"One of My Turns" is a song by

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

, appearing on their 1979 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 ...

''. The song was also released as a B-side on the

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

of "

Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2) "Another Brick in the Wall" is a three-part composition on Pink Floyd's 1979 rock opera ''The Wall,'' written by bassist Roger Waters. "Part 2", a protest song against corporal punishment, and rigid and abusive schooling, features a childre ...

Composition

The song is split into distinct segments: a groupie (

Trudy Young Trudy is a diminutive of Gertrude. Notable people with the name include: People * Trudy Adams (born 1964), American actress * Trudy Anderson (born 1959), New Zealand cricketer * Trudy Bellinger, British music video director * Trudy Benson (b ...

) performs a monologue (''"Oh my God, what a fabulous room!"'') while a television plays, under which a synthesizer makes

atonal Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on a s ...

sounds, which eventually resolve into a quiet song in

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

in 3/4 time (''"Day after day / Love turns grey / Like the skin of a dying man."''). Finally, the song abruptly leaps into a

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

song in

B-flat major B-flat major is a major scale based on B, with pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative minor is G minor and its parallel minor is B-flat minor. The B-flat major scale is: : Many transposing instr ...

in 4/4 time. The song features some of Waters' most strenuous recorded vocal workouts, with him ending at a relatively high A above middle C.

Plot

''The Wall'' is the story of Pink, an embittered and alienated rock star, whose sanity is failing as he isolates himself behind a psychological barrier. "One of My Turns" finds Pink inviting a

groupie The term groupie is a slang word that refers to a fan of a particular musical group who follows the band around while they are on tour or who attends as many of their public appearances as possible, with the hope of meeting them. The term is usu ...

into his room after learning of his wife's affair. While the groupie tries to get his attention, he ignores her, and muses on his failed relationship with his wife. A TV can be heard in the background, the dialogue mixed in with the groupie's attempts at conversation. While the hapless groupie continues trying to get his attention, Pink feels ''"Cold as a razor blade / Tight as a tourniquet / Dry as a funeral drum,"'' before exploding into a fit of violence, destroying his room, and frightening the young woman away. When his hotel room is finally in complete shambles, and the groupie is gone, Pink feels something more: Self-pity, and a lack of empathy for others, as he screams ''"Why are you running away?"'' The show that is on the television during the beginning of the song is from September 24–26, 1979, '' Another World'' episodes 3864–3866. Kirk Laverty brings Iris Bancroft and her maid, Vivan Gorrow, to his lodge in the Adirondacks. Dobbs was the caretaker of the lodge. Laverty is the man talking to Dobbs, not Mr. Bancroft. Laverty was played by

Charles Cioffi Charles M. Cioffi (born October 31, 1935) is an American film and television actor best known as Lt. Matt Reardon in ''Get Christie Love!'' opposite co-star Teresa Graves. Born in New York City, he attended Michigan State University, where he ...

Film version

Pink enters his hotel room with an American groupie, played by actress

Jenny Wright Jennifer G. Wright (born March 23, 1962) is an American former actress who made her film debut portraying the role of Cushie in the comedy-drama ''The World According to Garp'' in 1982. That same year she made an appearance in the live-action/anim ...

. The groupie tries to be friendly to Pink (Wright performs nearly the same monologue as Trudy Young did on the album). Pink is oblivious to the groupie as he watches the film '' The Dam Busters'' on television. When the groupie tries to make contact with Pink saying "Are you feeling okay?", he explodes into a violent fit of rage and begins to destroy everything in his hotel room. Pink then chases the groupie around the room throwing various objects at her, cutting his own hand after he throws a television set out his window onto the street below, shouting "Take that, fuckers!", his only non-lyrical line spoken in the film. The scene where Pink hurts his hand while destroying the Venetian blinds was not faked.

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter, and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Rock music in Ireland, Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved ...

did indeed cut his hand and he can be seen looking at it for a brief second, but director

Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English filmmaker. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After about ten years of filming adverts ...

decided not to stop filming until the scene was over, despite Geldof's injury. In the next scene, the viewer can see a towel or shirt wrapped around Geldof's injured hand. Also, according to Parker's DVD commentary, Wright was informed that Geldof (as Pink) would yell at her and chase her during the scene; however the director, in order to get an authentic reaction from the actress, did not tell her that Geldof would also throw a wine bottle at her (albeit an easily breakable, prop-made bottle) at the start of his enraged outburst. Moreover, years later in an interview Wright stated that she was not told that a food cart, which just missed her for a few inches, would be thrown at her.

Personnel

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...

– vocals, bass guitar *

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...

– lead guitar * Richard Wright – organ,

Prophet-5 The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential (company), Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith (engineer), Dave Smith and John S. Bowen (sound designer), John Bowen in 1977, who used Microprocessor, m ...

synthesizer *

Nick Mason Nicholas Berkeley Mason, (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He is the only member to feature on every Pink Floyd album, and the only constant member since its formation in ...

– drums, percussion with: *

Bob Ezrin Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezrin' ...

– piano *

Lee Ritenour Lee Mack Ritenour ( ; born January 11, 1952) is an American jazz guitarist who has been active since the late 1960s. Biography Ritenour was born on January 11, 1952, in Los Angeles, California, United States. At the age of eight he started play ...

– rhythm guitar and rhythm guitar with a

wah-wah pedal A wah-wah pedal, or simply wah pedal, is a type of electric guitar effects pedal that alters the tone and frequencies of the guitar signal to create a distinctive sound, mimicking the human voice saying the onomatopoeic name "wah-wah". The p ...

– voice of the groupie Personnel per Fitch and Mahon.Fitch, Vernon and Mahon, Richard, ''Comfortably Numb — A History of The Wall 1978–1981'', 2006, p.86

References

External links