"Goodbye Blue Sky" is a song by Pink Floyd. It appears on their 1979 double album, ''

The Wall ''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/ CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-imp ...

''.

Plot

In a brief prologue, a

skylark ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species are ...

is heard chirping. The sound of approaching bombers catches the attention of a child (voiced by a young Harry Waters), who states, "Look mummy, there's an aeroplane up in the sky". The lyrics go on to describe the memory of

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

: ''Did you see the frightened ones? Did you hear the falling bombs? Did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter when the promise of a brave new world unfurled beneath a clear blue sky? ... The flames are all long gone, but the pain lingers on.''

Film version

In the film version, this segment is animated by

Gerald Scarfe Gerald Anthony Scarfe (born 1 June 1936) is an English cartoonist and illustrator. He has worked as editorial cartoonist for ''The Sunday Times'' and illustrator for ''The New Yorker''. His other work includes graphics for rock group Pink ...

. It begins in live-action with a cat trying to catch the white

dove Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

but then flies away. It transitions to animation with the dove flying peacefully up only to suddenly be gorily torn apart by a black Nazi eagle ('). It glides over the countryside and swoops down to grasp the earth with its talons, ripping up a huge section leaving a sulfurous trail in its wake, giving way to a warlord that morphs into a metallic factory that releases warplanes. Next, naked, gas-masked people (''the frightened ones'') are seen running about on all fours and hiding from

The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

. The warplanes turned into crosses just as the

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

fragments into a bleeding cross. The Nazi eagle crashes and shatters and the dove emerges from it while the dead soldiers are able to finally rest in peace. Finally, the blood from the cross runs down the hill and into a storm drain. Unlike the album, this comes in after the reprise of "

When the Tigers Broke Free "When the Tigers Broke Free" is a Pink Floyd song by Roger Waters, describing the death of his father, Eric Fletcher Waters, on 18 February 1944, during the Battle of Anzio during the Italian Campaign of the Second World War. Writing and rec ...

" and before "

The Happiest Days of Our Lives "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" is a song by Pink Floyd. It appeared on ''The Wall'' album in 1979. Composition The song is approximately one minute, 46 seconds in length, beginning with 24 seconds of a helicopter sound effect, followed by the sc ...

Live versions

For the 1990 large-scale concert ''

The Wall – Live in Berlin ''The Wall – Live in Berlin'' was a live concert performance by Roger Waters and numerous guest artists, of the Pink Floyd studio album ''The Wall'', itself largely written by Waters during his time with the band. The show was held in Berlin ...

'', vocals for this song were provided by Joni Mitchell, with visuals largely reprised from the film version. Roger Waters' 2010–13 tour

The Wall Live ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

uses the song to depict a metaphorical "cultural bombing". As bomber planes fly in from the distance, they drop not bombs, but

dollar sign The dollar sign, also known as peso sign, is a symbol consisting of a capital " S" crossed with one or two vertical strokes ($ or ), used to indicate the unit of various currencies around the world, including most currencies denominated "p ...

s, euro signs, religious symbols, and corporate logos. This imagery ended up attracting controversy due to the juxtaposition of dollar signs and the Star of David, which was deemed antisemitic by the Anti-Defamation League; Waters later removed the offending iconography and wrote an open letter to ''The Independent'' clarifying that the Star was meant to critique the Israeli government.

Personnel

* David Gilmour – lead and harmony vocals, acoustic guitars, bass guitar, Prophet-5 synthesizer * Roger Waters –

EMS VCS 3 The VCS 3 (or VCS3; an initialism for ''Voltage Controlled Studio, version #3'') is a portable analog synthesizer with a flexible modular voice architecture introduced by Electronic Music Studios (London) Limited (EMS) in 1969. EMS release ...

synthesizer * Richard Wright – Prophet-5 synthesizer with: * Harry Waters – child's voice Personnel per Fitch and Mahon.Fitch, Vernon and Mahon, Richard, ''Comfortably Numb — A History of The Wall 1978–1981'', 2006, p.81.

Cover versions

*On

Ann Wilson Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in th ...

's 2007 solo album, '' Hope & Glory'', there is a version with her sister Nancy. The Wilson sisters' band,

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide to t ...

, also released a live version of the song on '' Dreamboat Annie Live''. *The song appears on

Yonder Mountain String Band The Yonder Mountain String Band is an American progressive bluegrass group from Nederland, Colorado. Composed of Dave Johnston, Ben Kaufmann, Adam Aijala, and Nick Piccininni, the band has released five studio albums and several live recordings ...

's 2002 live album '' Mountain Tracks: Volume 2'' as a hidden track after "Follow Me Down to the Riverside". *The song has been covered by Yes and

System of a Down System of a Down (also known as SoaD or simply System) is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994. Since 1997, the band has consisted of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards); Daron Malakian (guitar, voc ...

Legacy

* The song was used in the ''

Rick and Morty {{Infobox television , image = Rick and Morty title card (cropped).png , alt = , caption = , genre = {{Plainlist, * Animated sitcom * Adult animation * Science fiction * Black comedy * ...

'' episode A Rick in King Mortur's Mort.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodbye Blue Sky Pink Floyd songs 1979 songs Songs written by Roger Waters Song recordings produced by Bob Ezrin Songs about World War II Anti-war songs Song recordings produced by David Gilmour Song recordings produced by Roger Waters