"Another Brick in the Wall" is a three-part composition on

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 groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

's 1979 rock opera '' The Wall,'' written by bassist

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-s ...

. "Part 2", a protest song against corporal punishment, and rigid and abusive schooling, features a children's choir. At the suggestion of producer Bob Ezrin, Pink Floyd added elements of

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric p ...

. "Part 2" was released as a single, Pink Floyd's first in the UK since " Point Me at the Sky" (1968). It sold over four million copies worldwide and topped singles charts in fourteen countries, including in the UK and

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

and was ranked number 384 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

''s list of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Concept

The three parts of "Another Brick in the Wall" appear on Pink Floyd's 1979 rock opera album '' The Wall''. They are essentially one verse each, although Part 2 sees its own verse sung twice: once by Floyd members, and the second time by the guest choir. During "Part 1", the protagonist, Pink, begins building a metaphorical wall around himself following the death of his father. In "Part 2", traumas involving his overprotective mother and abusive schoolteachers become bricks in the wall. Following a violent breakdown in "Part 3", Pink dismisses everyone he knows as "just bricks in the wall".; ; Bassist

wrote "Part 2" as a

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooper ...

against rigid schooling, particularly

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of " room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exte ...

s. "Another Brick in the Wall" appears in the film based on the album. In the "Part 2" sequence, children enter a school and march in unison through a meat grinder, becoming "putty-faced" clones, before rioting and burning down the school.

Recording

At the suggestion of producer Bob Ezrin, Pink Floyd added elements of

, which was popular at the time. According to guitarist

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 ...

: Gilmour recorded his guitar solo using a 1955

Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typ ...

Gold Top guitar with

P-90 The P-90 (sometimes written P90) is a single coil electric guitar pickup produced by Gibson since 1946. Gibson is still producing P-90s, and there are outside companies that manufacture replacement versions. Compared to other single coil desi ...

pick-ups. Despite his reservations about Ezrin's additions, Gilmour felt the final song still sounded like Pink Floyd. When Ezrin heard the song with a disco beat, he was convinced it could become a hit, but felt it needed to be longer, with two verses and two choruses. The band resisted, saying they did not release singles; Waters told him: "Go ahead and waste your time doing silly stuff." While the band members were away, Ezrin edited the takes into an extended version. He also had engineer Nick Griffiths record children singing the verse at Islington Green School, close to Pink Floyd's studio. Griffiths was instructed to record only two or three children; inspired by a

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

album featuring an audience in each stereo channel, he suggested recording an entire school choir. The school allotted only 40 minutes for the recording. Alun Renshaw, head of music at the school, was enthusiastic, and said later: "I wanted to make music relevant to the kids – not just sitting around listening to Tchaikovsky. I thought the lyrics were great – 'We don't need no education, we don't need no thought control' ... I just thought it would be a wonderful experience for the kids." Renshaw hid the lyrics from the headteacher, Margaret Maden, fearing she might stop the recording. Maden said: "I was only told about it after the event, which didn't please me. But on balance it was part of a very rich musical education." Renshaw and the children spent a week practising before he took them to a recording studio near the school. According to Ezrin, when he played the children's vocals to Waters, "there was a total softening of his face, and you just knew that he knew it was going to be an important record". Waters said: "It was great—exactly the thing I expected from a collaborator." For the single version, a four-bar instrumental intro was added to the song that was created by looping a section of the backing track. The single fades out during the guitar solo. The version included on the compilation '' A Collection of Great Dance Songs'' combines the single version's intro and the LP version's ending. (Later compilations such as '' Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd'' and '' The Best of Pink Floyd: A Foot in the Door'' instead include the album version prefaced by " The Happiest Days of Our Lives".) In exchange for performing vocals, the children of Islington School received tickets to a Pink Floyd concert, an album, and a single. Though the school received a payment of £1,000, there was no contractual arrangement for

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

for the children. Following a change to

UK copyright law Under the law of United Kingdom, a copyright is an intangible property right subsisting in certain qualifying subject-matter. Copyright law is governed by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (the 1988 Act), as amended from time to time. ...

in 1996, they became eligible for royalties from broadcasts. After royalties agent Peter Rowan traced the choir members through the website Friends Reunited and other means, they successfully lodged a claim for royalties with the Performing Artists' Media Rights Association in 2004.

Reception

"Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" was released as a single, Pink Floyd's first in the UK since " Point Me at the Sky" (1968). It was also the Christmas number one of 1979 and the final number one of the decade in the UK. In the US, it reached number 57 on the disco chart. The single sold over 4 million copies worldwide. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' described it as a "catchy but foreboding selection, with its ominously steady drum work and angry lyrics." The song won Waters the 1983 British Academy Award for Best Original Song for its appearance in the ''Wall'' film. "Part 2" was nominated for a

for Best Performance by a Rock Duo or Group. It appeared at number 384 on ''

''s 2010 list of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The lyrics attracted controversy. The

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was an ad hoc local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. The authority was reconstituted as a directly elected body corp ...

described the song as "scandalous", and according to Renshaw, prime minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

"hated it". Renshaw said, "There was a political knee-jerk reaction to a song that had nothing to do with the education system. It was aters'reflections on his life and how his schooling was part of that." The single, as well as the album ''The Wall'', were banned in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

in 1980 after it was adopted by supporters of a nationwide school boycott protesting instituted racial inequities in education under

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

.(UPI) "South Africa Bans Floyd's 'The Wall'" ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' 15 July 1980: C6

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Sales and certifications

Personnel

Personnel, according to ''The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia''. Part 1 *

– lead vocals, bass *

– guitar, harmony vocals *

Richard Wright Richard Wright may refer to: Arts * Richard Wright (author) (1908–1960), African-American novelist * Richard B. Wright (1937–2017), Canadian novelist * Richard Wright (painter) (1735–1775), marine painter * Richard Wright (artist) (born 19 ...

–

Prophet-5 The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith and John Bowen in 1977, who used microprocessors, then a new technology, to create the first polyphonic synthesizer with f ...

synthesizer,

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first pop ...

Part 2 * Roger Waters – bass, vocals (unison with Gilmour) * David Gilmour – guitar, vocals (unison with Waters) *

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 i ...

– drums * Richard Wright –

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

, Prophet-5 synthesizer * Islington Green School students (organized by Alun Renshaw) – vocals Part 3 * Roger Waters – bass, vocals, rhythm guitar * David Gilmour – lead guitar * Nick Mason – drums * Richard Wright – Prophet-5 synthesizer

Pink Floyd live versions

The song featured in most Pink Floyd live gigs since its release (the only notable exceptions being the Knebworth 1990 appearance and the Live 8 reunion gig). During the 1980/1981 Wall tour, the song was performed close to the original recording (with the children's singing played from tape), except that the ending was markedly expanded. As can be heard on '' Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81'', Gilmour's solo was followed by another guitar solo (played by Snowy White in 1980 and Andy Roberts in 1981) and finally an organ solo by Richard Wright. The song was differently arranged on both tours after the departure of Roger Waters. On all shows of the Gilmour-led Floyd, Gilmour sang the lead vocals in unison with

Guy Pratt Guy Adam Pratt (born 3 January 1962) is a British musician. He is best known for his prolific work as a session bass player, working with artists including Pink Floyd (also David Gilmour and Nick Mason), Roxy Music (also Bryan Ferry), Gary Moo ...

, the children's vocals were augmented by live singing from the female backing vocalists, and the song incorporated a second guitar solo (by Tim Renwick) but no keyboard solo. Aside from this, the overall arrangements in 1987-1989 and 1994 were different. On the A Momentary Lapse of Reason tour, the two guitar solos were adjoined by a short piece of jamming. The song now started with an intro similar to the single version but with a 'teaser break' before the start of the vocals, and ended with a fadeout drowned out by children's voices (not dissimilar to the album version). This arrangement can be heard on Delicate Sound of Thunder''. The 1994 tour, instead, saw a different and longer version that combines elements of all the songs's three parts. On '' Pulse'', the song opens with the phone signal (which originally bridged Part 2 with "

Mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ...

"), then a helicopter is heard (from " The Happiest Days of Our Lives"), before the band starts playing a short instrumental excerpt of Part 1. The bombastic ending of "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" leads into Part 2 (as on the album), and the ending incorporates the keyboard arpeggio of Part 3, the return of helicopter noises before the song comes to a full stop (as opposed to a fade-out). On the version from the Pulse (1995 film), video, the final minute also includes a sample of the vocal echo of "

Dogs The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. ...

". From 1988 onwards, Pink Floyd utilized additional sampled parts of the kids' choir, which were triggered by Jon Carin. Most notably, the space between the second verse and David Gilmour's solo was always filled with the shout "Hey, teacher!". In addition, on 1988 and 1989 shows, Carin also triggered the same sample in a 'stuttering' manner over Guy Pratt's short bass solo bridging Gilmour's and Renwick's solo. On the original releases of ''Delicate Sound of Thunder'' and ''Pulse'' however, this effect was muted (even though the DVD of ''Pulse'' still shows the stage LEDs spelling out "HEY TEACHER" at the appropriate moments). The 2019 remix of ''Delicate Sound of Thunder'' restores the first "Hey, teacher" and even brings the second sampling up in the mix, despite it being relatively quiet on all bootlegs of the era and inaudible on the mix of the Venice concert, which however has the first "Hey, teacher" intact.

Roger Waters versions

A live version of "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" with Cyndi Lauper on vocals, recorded on 21 July 1990 at

Potsdamer Platz Potsdamer Platz (, ''Potsdam Square'') is a public square and traffic intersection in the center of Berlin, Germany, lying about south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (German Parliament Building), and close to the southeast corn ...

, was released as a single on 10 September 1990 to promote '' The Wall – Live in Berlin''. The B-side was the live version of " Run Like Hell" performed with Scorpions at the same concert. In promotion of ''The Wall – Live in Berlin'' a new studio version was recorded by Roger Waters & The Bleeding Heart Band that was released on promo compilation titled ''The Wall Berlin '90'' featuring Pink Floyd and Roger Waters solo recordings. Another live version appeared on Waters' album ''

In the Flesh – Live ''In the Flesh – Live'' is a two-disc live album that captures performances from Roger Waters' three-year In the Flesh tour. Overview "My view is that I've been involved in two absolutely classic albums – '' The Dark Side of the Moon'' an ...

'', integrated between "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" and "Mother" as on the original album, but with a reprise of the first verse ending the song. For later shows, Waters usually employed local school choirs to perform the song with him (as can be seen on '' Roger Waters: The Wall''). From 2011 to 2013, Waters added an acoustic coda called "The Ballad of Jean Charles de Menezes".

Track listings

Korn version

Nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...

band

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 ...

covered all three parts along with " Goodbye Cruel World" in 2004 for the compilation album '' Greatest Hits, Vol. 1''. The cover was released as a promotional single, peaking at number 37 on the

Modern Rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

chart and number 12 on the

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active ro ...

chart. A live music video was released to promote the single, directed by Bill Yukich. Will Levith of ''

Ultimate Classic Rock Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

'' called Korn's cover "one of the worst covers of a classic rock song of all time". Jason Birchmeier of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

described it as "overwrought, yet enticingly so".

Track listing

Charts

Personnel

* Jonathan Davis – vocals * James "Munky" Shaffer – lead guitar * Brian "Head" Welch – rhythm guitar * Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu – bass * David Silveria – drums

Derivative works

* The rock band

Blurred Vision Blurred vision is an ocular symptom where vision becomes less precise and there is added difficulty to resolve fine details. Temporary blurred vision may involve dry eyes, eye infections, alcohol poisoning, hypoglycemia, or low blood pressure ...

released a cover of Pink Floyd's " Another Brick In The Wall Part 2" dubbed "Hey Ayatollah Leave Those Kids Alone". Filmmaker Babak Payami produced a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

, which quickly went viral on the video-sharing platform

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. The remake was also publicly endorsed by Pink Floyd's

. In October 2022 in reaction to the Great wave of Iranian protests of Autumn 2022 the band published an updated clip, featuring scenes from these protests with women taking off their obligatory headscarfs.

References

Citations

Sources

* * *

External links

Concept

Recording

Reception

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Sales and certifications

Personnel

Pink Floyd live versions

Roger Waters versions

Track listings

Korn version

Track listing

Charts

Personnel

Derivative works

See also

References

Citations

Sources

Further reading

External links