Another Brick in the Wall

"Another Brick in the Wall" is a three-part composition on Pink Floyd's 1979 album The Wall, written by the bassist, Roger Waters. "Part 2", a protest song against corporal punishment and rigid and abusive schooling, features a children's choir. At the suggestion of the producer, Bob Ezrin, Pink Floyd incorporated elements of disco.

"Part 2" was Pink Floyd's first UK single since "Point Me at the Sky" (1968). It sold more than four million copies worldwide and topped singles charts in 14 countries, including the UK and the US. It was nominated for a Grammy Award and was ranked number 384 on Rolling StoneTemplate:'s list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Concept

The three parts of "Another Brick in the Wall" appear on Pink Floyd's 1979 rock opera album The Wall. They are essentially one verse each, although Part 2 sees its own verse sung twice: once by Floyd members, and the second time by the guest choir along with Waters and Gilmour. During "Part 1", the protagonist, Pink, begins building a metaphorical wall around himself following the death of his father. In "Part 2", traumas involving his overprotective mother and abusive schoolteachers become bricks in the wall. Following a violent breakdown in "Part 3", Pink dismisses everyone he knows as "just bricks in the wall."<ref name="RockOpera">Template:Citation; Template:Citation; Template:Citation</ref><ref name="Schaffnerpp210211">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Bassist Roger Waters wrote "Part 2" as a protest against rigid schooling, particularly boarding schools.<ref name=":2" /> "Another Brick in the Wall" appears in the film based on the album. In the "Part 2" sequence, children enter a school and march in unison through a meat grinder, becoming "putty-faced" clones, before rioting and burning down the school.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Recording

At the suggestion of the producer Bob Ezrin, Pink Floyd added elements of disco, which was popular at the time. According to the guitarist, David Gilmour:

Template:ErrorTemplate:Main other{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries

}}

{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }}

Gilmour recorded his guitar solo using a 1955 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top guitar with P-90 pickups.Template:Sfn The American session guitarist Lee Ritenour said in a 2024 interview that Ezrin had him record some ideas for the solo, as Pink Floyd could not decide how to end it. Though his parts were not used, he said he detected his influence in the last bars of Gilmour's solo.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Despite his reservations about the disco element, Gilmour felt the final song sounded like Pink Floyd.<ref name="choir and disco" /> When Ezrin heard the song with a disco beat, he was convinced it could become a hit, but felt it needed to be longer, with two verses and two choruses. The band resisted, saying they did not release singles; Waters told him: "Go ahead and waste your time doing silly stuff."Template:Sfn

While the band members were away, Ezrin edited the takes into an extended version. He also had the engineer Nick Griffiths record children singing the verse at Islington Green School, close to Pink Floyd's studio.Template:Sfn Griffiths was instructed to record only two or three children. Inspired by a Todd Rundgren album featuring an audience in each stereo channel, he suggested recording a school choir. The school allotted only 40 minutes for the recording.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Alun Renshaw, the head of music at the school, was enthusiastic, and said later: "I wanted to make music relevant to the kids – not just sitting around listening to Tchaikovsky. I thought the lyrics were great – 'We don't need no education, we don't need no thought control' ... I just thought it would be a wonderful experience for the kids."<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> The children's choir in the recording featured 23 students, who practised for about a week to prepare.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Renshaw hid the lyrics from the headteacher, Margaret Maden, fearing she might stop the recording.<ref name=":4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Maden said: "I was only told about it after the event, which didn't please me. But on balance it was part of a very rich musical education."<ref name=":4" />

Renshaw and the children spent a week practising before he took them to a recording studio near the school.<ref name=":6">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> According to Ezrin, when he played the children's vocals to Waters, "There was a total softening of his face, and you just knew that he knew it was going to be an important record."<ref name="choir and disco" /> Waters said: "It was great—exactly the thing I expected from a collaborator."<ref name="choir and disco" />

The children of Islington School received tickets to a Pink Floyd concert, an album and a single.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Though the school received a payment of £1,000, there was no arrangement for royalties for the children.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite news</ref> Following a change to UK copyright law in 1996, they became eligible for royalties from broadcasts. After the royalties agent Peter Rowan traced the choir members through the social network service Friends Reunited and other means, they successfully lodged a claim for royalties with the Performing Artists' Media Rights Association in 2004.<ref name=":5"/>

Reception

"Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" was released as a single, Pink Floyd's first in the UK since "Point Me at the Sky" (1968).Template:Citation needed It was also the Christmas number one of 1979 and the final number one of the decade in the UK.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It remained at the top until mid-January, in the process also becoming the first UK number of the 1980s.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the US, it reached number 57 on the disco chart.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> The single sold over 4 million copies worldwide.<ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref> Cash Box described it as a "catchy but foreboding selection, with its ominously steady drum work and angry lyrics."<ref name=cb>Template:Cite news</ref> Critic Mike Cormack said "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" was a "magnificent achievement: its catchy rhythm undercutting the darkness of the song’s theme, the irony of its chorus belying the acidulous disdain of the lyric, Waters’ quality as a wordsmith on display with the excellent phrase ‘dark sarcasm’, and the simplicity of its structure giving it a tight focus."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The song won Waters the 1983 British Academy Award for Best Original Song for its appearance in the Wall film.<ref name="BAFTA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> "Part 2" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Rock Duo or Group.Template:Citation needed It appeared at number 384 on Rolling StoneTemplate:'s 2010 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".<ref name=":1">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

The lyrics attracted controversy. The Inner London Education Authority described the song as "scandalous", and according to Renshaw, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher "hated it".<ref name=":6" /> Renshaw said, "There was a political knee-jerk reaction to a song that had nothing to do with the education system. It was [Waters'] reflections on his life and how his schooling was part of that."<ref name=":6" /> The single, as well as the album The Wall, were banned in South Africa in 1980 after it was adopted by supporters of a nationwide school boycott protesting instituted racial inequities in education under apartheid.<ref name="dprp.net">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":3">(UPI) "South Africa Bans Floyd's 'The Wall'" The New York Times 15 July 1980: C6</ref>

Charts

Weekly charts

Template:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chart

Chart (1979–80)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	2
Canada Top Singles (RPM)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	1
Denmark (Hitlisten)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	5
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)<ref>Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (Tammi, 2005; ed. Jake Nyman).</ref>	1
Ireland (IRMA)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	1
Israel Singles Chart<ref name="BOOK">Template:Cite book</ref>	1
Italy (Musica e Dischi)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Pink Floyd".</ref>	2
Portugal Singles Chart<ref name="BOOK" />	1
South African Chart (Springbok Radio)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	1
Spain (PROMUSICAE)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Unreliable source?	2
US Cash Box Top 100<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	1

Template:Single chart

Chart (2012)	Peak position

Template:Single chart

Chart (2014)	Peak position

Year-end charts

Chart (1980)	Rank
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	4
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	1
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	2
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	12
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	61
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	44
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	5
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	8
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	1
US Billboard Hot 100<ref>Billboard 20 December 1980: TIA-10</ref>	2
US Cash Box <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	3

All-time charts

Chart	Position
US Billboard Hot 100 (1958–2018)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	146
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	104

Personnel

Personnel, according to The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia.<ref name=p737688>Template:Cite book</ref>

Part 1

• Roger Waters – lead vocals, bass
• David Gilmour – guitar, harmony vocals
• Richard Wright – Prophet-5 synthesiser, Minimoog

Part 2

• Roger Waters – bass, vocals (unison with Gilmour)
• David Gilmour – guitar, vocals (unison with Waters)
• Nick Mason – drums
• Richard Wright – Hammond organ, Prophet-5 synthesiser
• Islington Green School students (organized by Alun Renshaw) – vocals

Part 3

• Roger Waters – bass, vocals, rhythm guitar
• David Gilmour – guitar
• Nick Mason – drums
• Richard Wright – Prophet-5 synthesiser

Roger Waters versions

Template:Infobox song A live version of "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" with Cyndi Lauper on vocals, recorded on 21 July 1990 at Potsdamer Platz, was released as a single on 10 September 1990 to promote The Wall – Live in Berlin. The B-side was the live version of "Run Like Hell" performed with Scorpions at the same concert.

In promotion of The Wall – Live in Berlin a new studio version was recorded by Roger Waters & The Bleeding Heart Band that was released on promo compilation titled The Wall Berlin '90 featuring Pink Floyd and Roger Waters solo recordings.

Another live version appeared on Waters' album In the Flesh – Live, integrated between "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" and "Mother" as on the original album, but with a reprise of the first verse ending the song.

For later shows, Waters usually employed local school choirs to perform the song with him (as can be seen on Roger Waters: The Wall). From 2011 to 2013, Waters added an acoustic coda called "The Ballad of Jean Charles de Menezes".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Korn version

The American nu metal band Korn covered all three parts, along with The Wall song "Goodbye Cruel World", for a track on their 2004 compilation album Greatest Hits, Vol. 1. It was released as a promotional single and reached number 37 on the Modern Rock chart and number 12 on the Mainstream Rock chart.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> A live music video was released, directed by Bill Yukich.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Will Levith of Ultimate Classic Rock called Korn's cover "one of the worst covers of a classic rock song of all time,"<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> while Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic described the cover as "overwrought, yet enticingly so".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Charts

Chart (2004)	Peak position
US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	37
US Mainstream Rock Tracks (Billboard)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	12

Personnel

• Jonathan Davis – vocals
• James "Munky" Shaffer – rhythm guitar
• Brian "Head" Welch – lead guitar
• Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu – bass
• David Silveria – drums

Derivative works

• American alternative rock supergroup Class of '99's only known recordings were cover versions of "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" and "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)", recorded in 1998 for the soundtrack to Robert Rodriguez's science-fiction horror film The Faculty, the movie and soundtrack being released later that year. In 1999, the cover of "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" was issued as the only single from the soundtrack. These recordings were Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley's final studio appearance prior to his death by drug overdose in April 2002.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• "Proper Education" – a 2007 remix of the song by Swedish DJ Eric Prydz, with the band credited as Floyd.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• The rock band Blurred Vision released a cover of "Another Brick In The Wall Part 2" dubbed "Hey Ayatollah Leave Those Kids Alone". Filmmaker Babak Payami produced a music video, which quickly went viral on the video-sharing platform YouTube. The remake was also publicly endorsed by Roger Waters.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":0" /> In October 2022 in reaction to the Great wave of Iranian protests of Autumn 2022 Blurred Vision published an updated clip, featuring scenes from these protests with women taking off their obligatory headscarfs.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See also

• List of anti-war songs (pertaining to part one)

References

Sources

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation

Further reading

• Fitch, Vernon and Mahon, Richard, Comfortably Numb – A History of The Wall 1978–1981, 2006