The Happiest Days of Our Lives

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The Happiest Days of Our Lives
Pink Floyd
publication November 30, 1979
length 1:46
Genre (s) Rock music , progressive rock
text Roger Waters
music Roger Waters
album The Wall

The Happiest Days of Our Lives is a song by the British rock band Pink Floyd , which appeared on the 1979 album The Wall . The piece forms a thematic introduction to the popular title Another Brick in the Wall Part II and continues on the album without interruption.

It was written by Roger Waters and, like most of the songs on the album, was incorporated into The Wall film.

Theme and representation in the film

As the title of the concept album The Wall , The Happiest Days of Our Lives contains part of the story of the musician Pink, who, embittered by his life experiences, builds an imaginary wall around himself to protect himself from emotional influences. The piece tells of Pink's negative experiences with the teachers at his school.

During his school days, The Wall protagonist Pink is constantly humiliated by the teachers at his school. They take every opportunity to punish and embarrass the students. However, it turns out that outside of school the teachers themselves are oppressed by their dominant wives and seem to try to compensate for this with their sadism towards the students.

In the film, the piece is supplemented by two additional scenes that are not directly related to the song itself. The first is brought forward and shows Pink and two school friends laying cartridge cases from his late father from the Second World War on the tracks in front of a moving train in order to blow them up. From the passing train, faceless-looking children look through masks and the warning call of a teacher can be heard.

The second scene shows Pink writing a poem in the same teacher's class. When he notices this, he snatches the paper from Pink and makes fun of the writing in front of the whole class (the text is an excerpt from the Pink Floyd piece Money from the album The Dark Side of the Moon ). While the album itself speaks of teachers , the film focuses on a specific teacher and tormentor Pinks.

Content and music

According to Roger Waters, the content of the piece is shaped by experiences from his own school days.

The song deals cynically with the classic school education. Even the title (in German: The happiest days of our lives ) is an ironic criticism. It is particularly criticized (especially in the film) that the illustrated English school system suppresses any individuality and creativity of the students. Musically, The Happiest Days of Our Lives is very different from Pink Floyd tracks on previous albums. It is particularly characterized by its heaviness, which is primarily created by the powerful drum rhythms.

Publication and live performances

After its release on The Wall , The Happiest Days of Our Lives later appeared on the compilation album Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd , the live album Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81 and on Roger Waters' solo live albums In the Flesh and The Wall - Live in Berlin .

The teacher doll as seen on The Wall tour 2010–2012

The entire piece was only played by Pink Floyd during the The Wall tour 1980/1981 , after Roger Waters' exit from the band, performances of the title were waived. Sometimes the final part of The Happiest Days of Our Lives (the choir singing at the end of the title) was included before Another Brick in the Wall Part II . B. during the Division Bell Tour 1994. As a solo artist, Roger Waters regularly performs the piece, also in combination with Another Brick in the Wall Part II .

During the stage show on Waters' The Wall Live Tour 2010–2012 , a giant teacher puppet moved along the stage through the hall during the play . A similar doll was used as early as 1990 during the The Wall performance in Berlin, and the shows on The Wall Tour 1980/1981 also showed a large model of a teacher figure. The design of the dolls is based on the illustrations by the artist Gerald Scarfe, who sketched the characters for the The Wall album cover and the film.

occupation

literature

Web links

German translation of the text to Brother Franziskus