the songs together and provide direction to the band so they'd know what kind of atmosphere to create from song to song. Waters and Ezrin drove the project creatively.
  • In 1982, The Wall was made into a movie starring Bob Geldof as Pink. The original plan was to combine animated sequences by Gerald Scarfe with live footage of the band performing, but they ended up scrapping the performance footage and scripting the whole thing. The film is best viewed with a very open mind.
  • The Wall was one of two ideas Roger Waters brought to the band when they got together to record in 1978. His other idea was The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking, which he ended up recording as a solo album.

    The band took a break after touring for their 1977 album Animals. Guitarist David Gilmour and keyboard player Richard Wright both worked on solo albums during this time, so Waters was the only member who came in with ideas for the band. As such, he had a great deal of control over the project, which didn't always sit well with his bandmates. By the time they finished the album, Wright had been booted from the band but was paid a salary to complete the tour. On the road, they all kept some distance, traveling in separate trailers.
  • The lead vocals are a mix of Roger Waters and David Gilmour. Most of the album has Waters on lead, but Gilmour sings some key tracks, including "Young Lust" and the first half of "Hey You."
  • When Pink Floyd first recorded this song, it was just a short interstitial piece for the album, one verse and one chorus lasting 1:20. According to producer Bob Ezrin, he wanted it longer, but the band refused. So while they were gone, Ezrin sent Nick Griffths, the engineer at the studio, to record the children in Islington singing that verse and chorus, which Ezrin added to the recording along with some drum fills to make it a complete song. He played it for Waters, who liked what he heard.

    Note that the end result is the same verse and chorus repeated twice, but with Waters and Gilmour singing the first one and the school children singing the second. Rather resourceful.
  • There is a Part 1 and even a Part 3 of "Another Brick In The Wall." "Part 1 is the third track on The Wall. This section, which contains many of the motifs found on Part 2, explains that because Pink's father went off and died in World War II, he built The Wall to protect him from other people. In the 1982 movie adaptation, you see him at the playground with the other kids and their fathers, then one of the kids leaves with his father and Pink tries to touch the father's hand. The father pushes him away quite aggressively, then leaves.

    This segues seamlessly into Track 4, "The Happiest Days Of Our Lives," which runs 1:50. This is the section that includes the lines:

    When we grew up and went to school
    There were certain teachers who would
    Hurt the children any way they could


    "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" explains that the teachers must have it rough in their own homes, getting thrashed by their "fat and psychopathic wives," which is why they take out their frustrations on the students.

    This section flows into "Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)," which is Track 5. Radio stations would sometimes play all three songs together, or start at "The Happiest Days of Our Lives."

    Part 3 is Track 6 on Side 2 (The Wall is a double album). It finds Pink retreating from view, stung by his wife's cheating.
  • For the stage show, a giant wall was erected in front of the band using hidden hydraulic lifts as they played. It measured 160x35 feet when completed, and about halfway through the show, the bricks were gradually knocked down to reveal the band.

    The show was so elaborate, they had to limit it to just five venues and 31 performances that took place in 1980 and 1981. This was one of the first times a band performed an entire album on a tour - if you saw the show, you didn't hear anything from Dark Side Of The Moon or any other Floyd albums. Criminally, it was never made into a concert film.
  • The version released as a single runs 3:10 and fades out on the guitar solo. On the album, there's an additional section where the teacher screams, "If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding!" We then hear a phone ringing, followed by the next track, "Mother."
  • Speaking with Top 2000 a gogo, Roger Waters said: "In the mid-'70s, I'd only just figured out a couple of years before that I was living my life, that I wasn't actually preparing for something, that life was not something that was going to start at some point. This sudden realization that it started a long time ago, you just didn't notice.

    Really, the most important thing about that song is not the relationship with the school teacher. It was the first little thing I wrote where I lyrically expressed the idea that you could make or build a wall out of a number of different bricks that when they fit together provided something impermeable, and so this was just one of them.

    When you hit puberty and start getting snotty, it's good to have an adult around who will say, 'Well hang on, let's talk about that,' rather than 'be quiet.'"
  • The line "We don't need no education" is grammatically incorrect. It's a double negative and really means "We need education." This could be a commentary on the quality of the schools.
  • The original idea for the concept of the actual Wall they wanted to create came from a problem Roger Waters was having during their concerts. When he started thinking about the show, he wanted to isolate himself from the public because he couldn't stand all the yelling and shouting. "The Wall" was not just a symbol and a concept, but a way of separating the band from their audience. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Raul - Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • Roger Waters made one more album with Pink Floyd - The Final Cut in 1983 - before leaving in 1985. He thought that would be the end of the band, but his bandmates carried on without him, releasing their next album, A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, in 1987 without him.

    To Waters' dismay they played this song and some others from The Wall when they toured.
  • The 1998 movie The Faculty includes a version of this song by Class Of '99, a group assembled for the sole purpose of recording the song with Layne Staley of Alice in Chains on lead vocals and Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine on guitar.
  • In Britain, the song was released in November 1979 and went to #1 on December 15, staying at the top for five weeks. This made it both the coveted Christmas #1, the last #1 of the '70s, and the first of the '80s.
  • On July 21, 1990, Roger Waters staged a production of The Wall in Berlin to celebrate the destruction of The Berlin Wall. During that performance, Cyndi Lauper sang "Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)" in character as a rebellious schoolgirl, complete with the uniform.
  • In 2004, Peter Rowan, a Scottish musician who ran a royalties firm, started tracking down the kids who sang in the chorus, who were by then in their 30s. Under a 1996 copyright law, they were entitled to a small amount of money for participating on the record. Rowan was not so much interested in the money as in getting the chorus together for a reunion.
  • On July 7, 2007, Roger Waters performed this at the Live Earth concert at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. Live Earth was organized to raise awareness of global warming, and the slogan for the event was "Save Our Selves" (S.O.S.). Waters poked fun at Pink Floyd and the event by flying a giant inflatable pig overhead, which was a classic Pink Floyd stage prop, except this one was emblazoned wit the words "Save Our Sausages." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Bertrand - Paris, France
  • Roger Waters did the Scottish voices on the track. He told Mojo magazine December 2009, "I can do mad Scotsman and high court judges."
  • The teacher character in this song shows up again in Pink Floyd's next album, The Final Cut (1983), notably in the song "The Hero's Return." He is based on the many men who returned from war and entered the teaching profession, as they had no other opportunities.
  • "Bully For You" is a song by Tom Robinson Band. The song's lyrical hook is the repeated line, "We don't need no aggravation." Tom Robinson believe Pink Floyd (with whom the TRB shared both management and record label) took it as an influence when they were writing "Another Brick In The Wall," specifically the line, "We don't need no education." TRB Two was released in March 1979; Floyd's The Wall followed nine months later. Tom Robinson says in Classic Rock, November 2015: "There's no question 'We don't need no aggravation' was in the air around Roger Waters. Roger's skills as writer are were far more developed than my own. He put a great idea to better use, so fair play to him." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Olli - Finland
  • In 2021, Floyd frontman Roger Waters turned down a "huge, huge amount of money" from Facebook for the right to use "Another Brick in the Wall (part II)" in an ad campaign. For years Waters had been a very vocal supporter of Julian Assange, the head of Wikileaks, who was imprisoned in 2019 for espionage. Waters viewed Assange's arrest as an attempt to silence true journalism and to stifle dissenting voices. He sees Facebook and the other big tech platforms as being part of that effort to silence dissent and "take over absolutely everything."

    Waters minced no words in his refusal of the money, stating, "And the answer is, F- you. No f-in' way." He also called Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg "one of the most powerful idiots in the world" after questioning how Zuckerberg became so powerful after starting FaceMash, which rated Harvard women based on their looks.

    Waters did not make the announcement on social media. He did it the old fashioned way: at a press conference.

Comments: 155

  • Ronsha from New JerseyWhat a depressing song! It would be awesome to sing in front of some of my teachers. Also, I heard this story where, in a South African school in 1980, these Black kids sang Another Brick in the Wall to their teachers, because the kids were experiencing racism... just an interesting fact
  • Semaj from Here, Right Now....Waters has always been a whiny liberal socialist, whom is very rich, by the way, and just plain creepy....sorry to say his father died, but his whiny emotions, about no daddy while growing up, is beyond asinine, especially when Britain was dire needs of killing the nazi regime and many, so many fathers died, to keep Britain free.....this song belittles law and order, right and wrongs, wherein children need strong societal upbringings, hence....because of liberal losers like waters, the world in 2021, is now resembling....the devils lunatic asylum.
  • Seventh Mist from 7th Heaven"The song is meant to be a rebellion...against people who have power over you, who are wrong."

    One man's "wrong" is another man's right. There are more than a few on his side of the political spectrum who'd like to silence all "wrong" voices because they don't agree with them. To paraphrase the prophetic Mr. Orwell, "some speech is freer than others."
  • A.k from K.lI truly thought the true meaning of this song is with the current education system, we all would be just another worker/wall in a corporation. Very dull, mundane 9-to-5 jobs like a dumb wall holding the company/government.
  • Mumpfucious from ColoradoRobert Baden-Powell, the founder of Boy Scouts, was very fond of using this phrase. He uses it twice in his book "Scouting for Boys" (a book also referenced in "Welcome to the Machine"):

    "We must all be bricks in the wall of that great edifice - The British Empire"

    "We are very like bricks in a wall, we each have our place"

    Elsewhere he wrote:

    "You should remember that being one fellow among many others, you are like one brick among many others in the wall of a house. If you are discontented with your place or your neighbors or if you are a rotten brick, you are no good to the wall. You are rather a danger. If the bricks get quarrelling among themselves the wall is liable to split and the whole house to fall."

    "Some bricks may be high up and others low down in the wall; but all must make the best of it and play in their place for the good of the whole. So it is among people; each of us has his place in the world, it is no use being discontented."
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn February 25th 1981, the 23rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City...
    The winner of the 'Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal' award was Bob Seger for "Against the Wind"...
    One of the other nominees in that category was "Another Brink in the Wall (Part 2)" by Pink Floyd...
    The next day a DJ at a local FM rock station in Utica, NY {my hometown} played "Another Brick" and altered the song to 'We don't need no Bob Seger'.
  • Janeen Skokani from DearbornThere's a part II? Or wait, what was part I? Have I not heard part 1? Have I lived my life misled? Will the real "another brick in the wall" please stand up?
  • Zero from Nowhere, NjWell, in my experience, I can relate to this song in a way because I went to a school for troubled teens (trouble with the law, etc., though I was in for other reasons). The teachers there were most certainly more interested in keeping the kids in line than actually TEACHING them anything. I don't think I did one once of homework my entire time there and they didnt do anything about it. Yeah, it was cool at the time but it really hurt me in the long run. It was also my fault in the sense that I had a choice to go back to a "real" school before I graduated but I declined because I didn't want to face the same kids that gave me such a hard time in middle school.

    At any rate, I definately don't think this song is ANTI-education, it's definately PRO. I think Waters is just protesting the way it was provided to the kids, whether it trys to eliminate individuality, if the teachers were abusive to the kids, or if they just didn't give a sh*t about the kids and just wanted to get payed. I don't know, I wasn't there.

    And Michael, from NY, I felt EXACTLY the same way as a kid when hearing there songs on the radio, so I can see where you're coming from. It wasn't until after I went through hell (sort of) in my life and learned to like darker, more somber, even depressing types of music, along with learning more about the band and what they were talking about in their songs that I learned to love Pink Floyd. They're now one of my favorite bands (along with Metallica, I'm a metalhead so I like fast, heavy stuff too!) I don't know how old you are for all I know you're older than I am and more experienced, maybe you just like more upbeat music that's fine.

    All right I'm done with my rant, peace out!
  • Larry from Coral Springs, FlI like this song only because of the way it was done...not of what it means or anything else. I had read somewhere after first hearing this..it was a negative view on education and that going to school meant nothing..disgusting
  • Joe from Jersey City, NjIn Statement #16 about why they say" We Don't need no education"

    I hypothesize that Pink Floyd/Bob Ezrin were reacting to the Punk D.I.Y. movement, esp. Sex Pistols(who freq. spoke poor english-obviously intentionally). By '79 "corporate bands" (The Who, Queen and labels like "EMI" were sufficiently mocked as establishment providing enough incentive for Floyd to speak double negatives.
  • Hamdan from Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaThis is song and the whole lot of them in the same album are great songs. But I must admit that at one time I listened too much to them, and what I got in return was a manic depressive feeling that lasted for years. I believe these songs have strong negative suggestions on your subconscious. But as I got through depression I started to listen to them again, especially after I fully understood the meaning of the album. My interpretation isn't far from that of songfacts'. All in all, it's the best floyd album I've come across...
  • Eli from Toronto, OnSick song
  • Swastik from Dharan, Nepalthis is the first song that i heard of pinkfloyd
    I want to perform this song but until now I have got no chance.This is an excellent song for us,students,
  • Dawn from Sloansville, NyI think I like "Money" better than "The Wall"
  • Chloe from St. Louis, MoMichael from NY, your comment is a perfect example of times when most of me is saying that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and that that's just fine. A very small part of me is still over in the corner facepalming.
  • Michael from Staten Island, NyI honestly think this is one of Pink Floyd's only good songs, besides Money. Go ahead, say whatever you want now, I just think all their other songs are too long and boring.
  • Dylan from Dodge City, KsIf you don't eat your meat, ya CAN"T HAVE ANY PUDDING! HOW CAN YOU HAVE ANY PUDDING IF YOU DON"T EAT YOUR MEAT? Any questions?
  • Terry from Wickford, RiThe Scottish schoolmaster's voice is *NOT* Billy Connely..it's Roger Waters. And the first voice "YOU! YES, YOU!! STAND STILL, LADDIE!!" is the start of "Happiest Days of Our Lives" which is a different song, but often paired with ABITWpt2. The yelling at the end of the song is: "Wrong, Do it again!"
    "If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you
    have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?"
    "You! Yes, you behind the bikesheds, stand still laddie!"

    School can be a demeaning experience that punishes kids for individuality in the hands of the wrong people. In this case, you have to consider the 'characters' of the story. The Final Cut fleshes out the pitiful Schoolmaster character as well as the lyrics of "Happiest Days.." He's a pissed-off old codger who feels he gets no respect as a war vet after all of the parades died down, no respect from his wife at home and no respect from his students (who have no idea of his heroics in the war - although his 'heroics' included firebombing Dresden to ashes). From Pink's perspective, this yelling, sarcasm and bullying is just another 'brick' in his eventual Wall. One of many. So, to dwell too much on this is to miss the point of the "Another Brick" theme in the overall album. As mentioned here. The song has 3 parts and you can also hear the music theme repeated throughout. War, daddy gone, bad schoolmasters (not necessarily bad school), mothers, girlfriends, drugs, etc..they are all Bricks.

    On a purely musical track, the disco beat in this Part was Ezrin's suggestion to milk a single out of all this. Nick Mason had to learn a straight 4 on the floor beat, which was not his style of drumming at all. In fact, he ahd to lear to read drum charts for the first time. His style is known as being loosey-goosey which fits their jam-band style fine, but the Wall was tight project with no room to improvise. Also, for the guitarists, Gilmour's lead was a straight line-input injection into the mixing console. No amp, no effects - just pure guitar. Amazing.
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyIn 1979 the rock station WTLB-AM in Utica, NY banned this song from it's playlist. But on Sunday mornings when they aired American Top 40 they didn't stop the song from being played!!!
    I find that this song is one of those very few songs that no matter how bad one's singing voice is, you still can sing along with it.
  • Mem from Melbourne, AustraliaMan can that Gilmour play a lead break!!!!!!!!!
  • Laura from Philadelphia, PaWhen Roger waters refers to the wall, he is referring to the wall that hsi mother built around him protecting him from the world.. hence the song mother
  • Rahul from Chennai, Indiathis is an awesome song...those who deny it aren't proper floyd fans i would say.... but............ this is definitely(yeah definitely!!) not floyd at their best.... i consider comfortably numb and wish you were here as floyd's best.... and yeah i guess this one follows...
  • Slip-k-riste-n-ot from Sydney, Australiakorns version= BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Doug from Commack, NyDoes anyone know what the spoken words are at the very beginning of this great song when you can hear the helicopters overhead ? "Kids get back ??????? ".
  • Jenny from Birmingham, AlI love this song! It is so meaningful by ruling out against the kind of education that forces children to lose their individiulity and build a wall around themselves. It sounds really cool, too.
  • Jordan from Omaha, NeI always thought this song was about how it dosent matter if we go to school or get an education because in the end were all just another brick in the wall and we dont really make en effect on the world...?

    thats my interpertation, but maybe im wrong.
  • Andrew from Mackinaw, Ilif you buy the box set shine on.read the article another dick in the balls.it talks about the whole album and pink floyd admit that pink had and the wall had nothing to do with roger waters or pink floyd
  • Michael from Oxford, -It's a crying shame that every prog rock band in existence ends up best known for its least proggish song. Not only this, but also "Owner of a Lonely Heart" for Yes, "Invisible Touch" for Genesis and "Love is the Drug" for Roxy Music. The only exception I can think of is King Crimson, in fact.
  • L from Edinburgh, United KingdomThank you Andy from Auckland, I was going to ask if the Scottish voice at the end was Billy Connolly, and you've said it is. Mystery solved!
  • Mason from Kuwait, Kuwaita pink floyd with no roger waters is a fake one . its like a falcon with no eyes . its dishonest , shamefull and a robbery of art . it should be called the fakers . common man who r u kidding gilmoore ?
  • J_bryon from Milladore/monroe, WiI was in Berlin, Germany in July 1990 and witnessed the early to middle stages of consruction of the stage/set for The Wall concert. Even before it was close to being finished the stage was huge! Ireally wish I would have been able to stay longer in Berlin and gone to the concert!
  • Kevin from Painesville, OhPersonally, i think this song is about the universe and how our universe is just one of billions and our whole lives could be in the blink of an eye for some other superior being. We're just another brick in the wall (the wall of galaxies and universes).
  • Heather from Los Angeles, CaRoger Waters should try being a teacher.
  • Heather from Los Angeles, CaJoel in Columbia SC, this whole website is about analyzing AND over-analyzing songs. Stop berating people for silly reasons.
  • Kate from Burnaby, CanadaOverused and overplayed. This isn't what Floyd is about.
  • Fatty from Fu, CaThe Wall is the best Floyd song. In fact it's the only one that's any good.
  • Jeremy from Ventura, Cai love this song... yet i hate it. Its the song that Non Floyd fans think of when they think of Pink Floyd. If you ask somebody what their favourite pink floyd song is, and they say Another Brick in the Wall... they dont know a thing about pink floyd. Especially if they just say another brick in the wall. Any true fan would say another brick in the wall "part 2". Hell ive even heard ppl call the song "The Wall"...


    come on people!!

    FLOYD 4 EVER!!!
  • Korine from Guatemana, United StatesAnother brick in the wall is not only about education, is also about war, is also about the way his father died, and he was just a brick in the wall, and all soldiers are just a brick in the wall, and at the end, it does not matters if they die or survive. Another brick in the wall, pt.1 speakes of it.
  • Scott from Bellevue, WaOne word: Amaaaaaazing
  • Andrew from Bartlett, TnI love Pink Floyd no correction: their the best band of all freaking time! No one can compare to the power of Pink and since Roger Waters left there not the same and I think Roger should go back to the good times and rejoin the band with David, Nick and Rick. Please Roger! Anyways you can listen to a Pink Floyd song and every time get the same feeling as the first time. So I love Pink Floyd!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Ed from Incognito, IlIf you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding! How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat???? Classic, simply classic!
  • Frank from Custer, SdThis song is in no way against school. It is actually against the harsh treatment the teachers put on their students. This song is trying to encourage individuality in people which the teachers of their time did everything they could to eliminate.
  • Andrew from Birmingham, United StatesI was raised on rock music. This disco beat sounds so unusual when used by Pink Floyd. This is the only disco kind of hit by Pink Floyd, right? The Pink Floyd members don't use the disco beat in their classic rock anywhere near as often as the Eagles or Steve Miller Band, do they? I think it's interesting. Pink Floyd rocks!! Literally!!
  • Joel from Columbia, ScYou people need to get a [censored] life. Another Brick in the Wall is about isolation. The students on the train in masks just shows how boring everything would be if we were all the same. I actually like ABITW part three alot better. "I don't need no drugs to calm me" et all.
    Sorry to sound pissed but I really can't stand it when people over analize songs.
  • Darrell from EugeneThis comment is about how much better schooling was between 1947 and 1961, which were my school years (except in terms of technology.) Back in the good old days, dodgeball and other competitive games were encouraged, rather than today's "health-maintenance" dictum, cafeteria food was both nutritious and tasty, conformity was not effectively forced on students as it is today (I wore old army fatigues to school, listened to Glenn Miller, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra and drove a stately black 1932 Studebaker President two-door sedan in high school, which were all total opposites of everyone else's habits, history class was not "sanitized" (Anyone in my generation or who has read "Lies My Teacher Told Me" will know EXACTLY what I am talking about), winners won and losers took it hard in every aspect of school, chemistry class was fun (I loved putting metallic sodium in water and creating a fireball) and (in my school, at least) there was little or no prejudice, and teachers were competent and non-unionized.
    Nowadays, things are different in every way- unionized teachers, kids getting their completely street-stock Hondas and other (read: older American) cars vandalized because they are not like those of "The Fast & The Furious", the music that I grew up on as well as rock and old country would make good fodder for teasing because kids only listen to rap nowadays, the government is creating useless, disabled young men and women in their highly intensified athletic programs (especially soccer and cheerleading), they have turned the Grand Game of Golf into a team sport, and there are too many other abominations to fit into a Songfacts comment box while leaving room for other comments.
  • Dubravko from Kakanj, BosniaLuke, Louvain-la-neuve, Belgium - you're right. I've also heard it once. Those techno 'singers' have absolutely no idea what is this song about, but they still sing it.
  • Dubravko from Kakanj, BosniaI don't think the song is about school, teachers and students. School - country, teachers - government and students - people.
  • Caleb from Camp Point, IlSorry, I meant to say that the scream is straight FROM Waters' own vocal cords.
  • Caleb from Camp Point, IlRight before Happiest Days runs into this song, there is a shrill screaming noise. This noise is heard throughout other songs on the Wall as well, including Run Like Hell. This scream is straight Roger Water's own vocal cords.
  • Florencia from Santiago, ChileIn my opinion, the masks erase the individuality of the kids, making they look equal.
  • Daniel from Perth, AustraliaI think this is probably the most well known Pink Floyd song ever written. It's like the Stairway to Heaven of Pink Floyd so to speak. Even so, I still love it.

    After listening to this song for a number of times, I always thought that the line "all in all you're just another brick in the wall" referred to how the teachers simply thought of the children as a unit as opposed to individual students. I based this of the idea that children were "meant to be seen not heard" which was promoted in 20th century and such.
  • Amy Camilla from Copenhagen, DenmarkThe wall, or rather, the sentense "All in all you're just another brick in the wall" is meant to tell people that they're just one of a million. That they're just acting like mashines, and that they don't stand out from the crowd at all. It tells us to stand up and dare to be different. To dare to be ourselves, which most people isn't, because they are affraid that they wont be accepted in society.
  • Caitlin from Upper Township, Njthis song is my life. im arranging to have all the 8th graders in my school sing it at graduation in a few weeks
  • Jai from Atlanta, GaDavid Gilmour has been quoted as saying that this album (The Wall) has come to symbolize Rodger blaming all of his problems on other people.
  • Joel from Columbia, ScThis is a good song. Actually most of the songs from The Wall are good. The video (Youtube) can be disturbing. The scene where the students fall into the meatgrinder, etc.
  • Luke from Louvain-la-neuve, Belgiumi must say one day while partying, i heard this masterpiece remixed. i was outraged. i dont know who im more angry with, the person who made the techno (yuck) remix, or Pink Floyd and company for letting them do it. ive rarely been so disgusted in my life
  • Strong Bad from London, EnglandI LOVE this song! and Micheal from Tuscan: its Roger Waters and Syd Barret!poser...

    But anyway- I absolutely love this song! Im 13 and I cant STAND school. and also to Micheal from Tuscan: its about Roger Waters. The album, i mean. Viva Pink Floyd!
  • Jordan from Calgary, CanadaI just want to say something:
    Waters got the inspiration for this album while they were touring. At a concert, some fans were ecspicially obnoxious, setting of firecrackers and taunting the band. Roger got so angry he stopped the music and made a spech with lots of cussing in it to the crowd. Later he wished he hadn't done it, and thought of the concept of a wall between the audience and band, and other metaphorical walls.
  • Jordan from Calgary, CanadaGeorge, Las Vegas... you are right, songs don't always have to mean something, but considering that this is Pink Floyd and is on an extremely metaphorical, meaningful album, this song does mean something, like all the rest of the songs on "The Wall"
  • George from Las Vegas, United StatesDid anyone ever stop and think that maybe this is just a song?? Songs don't ALWAYS have to mean something
  • Dave from Cardiff, WalesNot exactly, Randy and Mitchell - many teachers actually go into the profession because they like working with children or enjoy helping the young learn, or even out of a love for the subject they are teaching. I went to a convent school and yes, I used to resent it when I had my buttocks whipped with a leather strap or bamboo cane by the nuns as much as the next best person, but it didn't harm me in the long term, and they were only acting in the manner that they had been trained and probably they were also subjected to similar treatment when they were young. Nowadays the balance has shifted too far in the other direction - pupils can abuse and assault teachers as they please, and teachers are totally powerless to defend themselves. I'm not defending apathetic teachers, but the reason why many kids do badly in school is often because they don't care about learning rather than teachers not caring about their needs
  • Gilmour from Lockport, NyHoly cow are most of the "facts" about this song wayyy wrong.
    Let's catalog the errors shall we?

    Ok:
    The concept of the album is not walls that people put up to protect themselves. The concept is the wall that Waters felt was developing between the band and the audience.


    "To make this album, they came up with the concept of the character "Pink." Bob Ezrin wrote a script, and they worked the songs around the character. The story was made into the movie The Wall, starring Bob Geldof as "Pink." Many people believe you have to be stoned to enjoy the film."
    This is the single most ridiculous thing I have ever read and the webmaster of this site should be ashamed for trying to pass this off as a "fact".


    "For the stage show, a giant wall was erected in front of the band using hidden hydraulic lifts as they played. It measured 160x35ft when completed, and about halfway through the show, the bricks were gradually knocked down to reveal the band."
    WRONG. The show started with the band in full view. As the show progressed a wall was built in front of the band and stayed that way the entire second half of the show. At the end of the show the wall was knocked down.

    "Waters sang lead. When he left Pink Floyd and the band toured without him, Gilmour sang it."
    Waters and Gilmour sing lead vocals together on the album.

    Pathetic.
  • Karina from Maputo, AfricaI always thought this song related to the Soweto school massacre in South Africa (1976).This was where a large group of black students protested against the educational system of the time. This system which was extremely racist in content but worse for them was their having to study in Afrikaans which they saw as the language of the oppressor.The police arrived to 'calm the protest'. Instead, police killed 180 and injured almost 500 of the 15000 students by opening fire everywhere. Given the timing I thought this song was a reaction to that event.
  • Aylin from MontrealSometimes, of course, a song from an album released as a single will boost sales of said album. ("Money")
  • Bill from Erie, PaAnd Katie: the fan that Roger spat at was being obnoxiously loud in between songs. According to Nick Mason, he kept yelling "Play "Careful With That Axe, Roger!" until he snapped.
  • Bill from Erie, PaI agree with Tyler. I think the version where it's just Waters with an acoustic guitar is a lot better.
  • Michael from Tucson, AzSorry, I wish some of you WOULDN'T say that. I got mixed up.
  • Michael from Tucson, AzI wish some of you people would say "This album is about Walter Rodgers or Sid Barret." Does there have to be a reason for everything? Its a good story, and Rodgers even called it a CONCEPT album. You people aren't dense enough. I'll give you one thing, in the commentary Rodgers did say that this SONG was based off his school, but why cant you people accept that it was a great album and move on? And all of the lyrics that combine with something else in the lyrics, it is called coincedince. You people make such a big deal out of all the scrambled up kids. May I quote Phoebie Buffay in friends:
    "Hey, Joker is Poker with a J! Coincedince?"
    Chandler (sarcasticly):
    "And Coincedince is Joincedince with a C!"
    You guys screw up all the facts to make soething as small and undone as possible. Just listen and love the music.
  • Patrick from Tallapoosa, GaOn the album, you hear a helicopter flying overhead and then a man (the teacher)yelling "You! Yes, you! Son! Get over here!" But in the movie, young Pink and a couple of his friends are playing on a train track, and when the train goes by with the other children, the teacher tells him to "stand still, laddie!"
  • Jac from Boulder, Comy freind is convinced that in the beginig of part 2 of another brick in the wall there is a man speaking german. an earlier coment said he was saying "You! Yes! You! Stand Still Laddy!" its right after the helicopter goes by. i think it sounds german too but im really not sure anymore!
  • Gerard Howard from Lone Tree, CoThe movie 'The Wall' can also be related to many other people and how they live their lives. Thats what makes the album and the movie so special to me, because at a certain time in my life, i too built a wall to isolate myself from society, so i can relate to Roger, Syd, and David. Pink Floyd Rules!!!! When i listen to them im in my own little world!
  • Mike from Germantown, MdThis song is awesome! My Mom's A Teacher, Though.
  • Tyler from Petaluma, Caits actually quite annoying when you listen to it over and over, in fact its one of my least favorites in The Wall
  • Patrick from Tallapoosa, Gathe song's ending leads into "Mother" with the telephone ringing. In the movie, Pink, as an adult, tries to call his wife back home, and her boyfriend leans over, picks up the phone, and abruptly hangs it up.
  • Annabelle from Eugene, OrIn the beginning of this song, you can hear a helicopter flying by, then a man shouts, "You! Yes! You! Stand Still Laddy!" Then that same voice is heard at the end, with a British phone ringing. What important role does the British phone ring play in the song?
  • Mitchell from Redding, CaWaters is absolutely right. Most teachers just come to make kids feel small and stpid, and to get their paycheck. That is just wrong. This song is awesome, especially the kids in the chorus. All hail Pink Floyd.
  • Maura from Hamilton, TxI just saw the wall & i thought it was the BEST MOVIE i have ever seen. When the kids were going into the meat grinder to be processed into meat & then the teacher said "you cant have any pudding unless you eat your meat" well my thoughts on that were that kids are eating up other kids by bullying. i mean if you think about it, the teachers are totaly egnoring it to. if u go up to a teacher & say "i have witnessed some bullying going on & its getting pretty bad" well all they will say is "ill keep on the lookout for the bullys" like thats going to help!
  • Sue from Wonderlandhttp://forum.songfacts.com/showtopic.php?tid/139755/

    You can find a link to "The Wall" movie here :o)
  • Bob from Rio Vista, CaI would really like to see the movie.
    Where can I find it?
  • Nathaniel from Pittsburgh, PaAnother brick in the wall Part one talked about waters father that died in world war 2. when waters father died waters was only 1 or 2 years old and all waters had to remember him was a
    'Snapshot in the family album'
  • Aylin from MontrealThe solo on this is awesome, but otherwise I'm not crazy about it, simply because (as has already been said) it seems to be the song that characterizes Floyd in the eyes of general public. Kind of like Stairway to Heaven for led zeppelin, I guess. Even if the song's great, you get bored with it because it's so overrated. Of course, I love stairway, and this, while very good, is not pink floyd's best.
  • John from Davis, CaI have a friend who was always talking about how much he likes "The Wall" but when I played it in my car from begining to end, he only recognized Comfortably Numb, Run Like Hell, Hey You, and this song. A lot of the cool songs like One of My Turns and The Trial he didn't like. That's why he is a poser fan. I'm so sick of everyone only knowing those same damn songs!
  • Evan from Flower Mound, TxThis song sucks on the subject on how commonly it is played and assumed to be pink floyd's staple song. there are many other songs better by pink floyd such as "childhood's end" or "Echoes".
  • Johnny from Los Angeles, CaI have so many comments about this song, but I forgot most of them so these are the ones I didn't forget: J4000 rocks. And Ryan, you should listen to the song before commenting, if not even clicking on Another Brick In The Wall pt 2 and looking at this message board. Also, I will not name names, but people should really READ the comments before making another comment of their own. Thanks.
  • James from New York, NyI also agree with Tawnee. It's also like that with Zep's Stairway.
  • Jake from Mt. Olympus, Englandwhats the hi pitch sound about 1 - 2 sec into the song?
  • Katie from Tallahassee, FlWaters began writing this album after he was performing in the Olympic stadium and a fan tried to climb on stage and without thinking, he spit on the fan. He realized that his career had gotten huge and that he'd acquired a big ego, thinking he was better than that fan. He needed to get back to who he really was and dig deep to tell his story.
  • Chris from Dundalk, MdI would love to get my hands on one of those masks the kids wear in the video. They would fetch a mint on ebay. And I totally agree with Tawnee's comments a while back.
  • Billy from Boston, MaVery Famous song, Ilike both the Pink Floyd and Korn versions. also check out comfortably numb, another great Pink Floyd song.
  • Paul from Baltimore, MdThis song is not about not needing an academic education. The kind of education that the song is attacking is the indoctrination of ideas into children in schools. This was especially true during the cold war which this album is about. The most important line in this song is not "We don't need no education" but is "We don't need no thought control." This line clearly distinguishes this as indoctrination. During the cold war children living in the capitalist powers where taught to hate any other ideology without being allowed to come up with their own opinions on government and economics. From a young age they were told that communism was evil and because children can be easily convinced of things without solid evidence it was thought control. THis was the education Pink Floyd was attacking in this song. This song and the entire album attacks the policies of the western powers. The thought control in this song resulted in the fascist state of mind that Pink grew to have. Pink didn't exactly go insane but was always destined to become like a fascist because of the events in his childhood and the influences of others. Teachers, his mother, his lover and others all created a man that was blind to what was right and wrong, what should be acceptable and what should't be, and what the world really was. The wall represents the barriers between Pink and truth in the sense of what was really happening and what he should do. All of Pink's experiances and influences through his life that caused him to slowly lose touch with the real world created the wall so they were just bricks in the wall. This means that individually the events did not have enough influence over Pink to really change his life but over time they collectively changed his outlook and opinions on life. His education was something that he rebelled against but was unable to overcome and in the end he turned into exactly what his teachers were trying to make him. This reluctancy of immediately doing what he was told is a continuing theme on the album but untill outside the wall he could not overcome the negative influences in his life because he simply didn't know any better. The ignorance of not knowing the evils of the fascist views that he would embrace on the second disc was clearly demonstrated in "stop" in the line "Have i been guilty all this time." Pink could not see reality because of the opinions and outlooks he was taught and learned from his life experiences and the people who greatly influenced him. This song like the rest of the album is attacking the policies of the western powers, showing the dangers, and the possible outcomes of such poilicies. Of couse this is only one interpretation of the sond and album but i think it was a major political point that was being made by Roger Waters.
  • Ashley from Moncton, CanadaThis year, I have decided to make this my theme song. The song is so true it's not even funny. I decided to go into grade ten intensive English because I thought it would result in a more open-minded, creative class with less pointless work and more chances to express my views. I was horribly wrong- there is twice as much pointless work and the teacher and even my classmates are condescending. I don't even talk to them, those close minded jerks.
    This song is pretty appropriate since so far I'm failing because I just don't care anymore. Sure, I may be disillusioned, distant, and a music, art and poetry obsessed demented weirdo, and that's also how everyone else sees me. My life is going nowhere, but I don't really care, I just want to get out of school. And that's my rant for the day.
  • Rosie from Trondheim, NorwayPink in the Wall movie is definitely based on Syds behaviour after things went awry for him. Sometimes I think his only mistake was being far too vulnerable for the spotlight. Anyways, about the song another brick in the wall being about Roger, sounds about right. Ny theory always was that it mightve been partly inspired by Syd as well, considering he was extremely unhappy in school's conformative environment. Could be a mix of many things....
  • Rosie from Trondheim, NorwayThe wall the movie is definitely based on poor Syd. Love him to bits. But I the song Another Brick in the Wall could be based on many things; my theory always was that it came from Syd and Roger's school days when school pretty much sucked, especially for Syd because it limited him and kept him contained in a box constantly, which was eventually broken out of through his musical career. But the other ideas about Roger sounds about right too. Pink in the wall is absoloutely based cheifly on Syd's behaviour after things went awry.
    I hope Syd's well and happy.
  • Notmyrealemail from Buffalo, NyHe denies the movie being about him? In the DVD commentary of the movie, the interviewer says "now, who is pink? Your pink, right? Roger says "Yes, I'm Pink"

    The movie the wall is about Pink.
    Roger Waters is Pink.
    The Wall is about Roger Waters.
    Logic.

    The wall is an awesome album, I do not like all this smack talking about it. Atom Heart Mother is the best album If not that, maybe Ummmagumma. Careful with that axe, Eugene.

    Now, if you meet someone that says they like Pink Floyd, and they say "Another Brick in the Wall" is their favorite song....Don't make fun of them, get them a copy of Legendary Rock Stars Greatest Hits, this world needs more Floyd Fans.
  • Notmyrealemail from Buffalo, Nyeres a little known fact. The album 'the wall' syncs up perfectly with Cool Runnings. Enjoi :)
    - mat, henderson, NC

    - LOL
  • Rony from Houston, TxThe album "The Wall" was written because waters finally got so pissed off at one of his concerts that he spat at an audience member. He felt bad about it, and he decided that the wall would be built around him to block out the annoyances,and so he does not do anything stupid again.
  • Steve from Lansdale, PaFloyd just conjures up so many memories of high school and college - even tho i was in middle school when most of it came out, it was still being played (on radio AND by kids on "record players"). Kids these days don't know what they're missing out on, because there will be no more great concept albums forthcoming, what with the supremacy of the current crop of one hit wonders, driven by down loading just one favorite song and all that (I guess that's why "classic rockers" are still popular, after these many years).
  • Patrick from Conyers, GaPart III of this song is also overlooked, which depicts that Pink doesn't need love or compassion from anyone, nor does he need drugs, or anything else. He is perfectly happy building the wall around himself alone, and wants everyone to leave him alone.
  • Gilmour from Lockport, NyWow. Lots of folks that don't know a whole lot about Floyd.

    The material that Waters wrote during this period actually spanned two other albums. As was mentioned The Pros and Cons of Hitchiking was an album he wrote while he was writing The Wall. The Final Cut, the last Floyd album with Waters on it, is almost exclusively made up of the songs rejected by the band when they did The Wall.

    Waters was never the lead singer for the band. He wrote the material and sang some of it but David Gilmour has always been the band's lead singer since Syd was replaced in 1967.

    The Wall is not exclusively about Waters' feelings on being on stage in front of thousands of people, it is not exclusively about Syd, and it is not exclusively about his father. It is a combination of all three. For instance the scene in the movie where "Pink" shaves his head and eyebrows is something Syd did during the period when he was visiting the Floyd in the stuido while they were recording Wish You Were Here.

    Roger Waters never had a problem with dementia so it is not about him going deeper and deeper into seclusion. However the "bricks" are the things in his life that he feels isolates him from the rest of the world.

    The movie is interesting whether you are stoned or not.

    The incident where a promoter asked "Which one's Pink?" happened in Seattle around 1968.

    Not everyone in the band felt the Wall that Waters did. These feelings in this album are his own.

  • Stephen from Altamont, IlVery good song! I still havn't found out what the face masks meant in the video for it O_o.
  • David from Port Hawkesbury, CanadaIts The Perfect Song To Rebel to.
  • Stefan from Hamm, GermanyI think "Another Brick in the Wall" is a classic rock song. Especially the solo really took me to the Dark Side of the moon. Allthough it ain't that hard to play, actually, its easy...But, with one word... Amazin'!!!!!!
  • Benjamin from Heidelberg, GermanyIt's quite confusing when you're not a native speaker of english and try to find out lyrics by listening to songs. When I listened to this one first, instead of "no dark sarcasm in the classroom" I understood "no dog's orgasm in the classroom"! Funny, ain't it? But don't get me wrong, people, that's nothing against this song or Pink Floyd. Both are awesome!
  • Andy from Auckland, New ZealandI would just like to say that "the scottish man" at the end of Another brick in the wall is Billy Connely. He also has a singing part in another pink floyd song "The happiest days of our lives"
    I thankyou!!!
  • Greg from Brantford, Canadathe wall was the concept albums of concept albums
  • Ashley from Moncton, CanadaI have to say something in response to Roger in Ottawa: Okay, first of all, whoever thinks that Pink Floyd would put words into songs that would have no meaning and just sound cool is obviously wrong. They're there for a purpose- You're not going to just throw random words out of nowhere into a song, match them together and call it a day. You're going to work for a long time on those words until they all fit together and match the mood of the song, and then hopefully have the exact idea you were looking for or better, which is incredibly hard to do. Unless you really, really don't care about your music and are doing it only to get rich, then you're not going to write lyrics like these and not mean it.
  • Michael from Preston, EnglandCould anyone please tell me what the significance of the scottish man shouting at the end is? Is it symbolic of some sort of abusive teacher or what? thanx
  • Ash from Charleston, WvMaureen in Prospect, VA: The bands name was taken from the names of two Georgia bluesmen they admired: Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. I will e-mail you about this as well.
  • Matt from Millbrae, Caclassic song
  • Chris from Brighton, EnglandMy daughters enjoyed the gig at Hyde Park.( Live8 )

    The old rockers still doing it.

    The band not my daughters...................!
  • Bill from Erie, PaPink was NOT mentioned in "Have A Cigar". "Which one's Pink?" was a question that a record company executive once asked the band. Which fits in with the rest of the song, which describes how evil the record industry is.
  • Drewso from Unknown, MaAwesome song I think u are all right but i also think the Wall refers to the wall we all have and everything that pushes slowely to the point of insanity until we break it down. but that's just my view
  • Roger from Ottawa, CanadaOK, I love Floyd, and this song. But, I think everyone is reading way too much into what this song is all about, and for that matter, what any Floyd songs are about. I really don't think they are about anything in particular. They just sound cool and sound like there is some kind of deep meaning behind them. I really don't think there is, they (Floyd) just wants people to beleive that. It can mean whatever you want it ti mean
  • Andrew from TorontoWow.What a lot of chatter about one song.Fans seem to get caught up in the myth or uncovering the truth about the song rather than just the music itself.I agree with my fellow Canadian from Sudbury,James.This is my least favourite song by Floyd and I hated it when it came out and I was in school at the time.It brought Floyd many more streamlined fanbase who only bought the Wall for one single.The wall as an album is good but overrated in my opinion try-Dark Side,Meddle,Wish you were Here for more band collaboration on Floyd records,not just Waters,Ezrin and some Gilmour input.
  • Matthias from Karlsruhe, GermanyScary story:
    After the song was on air, a former principal of a private boarding school killed himself. This school had a great reputation for its musical lessons and the chorus singing in this song's background happened to be from that same school.
    Investigators found out that he massively abused students on the attic, which was an open secret there and referred to as "he takes another one up the roof".
    The children were too frightened to report, but when asked to perform they took revenge: instead of singing "all in all you're just a..." they sang "hol ihn, hol ihn unters Dach" (german: take him, take him under the roof) which is pronounced very similar. The man killed himself in fear of being prosecuted.

    NOTE: This is _not_ a true story. Tell this to a native german speaking person and he will freak out listening to the song, because you really hear the modified lyrics after you heard the story. Funny thing how much one's brain contributes to perception...
  • Lee from Welwyn, Englandthe school that was in this song still not got the royalty for it
  • Grace from Palm Springs, CaLets face it, EVERY pink floyd song is just AMAZING.
  • Brad from Pittsburgh, PaBecause I had been listening to this song one morning, when my friend said he didn't want to be late for school, I just looked at him and said, "Dude, we dont need no education". He looked at me and rolled his eyes. About a week later when I played him my Echoes cd, he left my house with a new favorite song.
  • Nessie from Sapporo, Japan<> ...Others are sure of it...The Korn version bites... <>> ...You're thinking of "Free Willy"...
  • Brian from Corpus Christi, TxAs the band plays this song on stage, as part of the show, a brick wall is built around them.
  • David from Torornto, CanadaToni Tenille of The Captain and Tenille sang backup on The Wall album, and Thin Lizzy guitarist Snowy White joined them (and several other musicians) as part of the lve band when they presented The Wall in concerts.

    Dave, Toronto
  • Jake from Philadelphia, Pa"The Wall" is one of my favorite albums and also one of my favorite movies. The theory that you will only understand it if you are stoned is not true. The movie is about a rock star (Pink) whose life is haunted by events in the past. He is terrified of where his father is. His father left to fight in WWII but he never came back. He is also very sick of formal education. All of his other problems in his band was just "another brick in the wall." The wall was a psycological wall between him and the rest of the world. At the end of the movie he finds his inner self and breaks through the wall.
  • Angelo from New York, NyKorn did a remake of this song
  • Ryan from Mobile, AlTo be honest... I have never heard the original version. All I know is it was hard to take that history test this morning with the line "We don't need no education" from Korn's cover playing in my head over and over again.
  • Bryant from Salina, KsI agree with John, KoRn's version of this song is sickening...
  • Mat from Henderson, NcHeres a little known fact. The album 'the wall' syncs up perfectly with Cool Runnings. Enjoi :)
  • Kevin from Fallston, MdHow can ya have any meat if ya dont have your pudding.
  • Takashi from Tokyo, JapanI LOVE this song! it's one of Floyd's best. IT describes how I felt when I went to school.
  • J4000 from Your House, AkWow. Lots of misconceptions to clear up here.

    1. Roger Waters got the idea for the album when he became frustrated with touring. Many people go to concerts for the experience, and not to listen to the music. These people, screaming, lighting firecrackers, etc., are what frustrated Waters. The 'last straw' was a show in Montreal on the 'Animals' tour (not the 'Wall' tour as somebody said - how would that have been possible?). "I was onstage and there was one guy in the front row shouting and screaming all the way through everything. In the end I called him over and when he got close enough, spat in his face. I shocked myself with that incident enough to think: hold on a minute--this is all wrong. I'm hating this," according to Waters. (quote from http://www.angelfire.com/va/battersea/tour.html)

    2. Syd Barrett was the inspiration for several Pink Floyd works, most notably 'Wish You Were Here' ('Shine On You Crazy Diamond' in particular). However, 'The Wall' is indeed based on the life of Roger Waters, not the life of Syd Barrett. Roger's dad was killed in World War II, he had an overprotective mother, befriended a poisoned rat, had horrible teachers, the whole bit. However, once Pink starts to go off the deep end, some of his quirks and behaviors are based on Syd's.

    3. "the movie "the wall" is believed to be about roger waters life, even though he denies it"
    - james, sudbury, Canada

    No, he doesn't. The DVD commentary track features Roger explaining in great detail what inspired the movie, as he has an entertaining conversation with Gerald Scarfe, the film's production designer and animator.

    4. The 'Have A Cigar' incident does not relate to The Wall in any way. It's a retelling of an actual occurence and helps to illustrate the cluelessness of most record executives.

    5. "Actually the wall wasn't origionally about Pink, or bariers between people. He got the Idea for the movie when he was on the wall tour. he spat on a concert attender when he was trying to climb the wall. Later he realized how cold it was to have done that, and felt really bad. Thus the wall (movie) was born. I found this in the "Making of" on the wall dvd."
    - Chas, Webster, NY

    That's not what it says. The idea was born during the 'Animals' tour in 1977. How on Earth could he get the idea for The Wall while performing The Wall? That would have created a time paradox and destroyed the Earth.

    6. The phrase 'Another brick in the wall' refers to various events in Pink's/Roger's life that encouraged or forced him to build a protective wall around himself. His father's death, his mother's doting, his terrible school experience, the breakup of his marriage, pressures of touring, drugs, etc.

    7. "any hardcore fan of Pink Floyd would appreciate the sheer mastermind of Roger Waters' writing in the song but the song itself sucks."
    - Cristian, Brentwood, Canada

    Wow. Just ... wow.
  • John from Calgary, CanadaKorn butchered the hell out of this song. It's unbearable.
  • Cristian from Brentwood, CanadaPink Floyds cd "the wall" was NOT about Roger Waters, it was about Syd Barrett. Another Brick in the wall is ONE of their most famous songs EVER, however any hardcore fan of Pink Floyd would appreciate the sheer mastermind of Roger Waters' writing in the song but the song itself sucks. If he had recorded it the orginal way of him singing over an acoustic guitar and it being 1min and 20sec long it would have been MUCH better. The best song on that cd in my oppinion has to be comfortably numb.
  • Maureen from Prospect, VaThis song is really cool and I like the words and phrases that are used to describe Waters' life within the song. I love Pink Floyd. If anyone actually knows what 'Pink Floyd' really means, pleze email me! Thanks!
    reenybiddle@yahoo.com
  • Ben from Aguadilla, United Statesthank you tawnee...
  • Andres from Santa Rosa, CaThe Wall, album or movie, is semi biographical of Syd Barrett's (the original singer for Floyd) Life. After having issues with the band, Barrett went out on his own the went insane shortly there after. Roger Waters is perfectly sane and Have A Cigar is not refering to the Pink of The Wall. Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 is not a very good song. It is ok, but I like parts 1 and 3 better. I also like Mother. But you are supposed to listen to the album as one whole song. Darkside Of The Moon is there greatest album.
  • Tawnee from Tucson, AzI hate people who ONLY know this song and think theyre some hardcore floyd fan because of it.
    poser: I LOOOOOVE Pink FLoyd
    Fan: really? whats your favorite song?
    poser: we don't need no education, what else?!?!
    fan: you idiot
  • Anonymousmy mom used to jam up "the wall" really loud i coud hear it from my room.i thoght she was so kool blasting we don't need no education...cuz u know like many kids they hate skool..like me.now i listen to the stones and the beatles and of course flyod
  • Alex from St Louis, Mocut the crap, this song is awesome
  • Adeeb from Dhaka, OtherThe "wall" reference changes from part I to part II. In part I the "wall" seems to refer to World War II and the "daddy" that flew across the ocean never came back, he died and was just a brick in the wall of history. Ultimately an anonymous sacrifice. Too great a one perhaps, ?Daddy what else did?ya leave for me? DADDY WHAT'YA LEAVE BEHIND FOR ME? All in all, it was just a brick in the wall...? beautiful
  • Larry from Palm Springs, CaThe date of 1979 is a little premature as it didn't even debut in the U.S. Top 40 until Feb 9, 1980. Then it later ran up to #1 and stayed there for 4 weeks. So 1980 is much more accurate.
  • Gavin from Hampden, MaThis song was played, to great applause, on the night that the first brick was thrown from the berlin wall. After playing tis song, as well as a few others, pink floyd proceded to grafitti the wall, writing, "MOTHER, SHOULD I TRUST THE GOVERNMENT?". This was a very famous act of the Floyd.
  • Daniel from Tyler, Tx, TxThe wall refers to the wall Roger Waters built around himself because he wasn't in touch with reality. The bricks in the wall are the events in his life that propelled him to build this perverbial wall around him. His school teacher was just another brick in the wall.
  • Paulo from New York, NyThe character, Pink, was mentioned in the song "Have A Cigar" from the Wish You Were Here album. The line goes "The band is really just fantastic, that is really what I think. Oh, by the way, which one's Pink?"
  • Owen from Suffolk, EnglandThe video for this song is on the dvd for the wall, the video includes parts of the film
  • Chas from Webster, NyActually the wall wasn't origionally about Pink, or bariers between people. He got the Idea for the movie when he was on the wall tour. he spat on a concert attender when he was trying to climb the wall. Later he realized how cold it was to have done that, and felt really bad. Thus the wall (movie) was born. I found this in the "Making of" on the wall dvd.
  • Randy from Bolivar, Nyteachers don't care (generally) about your potential, or your needs in learning. You come out of school knowing only how to raise your hand and sit in rows. Just another thing contributing to the oppression of self expression... in other words, "Just another brick in the wall..."
  • Nick from Shelton, CtCorrect me if i'm wrong but i believe the movie is about sid barret
  • Doc from Baytown, TxI was raised on country music. Of course I listen to a little R & R from time to time as a teenager. Now my dear ole Mom was Pasty Cline and Lorretta Lynn through and through. Can you imagine my surprise when one day after school I walked in to hear Dear ole Mom jamming out to Another Brick...
    I ask her, "Girl, what are you doing listening to to Pink Floyd?" She said," I just like the way it sounds." I don't believe she ever really listen the lyrics.
  • James from Sudbury, Canadaboth pink floyd's most popular and worst song
  • James from Sudbury, Canadathe movie "the wall" is believed to be about roger waters life, even though he denies it
  • Corey from Dark Side Of The Moon, OtherA pretty good hit for the band. But very far from being one of their best songs. Trust me.
  • Gonny from Faketown, Gawatch the wall. then it kinda makes sense
  • Scott from Bismarck, Ndthe line "no dark sarcasm in the classroom" is a really interesting line because the children are all singing "we don't need NO education" you see the no makes that line incorrect grammar wise, so the kids saying that they don't need an education with bad grammar is in fact dark sarcasm
  • Lee from Durham, Ncin the movie, the wall. when the first in the flesh song is played with the riots of the kids and police was based on a show they had in Los angelas. the chief oh police there had started a revolt against rock and roll and especially pink floyd because they dared to play a show in a sports arena downtown. it was durring th animals tour(animals album mocked society and athority) and after the show the police attacked and searched every kid with a pink floyd ticket.
  • Nicholas from Markham, CanadaRoger Waters said that while he was in Montreal playing at the Big O some one from the crowd tried to climb up on stage. Roger then tells us that he spat in the face of this fan; he then stopped and asked himself "why am I doing this?" -- As per an interview with Roger Waters which can be found on the Pink Floyd The Wall DVD.
  • Ã?mile from Sherbrooke, CanadaThe idea for this concept album came to Waters
    during a concert in the Olympic stadium
    (the big O)in Montreal where he did feel a Wall
    between the band and the crowd. This stadium is
    huge and the band felt isolated on the stage,like
    being behind a Wall.
    The concert was played before a full house and
    was a huge success.

    A mile from Sherbrooke, Quebec
    but everybody (well almost) spoke french increa-
    sing the feeling of a Wall
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