"Empty Spaces" is a song by the English

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

band Pink Floyd, featured as the eighth track on their 1979

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

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 ...

''. It contains a backmasked message.

Composition

The song is in the key of

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: : Changes needed ...

, and is two minutes, eight seconds in length. It features a long introductory section, with solo guitar and a repetitive drumbeat, and an airport announcement, as a reference to Pink heading for a concert tour. The song reaches a climax of tension, at which point Roger Waters plays a descending blues scale over the minor dominant, B minor, cueing the start of the vocals. Roger Waters sings a short verse, ending on the phrase ''"How shall I complete the wall?"'' This track shares a backing track with " What Shall We Do Now?", sped up from D to E, with new guitar and vocals. The last beat introduces the next song, " Young Lust".

Plot

''The Wall'' tells the story of Pink, an alienated and embittered rock star. At this point in the narrative, Pink is now grown up and married, but he and his wife are having relationship problems because of his physical distance and nearly complete emotional "wall". Pink asks himself how he should complete its construction.

Movie and live versions

On the film adaptation the song is dropped in favour of " What Shall We Do Now?", and on the recording of the live performance of this album, this song serves as an intro to " What Shall We Do Now?".

Hidden message

Directly before the lyrical section, there is a hidden message isolated on the left channel of the song. When heard normally, it appears to be nonsense. If played backwards, the following can be heard: :–Hello looker... :–Congratulations, You have just discovered the secret message. :–Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the Funny Farm, Chalfont... :–Roger, Carolyne's on the phone! :–Okay. Roger Waters congratulates the listener for finding this message, and jokes that they can send their answer to "Old Pink" (being either a reference to Syd Barrett, or a foreshadowing of Pink's eventual insanity), who lives in a funny farm (a term to describe a

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...

) somewhere in Chalfont. Before he can reveal the exact location, however, he gets interrupted by producer James Guthrie in the background who says

Carolyne Carolyne is a Swedish feminine given name that is an alternate form of Caroline as well as a diminutive form of Carola. Notable people referred to by this name include the following: Given name *Carolyne Barry, (1943 – 2015), American dance ...

(Waters' then wife) is on the phone.

Personnel

* David Gilmour – guitars, Prophet-5 and ARP Quadra synthesizers * Nick Mason – drums (only in the full version of the song, " What Shall We Do Now?") * Roger Waters – lead vocals, bass, VCS3 synthesizer * Richard Wright – piano with: * James Guthrie – ARP Quadra synthesizerFitch, Vernon and Mahon, Richard, ''Comfortably Numb - A History of The Wall 1978–1981'', 2006, p.82.

References