In the Flesh?

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In the Flesh? is a song by the British rock band Pink Floyd . It was written by Roger Waters and is the first song of their 1979 concept album The Wall .

music

The first 15 seconds of the 3:20 minute long song are calm and represent the end of the last song Outside the Wall of the album The Wall . As with many other Pink Floyd albums, this album consists of an endless cycle, what about it it should be noted that the last song merges seamlessly into the first. In the first seconds of the song the words "... we came in?" to hear, which represent the second part of a sentence that begins in the song Outside the Wall with "Isn't this where ...".

But soon dominating guitars can be heard. These guitars then dominate the song for the next minute, before a choir initiates the transition to the singing that begins 16 seconds later. After 38 seconds of singing, the song returns to the mood of the beginning. The lead-out is also very atmospheric and ends with the roar of a bomber's engine ( Jericho trumpet ) followed by the dropping of a bomb (the sound was actually imitated by an electric guitar). At the very end of the song you can hear the cry of a baby who is already referring to the next song, The Thin Ice .

action

Like all other songs on the album, In The Flesh tells a small part of the story of Pink, the protagonist of this album or the story that the album tells. This first song marks the beginning of the show. Pink begins to talk about his wall (The Wall). He would also like to communicate that the things behind these cold eyes ("... behind these cold eyes") look very different from what you think, despite their appearance. If the listener wants to find out what is hidden behind this gray mask, he has to work his way through his disguise (“if you wanna find out what's behind these cold eyes, you just have to claw your way through this disguise”). The song also indirectly tells the listener that Pink's father was killed in World War II . This is signaled by the bomber that can be heard at the end (Fletcher Waters, the father of Roger Waters, was killed in such an attack by the Germans in Italy during World War II; Roger was then raised by his mother alone. That and the school days of Roger Waters Also processed in the following songs. On the album The Final Cut , Roger Waters placed another memorial to his father in the song The Fletcher Memorial Home ).

Live version

During the 1980-81 The Wall tour, the song was performed by masked people who looked like the real members of Pink Floyd . They played the lines “Tell me, is something illuding you sunshine? Is this not what you expected to see? "(German:" Tell me, are you not being fooled? Isn't it what you expected (to see)? ") As well as further references to a" replacement band "(" surrogate band ”), to which the song also alludes.

Movie version

At the beginning of the film you see Pink sitting in a locked hotel room; a group of people break open the door and storm into the room when the song "explodes". The film then shows images of rioting people who play a role later in the film. A war scene follows in which a German Junkers Ju 87 destroys a bunker, which is supposed to represent the death of Pink's father.

In the film this song should be understood as a beginning or a birth. Pink is in a room supposed to represent a uterus at the end of an empty, sterile corridor. He remains immobile in a fetal position. The people who break open the room door can be seen as the beginning of the birth. Pink is examined directly by these people and given medical attention. The scene and song ends with a newborn baby crying. Another hint can be seen from the heartbeat, which can be heard in the first passages of the song. Furthermore, this heartbeat is probably an allusion to Pink Floyd's most successful album, The Dark Side of the Moon .

Here you can see that Pink already has no more eyebrows that he had at the end of Is There Anybody Out There? shaved off. Therefore it could also be that the song only plays during the concert or even at the end of the story.

End of the song

At the end of the song, Roger Waters calls out some stage instructions:

Lights!
Roll the sound effects!
Action!
Drop it! Drop it on 'em!
Drop it on 'em!

The live version of The Wall from 1980 to 1981 had slightly different stage directions:

Lights!
Roll the sound effects!
Drop it on 'em!
Drop it on 'em!

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