"The Thin Ice" is a song by
Pink Floyd,
released on ''
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 ...
'' in 1979.
Composition
The song, which is two minutes and 30 seconds in length, begins with the sound of an infant crying. The main body of the song is a
50s progression
The 50s progression (also known as the "Heart and Soul" chords, the "Stand by Me" changes, the doo-wop progression and the "ice cream changes") is a chord progression and turnaround used in Western popular music. The progression, represented in Ro ...
, with time signature in 6/8, commonly heard in
doo-wop songs such as "
Stand by Me", progressing from C Major to A minor, then F Major to G Major, played softly on piano and synthesiser. The first half of the lyrics are sung by
David Gilmour in a gentle tone, beginning with ''"Mama loves her baby"'', and a refrain of ''"Ooh babe, ooh, baby blue"''. A bass guitar creates a
dissonant
In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive Sound, sounds. Within the Western tradition, some listeners associate consonance with sweetness, pleasantness, and acceptability, and dissonance with harshness ...
effect mid-song, when it plays an F♯ against an A minor, the
major sixth
In music from Western culture, a sixth is a musical interval encompassing six note letter names or staff positions (see Interval number for more details), and the major sixth is one of two commonly occurring sixths. It is qualified as ''major ...
of the chord, and the
augmented fourth of the
key. Then
Roger Waters takes over the lead vocal. The piano becomes
staccato, as the lyric takes on a warning tone, with Waters singing ''"If you should go skating/On the thin ice of modern life...."''
As the lyrics end, the
diatonic sense of C Major is abandoned, as the melody heard earlier (E, D, F, E, and A) becomes stripped to a simple
power chord
A power chord (also fifth chord) is a colloquial name for a chord in guitar music, especially electric guitar, that consists of the root note and the fifth, as well as possibly octaves of those notes. Power chords are commonly played on ...
riff, played loud by
distorted guitars, with brief soloing. The song ends on a sustained C Major chord, but through
crossfading with the next song on the album, "
Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1", a D minor chord is interpolated, contributing to uneasiness intimated by the lyrics.
Plot
''The Wall'' is the story of Pink, who grows up to become an alienated and embittered rock star, with a failing marriage and feelings of
megalomania.
[Schaffner, Nicholas (1991), Saucerful of Secrets (UK paperback ed.), London: Sidgwick & Jackson, ] "The Thin Ice" can be seen as the introduction to his story, since the previous song, the album's opening track "
In The Flesh?
"In the Flesh?" and "In the Flesh" are two songs by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on their 1979 album, ''The Wall''. "In the Flesh?" is the opening track, and introduces the story concept of the album. "In the Flesh" is the twenty- ...
" is chronologically placed later in the
album's narrative, and then the story is begun via
flashback. "The Thin Ice" introduces Pink as a baby and young child, and while the lyrics assure the listener that ''"Mama loves her baby, and Daddy loves you, too"'', it warns that ''"
e sea may look warm... the sky may look blue"'', but ''"Don't be surprised when a crack in the ice/Appears under your feet"''.
Film version
The film shows hundreds of soldiers in the war, either wounded or dead, then cuts to Pink floating in his hotel pool. As shown later in the film (in the segment for "
One of My Turns
"One of My Turns" is a song by Pink Floyd, appearing on their 1979 album ''The Wall''. The song was also released as a B-side on the single of "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)".
Composition
The song is split into distinct segments: a groupie ...
"), Pink has cut his hand, and the amount of blood in the water is exaggerated, until he appears to be floating in a pool of blood.
The film version has an extended piano intro that plays before Gilmour's vocal.
Personnel
*
David Gilmour – vocals (first verse), guitars,
Prophet-5 synthesiser
*
Nick Mason – drums
*
Roger Waters – vocals (second verse), bass guitar
*
Richard Wright – piano,
Hammond organ
Personnel per Fitch and Mahon.
[Fitch, Vernon and Mahon, Richard, Comfortably Numb — A History of The Wall 1978–1981, 2006, p.72]
References
*Fitch, Vernon. The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia (3rd edition), 2005. .
Notes
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thin Ice, The
Pink Floyd songs
1979 songs
Hard rock ballads
Songs written by Roger Waters
Song recordings produced by Bob Ezrin
Song recordings produced by David Gilmour
Song recordings produced by Roger Waters