Another brick in the wall

"Another Brick in the Wall" is the title of three songs set to variations of the same basic theme, on Pink Floyd's 1979 rock opera, The Wall, subtitled Part I (work title Reminiscing) , Part II (work title Education), and Part III (work title Drugs), respectively, all of which were written by Pink Floyd's bassist and then lead songwriter, Roger Waters. It has become one of the most famous Pink Floyd songs.

Part II is a protest song against rigid schooling in general and boarding schools in particular, which has led to the song being banned in South Africa. It was also released as a single and provided the band's only number one hit in the UK, the US, West Germany and many other countries. In the UK, it was their first single since 1968's "Point Me at the Sky", the song was also the final number one single of the 1970s. For Part II, Pink Floyd received a Grammy nomination for Best Performance by a Rock Duo or Group and lost to Bob Seger's "Against the Wind". In addition, Part II was number 375 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. The single sold over 4 million copies worldwide. In Israel Part II was chosen as the best rock song of the 1980s (although it was issued before 1980), in a survey by one of the main radio stations Israel Army Radio held at the end of 1989.^{[citation needed]}

The single, as well as the album The Wall, were banned in South Africa in 1980 after the song was adopted by supporters of a nationwide school boycott protesting racial inequities in education.

Composition

In the album version of The Wall, "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II" taken out from "The Happiest Days of Our Lives", with a trademark Roger Waters scream. The song has strong drums, a well-known bass line and distinctive guitar parts in the background with a smooth, yet edgy guitar solo. The song also features a group of school children for lead vocals in the second verse: as the song ends, the sounds of a school yard are heard, along with the teacher who continues to lord it over the children's lives by shouting such things as "Wrong! Do it again!" which somehow sounds mocking, and "If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding! How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?!", and "You! Yes! You behind the bikesheds! Stand still, laddie!", all of it dissolving into the dull drone of a phone ringing and ending with a deep sigh.

School choir

For "Part II", Pink Floyd needed a school choir, and producer Bob Ezrin requested that sound engineer Nick Griffiths find one. Griffiths approached music teacher Alun Renshaw of Islington Green School, around the corner from their Britannia Row Studios. Though the school received a lump sum payment of £1000, there was no contractual arrangement for royalties from record sales. Under 1996 UK copyright law, they became eligible for royalties from broadcasts, and after royalties agent Peter Rowan traced choir members through the website Friends Reunited and other means, they claimed their payments. Contrary to press reports, this did not involve suing Pink Floyd. Music industry professionals estimated that each student would be owed around £500.

Plot

After being insulted by the teacher, Pink dreams that the kids in his school begin to protest against their abusive teachers.

Film version

Following "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" Pink starts to daydream during his class. He imagines several students marching in unison to the beat of the song, following a path until they fall blindly into an oversized meat-grinder to re-emerge as putty-faced clones void of individual distinction. Starting with Gilmour's guitar solo, the children destroy the school building using hammers (foreshadowing the subsequent neo-fascist Nazi-like animated sequence with its marching hammers) and crowbars, creating a bonfire, dragging their teacher out of the burning school kicking and screaming. The song ends with Pink rubbing his hand, which the teacher slapped with a ruler in the previous song.

During the song, the teacher's "meat and pudding" lines are folded into the first few lines of the school choir's lines, and are performed by the teacher in the film, played by Alex McAvoy.

Music video

Prior to the film, the first video for the track, directed by Alan Parker, depicted students running in a playground and the teacher puppet from The Wall concerts was used. The video also mixed in some animated scenes later used in "The Trial" and "Waiting for the Worms". The children who sang on "Another Brick in the Wall (Pt. II)" were not allowed to appear in the video as they didn't hold Equity Cards.

Once the film was completed, the actual scenes of "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" and "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II" were combined into a new video, which now represents the music video for "Another Brick in the Wall".

Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3_NuWb9r2A