The Wall
1979 | Rock
“You better run all day and run all night and keep your dirty feelings deep inside. -- And if you're taking your girlfriend out tonight, you better park the car well out of sight. -- Cause if they catch you in the back seat trying to pick her locks, they're gonna send you back to Mother in a cardboard box.”
Trivia
- Hit #53 on the Billboard 100 chart.
- The movie version of the song is considerably shorter than the album version, with the second guitar refrain taken out, Richard Wright's synth solo superimposed over the second verse, and the long instrumental break between the end of the synth solo and Waters' scream removed.
- Director Alan Parker hired the Tilbury Skins, a skinhead group from Essex, for a scene in which Pink's "hammer guard" smash up a Pakistani diner; Parker recalled how the action "always seemed to continue long after I had yelled out 'Cut!'."
- The songs opening to is used by the Pittsburgh Pirates when introducing the Pierogies for the Great Pierogi Race between the 5th and 6th innings.
THE HOT TAKES
Luke Tatum
Dictatorial control! Do this, do this. Don't do that. Especially don't do that. Break the rules, and your life is over. Some really creative and thought-provoking diction at play here. "Button down lips," "roller blind eyes," and "catch you in the back seat trying to pick her locks," all play into this idea of total state control. So I suppose the obvious question here is: Do we choose to run from such a state? Or do we stand and resist?
Sherry Voluntary
Of course I love this song. I mean, I was raised on the Pink Floyd, bitch. That driving, infectious beat and those guitar licks! The lyrics are interesting too, but I think the full impact of this one needs to be understood in conjunction with The Wall movie. One of the main themes is fascism and peoples almost religious dedication to it, while also making the comparison to the almost religious devotion of the fans to the band. I think it's a good reminder that we should not put all of our hopes and trust into other men. We're all human and are imperfect. When we look to leaders and let them judge what is right and wrong, we have given ourselves over to control. The belief in authority is a cancer on mankind, libertarian principles can drive it away.
Nicky P
Remember a time when we were concerned about right wing thought policing? That glorious time when the conservatives might look at you smugly because they had little political power to do anything about it? You could make songs and movies about a fear of impending conservative fascist regimes. Lurking in the corner was always the spectre of socialism however. Far worse in scope than fascism as far as death tolls go it's often lookded over as "just sharing." I'm not trying to laude fascism, i want to point out how oppressive regimes are all the same. Sure it's Antifa now and not the "hammer guard" and "political correctness" and "cultural appropriation" used as rallying cries to force obedience but the chilling feeling is the same. I also find the song telling because its motto is Run Like Hell because ultimately they would prefer not to deal with you, they want you to scatter and hide. I'd prefer not run, but not quite be martyred. Is there a middle ground?