"The Show Must Go On" (working titles "Who's Sorry Now", "(It's) Never Too Late") is a song by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

rock band Pink Floyd, from 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 ...

''. It was written by Roger Waters and sung by David Gilmour.

Recording and lyrics

Roger Waters wanted to create a "

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

" type sound for the backing vocals, and got

Bruce Johnston Bruce Arthur Johnston (born Benjamin Baldwin; June 27, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who is a member of the Beach Boys. Johnston also collaborated on many records with Terry Melcher (his bandmate in Bru ...

to come and help create it, but this was only after the Beach Boys themselves had agreed to do so, only to cancel at the last possible moment (the morning of the session, 2 October 1979). The song's chord patterns closely resemble those found in "

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 ges ...

", " In the Flesh (Pink Floyd song), In the Flesh", and "

Waiting for the Worms "Waiting for the Worms" (working title "Follow the Worms") is a song from the 1979 Pink Floyd album ''The Wall''. It is preceded by "Run Like Hell" and followed by " Stop". Composition and plot At this point in the album, protagonist Pink has lo ...

". The track does not appear in the 1982 film version of ''

'' nor in Waters' post-Pink Floyd 1990 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 ...

''. It also has an extra verse that was cut from the studio album, but is nevertheless included in the lyrics printed on its sleeve. ''Do I have to stand up ''Wild eyed in the spotlight ''What a nightmare ''Why don't I turn and run'' After this, the line "There must be some mistake..." starts. The full song was performed live in concert, and as such appears on ''

Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81 ''Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81'' is a live album released by Pink Floyd in 2000. It is a live rendition of ''The Wall'', produced and engineered by James Guthrie, with tracks selected from the August 1980 and June 19 ...

''. It was also included on Waters' 2010-2013 solo Wall tour, and is included in the

concert film A concert film, or concert movie, is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by either a musician or a stand-up comedian. Early history The ...

and album of that tour. It's the only song from the album which Waters does not perform any kind of instrument and vocal, although his voice is audible on unofficially released recordings of the demo. He is heard singing a verse that was cut from the final version and has never been played live, located right before David Gilmour's bridge: ''Am I really unsure, ''Wild eyed in the spotlight? ''Fuck me, what a nightmare ''Who's there? ''Have they all gone? ''It's okay, now you're in luck, ''The worms have fled the rising sun. ''Their evil power is on the wane. ''Forget the past and start again. ''There must be some mistake...''

Plot

As with the other songs on ''The Wall'', "The Show Must Go On" tells a segment of the story of Pink, the story's protagonist. This song leads into "In the Flesh", where the show is performed by Pink as he begins to mentally unravel and hallucinate that he is a fascist dictator.

Personnel

Music & lyrics by Roger Waters * David Gilmour – vocals, guitars, bass guitar, roto toms * Nick Mason – drums * Richard Wright – Prophet-5 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's car ...

– Prophet-5, piano *

– backing vocals *Joe Chemay – backing vocals *Stan Farber – backing vocals *

Jim Haas James Edwin Haas was an American singer who performed vocals for many artists including Andy Williams, Neil Diamond, Jackson Browne, David Cassidy, Leif Garrett, Pink Floyd, and Barry Manilow. Leif Garrett, after Haas' death, explained that in ...

– backing vocals *John Joyce – backing vocals *

Toni Tennille Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille (born May 8, 1940) is an American singer-songwriter and keyboardist, best known as one-half of the 1970s duo Captain & Tennille with her former husband Daryl Dragon; their signature song is " Love Will Keep Us ...

– backing vocals Personnel per Fitch and Mahon.Fitch, Vernon and Mahon, Richard, ''Comfortably Numb – A History of The Wall 1978–1981'', 2006, p. 103.

Recording and lyrics

Plot

Personnel

References

Further reading