"Your Possible Pasts" (mislabeled as "Your Impossible Pasts" on a radio promo single) is a song from

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 ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

album '' The Final Cut''. This song was one of several to be considered for the band's "best of" album, '' Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd''.

Background

The song, like many others on ''The Final Cut'', is a rewritten version of a song rejected for ''

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 ...

'', originally to be used in ''Spare Bricks'' (an early version of ''The Final Cut'' that was an extension of ''The Wall''.) 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 ...

objected to the use of these previously rejected tracks, as he believed that they weren't good enough for release: Despite not appearing on ''The Wall'' album, the lyrics of the chorus did appear in the film for said album, ''

Pink Floyd – The Wall ''Pink Floyd – The Wall'' is a 1982 British live-action/animated psychological musical drama film directed by Alan Parker, based on Pink Floyd's 1979 album of the same name. The screenplay was written by Pink Floyd vocalist and bassist R ...

'', where the lyrics were read by the main character, Pink, in-between the songs "

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 lost ...

" and "

Stop Stop may refer to: Places * Stop, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the United States * Stop (Rogatica), a village in Rogatica, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina Facilities * Bus stop * Truck stop, a type of rest stop for truck d ...

". "Your Possible Pasts" also appeared on a 12-inch promotional single entitled ''Selections from The Final Cut'', with " The Final Cut" on the B-side. However, despite not being released as a commercial single, the song did receive significant radio play, resulting in the song hitting number 8 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart in America.

Lyrics

The first verse describes poppies entwining with "cattle trucks lying in wait for the next time", an allusion to the railway vehicles used in

The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. The line "Do you remember me, how we used to be?" originally appeared in the song "Incarceration of a Flower Child", written by Waters in 1968. Neither Pink Floyd nor Waters recorded the song; however, it was recorded by

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...

in 1999 for her album ''

Vagabond Ways ''Vagabond Ways'' is the 15th studio album by British singer Marianne Faithfull. This is her first album of original material since ''A Secret Life'' (1994). This work, produced by Daniel Lanois and Mark Howard, is a balladry-like extension of ...

''.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' critic Stewart Mason said of the song: Chris Ott of ''Pitchfork Media'' described the song as:

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 ...

– bass guitar, acoustic guitar, tape effects, sound effects, and vocals *

– electric guitars *

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 with: *

Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, and session musician. Biography Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born in ...

– electric piano and orchestrations *

Andy Bown Andrew Steven Bown (born 27 March 1946) is an English musician, who has specialised in keyboards and bass guitar. He is a member of the rock band Status Quo. Career Bown's first major band was The Herd, along with Peter Frampton. After The H ...

–

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 s ...

Ray Cooper Raymond Cooper (born 19 September 1947) is an English musician who has worked as a session and road-tour percussionist. During his career, Cooper has worked and toured with numerous musically diverse bands and artists including Elton John (as ...

– percussion

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control 1983 songs Pink Floyd songs Anti-war songs Songs written by Roger Waters Song recordings produced by Roger Waters