Pink Floyd (Official Thread)

[architect]

Harmlessly passing your time in the grassland away;
Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air.
You better watch out,
There may be dogs about
I've looked over Jordan, and I have seen
Things are not what they seem.

I have always thought that Rog is telling the common people (The Sheep) that the promised land they are working to is not going to be what they expect because the Dogs really control it.

And in the second verse, he's saying if you don't pay attention to society and the things that are going on around you in the world at large and take charge of your own life for what it is then don't be shocked when the proverbial shit hits the fan because this is for real now.


What do you get for pretending the danger's not real.
Meek and obedient you follow the leader
Down well trodden corridors into the valley of steel.
What a surprise!
A look of terminal shock in your eyes.
Now things are really what they seem.
No, this is no bad dream.




The "demented avenger" line is the best but don't ask me what it means! I've got no answer for that one.

 

[architect]

If anyone cares. Here are the original lyrics to Sheep, aka Raving and Drooling and Dogs aka You Gotta Be Crazy. Roger wrote these either in 1973 or 74 and they could have ended up on WYWH if David Gilmour would have had his way. They played them live in 1974-75 with these lyrics and they're cool to listen to because the song you know and love is there but it's so different.





Raving and Drooling



Raving and drooling I fell on his neck with a scream
He had a whole lotta terminal shock in his eyes
That's what you get for pretending the rest are not real

Babbling and snapping at far away flies
he will zig zag his way back though
memories of boredom and pain


How does it feel to be empty and angry and
spaced


Split up the middle between the illusion of
safety in numbers and the fist in your face




Gotta Be Crazy



You gotta be crazy, you gotta be mean
You gotta keep your kids and your car clean
You gotta keep climbing, you gotta keep fit
You gotta keep smiling, you gotta eat shit

You gotta be small to be a big shot
You gotta eat meat to stay at the top
You gotta be trusted, gotta tell lies
You gotta be able to narrow your eyes


You gotta believe they've gotta believe you
You gotta appear to be easy to see through
Gotta be sure you look good on the T.V.
Gotta resemble a human being


You gotta keep one eye over your shoulder
Gonna get harder as you get older
Gotta fly south and hide in the sand
Gotta forget that your gonna get cancer


And when you lose control, you'll reap
the harvest you have sown
And as the fear grows, the bad blood
slows and turns to stone
And it's to late to loose the weight you
used to need to throw around
So have a good drown as you go down
alone
Dragged down by the stone


Gotta be sure, you gotta be quick
Gotta divide the tame from the sick
Gotta keep some of us docile and fit
You gotta keep everyone buying this shit


They gotta get you started early
Processed by the time you're thirty
Work like **** till your sixty five
And then your time's your own until
you die



I gotta admit to lot of confusion
Pain in the head is the child of collusion
Gotta resist the creeping malaise
You gotta believe in the way you get
out of the maze
But you, you just keep on pretending
You can tell a sucker from a friend
But you still raise the knife to
stranger, lover, friend and foe alike.


Who was born in a house full of pain
Who was sent out to play on his own
Who was raised on a diet of shame
Who was trained not to spit in the fan
Who was told what to do by the man
Who was broken by trained personnel
Who was fitted with bridle and bit
Who was given a seat in the stand
Who was forcing his way to the rails
Who was offered a place on the board
Who was only a stranger at home
Who was ground down in the end
Who was found dead on the phone
Who was dragged down by the stone.

 

[Musikwala]

The "demented avenger" line is the best but don't ask me what it means! I've got no answer for that one.

Well, all I've got so far from the line is... lots and lots of sheep that want to avenge their fellow sheep deaths, march in unity happily away from obscurity (getting killed, made into lamb cutlets, made extinct...) and towards a dream of freedom and they do this by taking revenge against the dogs and killing them. That meaning is good enough for me.

 

[LG]

If anyone cares. Here are the original lyrics to Sheep, aka Raving and Drooling and Dogs aka You Gotta Be Crazy. Roger wrote these either in 1973 or 74 and they could have ended up on WYWH if David Gilmour would have had his way. They played them live in 1974-75 with these lyrics and they're cool to listen to because the song you know and love is there but it's so different.





Raving and Drooling



Raving and drooling I fell on his neck with a scream
He had a whole lotta terminal shock in his eyes
That's what you get for pretending the rest are not real

Babbling and snapping at far away flies
he will zig zag his way back though
memories of boredom and pain


How does it feel to be empty and angry and
spaced


Split up the middle between the illusion of
safety in numbers and the fist in your face




Gotta Be Crazy



You gotta be crazy, you gotta be mean
You gotta keep your kids and your car clean
You gotta keep climbing, you gotta keep fit
You gotta keep smiling, you gotta eat shit

You gotta be small to be a big shot
You gotta eat meat to stay at the top
You gotta be trusted, gotta tell lies
You gotta be able to narrow your eyes


You gotta believe they've gotta believe you
You gotta appear to be easy to see through
Gotta be sure you look good on the T.V.
Gotta resemble a human being


You gotta keep one eye over your shoulder
Gonna get harder as you get older
Gotta fly south and hide in the sand
Gotta forget that your gonna get cancer


And when you lose control, you'll reap
the harvest you have sown
And as the fear grows, the bad blood
slows and turns to stone
And it's to late to loose the weight you
used to need to throw around
So have a good drown as you go down
alone
Dragged down by the stone


Gotta be sure, you gotta be quick
Gotta divide the tame from the sick
Gotta keep some of us docile and fit
You gotta keep everyone buying this shit


They gotta get you started early
Processed by the time you're thirty
Work like **** till your sixty five
And then your time's your own until
you die



I gotta admit to lot of confusion
Pain in the head is the child of collusion
Gotta resist the creeping malaise
You gotta believe in the way you get
out of the maze
But you, you just keep on pretending
You can tell a sucker from a friend
But you still raise the knife to
stranger, lover, friend and foe alike.


Who was born in a house full of pain
Who was sent out to play on his own
Who was raised on a diet of shame
Who was trained not to spit in the fan
Who was told what to do by the man
Who was broken by trained personnel
Who was fitted with bridle and bit
Who was given a seat in the stand
Who was forcing his way to the rails
Who was offered a place on the board
Who was only a stranger at home
Who was ground down in the end
Who was found dead on the phone
Who was dragged down by the stone.

Certainly fits with Roger's deep philosophy about life and our place in it...I've never dug that deeply into Animals, tell Architect is the title of the album a tribute to Orwell's novel "Animal Farm"?

 

[architect]

^^ LG I believe it is loosely based on Orwell's Animal Farm. I've never actually read the book but from what I gather on Wikipedia it seems to be a one to one match with the characterizations of the animals.

 

[Musikwala]

Yeah it is somewhat similar to Animal Farm though in the book there are a lot more characters and lot more different animals. Great book!

Architect, very interesting to read those raw demo version lyrics. The finished songs that we know are so much better! Haven't listened to the audio you posted. Will do so.

 

[Johnny-Too-Good]

Just catching up on this thread guys. Been gone a couple of days. Some good analysis of my favourite Floyd album. What I will add to this is the reviews of the album when it was released in 1977. You have to remember this was right at the peak of 'Punk' in The UK. At the time I was a regular buyer of The New Musical Express, which was totally obsessed with Punk. When I bought the issue with the 'Animals' review in it I expected a total trashing. Not so, the reviewer (who's name I forget) recognised it as the superb piece of work it is (although he did refer to the 'harpys' in Roger's head ). The truth is Roger 'out-punked' the punks with his lyrics, and the band were right at the top of their game. For me, this is where Pink Floyd peaked.

 

[Musikwala]

Hey JTG! I thought your fav Floyd album was WYWH?

 

[Johnny-Too-Good]

Hey JTG! I thought your fav Floyd album was WYWH?

It's always been a bit of a toss up (if you'll excuse the expression), but I think Animals gets it

 

[LG]

^^ LG I believe it is loosely based on Orwell's Animal Farm. I've never actually read the book but from what I gather on Wikipedia it seems to be a one to one match with the characterizations of the animals.

It sure came across to me having a direct connection to Orwell's famous novel. The book is what I classify as a 'hard read' by that I mean it's fascinating but at the same time the subject is as serious as it gets. You should read it then listen to Animals again and get back to us with your thoughts.