Looking Back; A Celebration and Brief History of Pink Floyd’s 'Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)'
Released on the 30th of November 1979, Pink Floyd’s eleventh studio record The Wall made it into the world.
Although released at the tail end of the '70s, it wasn’t until the beginning of 1980 that 'Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)' was released as a single in the US, where it sat at no.1 of the Billboard charts for four weeks, rendering the song the first and only no.1 for Pink Floyd.
This isn’t a reflection of the band’s commercial success, rather their stubbornness and passion for albums to be released as singular bodies of work, with no duplicate tracks existing out in the ether. This was due purely by the belief that context is just as much a part of the listening experience as a singular piece; Pink Floyd was the master of the concept album.
Roger Waters speaks of the inspiration behind the record;
"Well, the idea for "The Wall" came from ten years of touring, rock shows, I think, particularly the last few years in '75 and in '77 we were playing to very large audiences, some of whom were our old audience who'd come to see us play, but most of whom were only there for the beer, in big stadiums, and, er, consequently it became rather an alienating experience doing the shows. I became very conscious of a wall between us and our audience and so this record started out as being an expression of those feelings.”
The album itself speaks to the withdrawal from the goings on around us, and the separation that is built over the course of lives. The album reckons with the issues and subjects that create these walls — what the bricks are made of. In 'Part II', what initially started as a protest against rigid schooling, and an insight into bassist and lyricist Roger Waters’ experience growing up in boarding school;
“Some of the teachers there were locked into the idea that young boys needed to be controlled with sarcasm and the exercising of brute force to subjugate us to their will… that was their idea of education.”
transformed into a more satirical, albeit deeper look at a resistance to ill-structured power. In a 2009 interview with Mojo magazine, Waters 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 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."
However it is producer Bob Ezrin to thank for the single’s release.
Once Ezrin caught wind of the original 1min 20sec track, he immediately begged the band to continue working on the piece, only to be snubbed at the idea of releasing it as a single. Instead, Ezrin extended the instrumental demo himself (behind the band’s back), and recruited English sound engineer Nick Griffiths to record samples of a school choir. In just 40mins, Griffiths captured the 25 school kids signing that would eventually appear as one of the most identifiable and effective vocal overdubs on any rock track.
Once Waters heard Ezrin and Griffiths’ additions to 'Part II' he came onside, excited for what the song could become. The band then fleshed out the remainder of the track, including a kick drum on every beat (as encouraged by Ezrin) that whilst shaded the song in a disco feel that was popular at the time, also provided allusions to the strict, power hungry dynamic captured in the lyrics. The uniformity of the drums add gravitas both to the stringency of control, as well as to the war-like organisation of rebellion and resistance.
David Gilmour’s guitar solo was recorded directly into a mixer, only then to be played back through an amp in an empty room and be re-recorded, capturing all extra ambience and tone. It was done on the first take.
In its final form, both musically and lyrically speaking, 'Part II' reflects upon the realities and complexities of the human condition; identifying the damage of restriction, blind submission, and the loneliness of identities moulded by societal expectations.
'Part II' has since been included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s List of 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, a testament to its longevity as a brilliantly composed and realised piece of music, as well as its ability to stand against the gauntlet of time, reckoning with ideas and concepts still relevant to us in 2021.
Now 40 years on, we celebrate 'Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)' as a bookend of '70s progressive rock, and as dawning the 1980s alternative rock scene.
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