Comfortably Numb
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| "Comfortably Numb" | |||||
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| Image:ComfortablyNumb.jpg | |||||
| Single by Pink Floyd from the album The Wall | |||||
| B-side | Hey You | ||||
| Released | 1979 | ||||
| Format | 7" | ||||
| Recorded | April–November 1979 | ||||
| Genre | Progressive rock, Hard rock | ||||
| Length | 6:21[1] 3:59 (single edit) | ||||
| Label | EMI | ||||
| Writer | David Gilmour & Roger Waters | ||||
| Producer | Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Bob Ezrin | ||||
| Pink Floyd singles chronology | |||||
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| The Wall Disc Two track listing | |||||
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| "Comfortably Numb" | ||
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| Image:Morrison Movies.jpg
Album cover
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| Song by Van Morrison, Roger Waters with The Band | ||
| Album | Van Morrison at the Movies - Soundtrack Hits | |
| Released | February 12, 2007 | |
| Recorded | July 21, 1990 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 4:41 | |
| Label | EMI | |
| Writer | David Gilmour & Roger Waters | |
| Producer | Roger Waters and Nick Griffiths | |
"Comfortably Numb" is a song by the British progressive rock band Pink Floyd, which was released on the 1979 double album The Wall. It was also released as a single in the same year, with "Hey You" as the B-side. It is one of only three songs on the album for which writing credits are shared between Roger Waters and David Gilmour – most of the music on "Comfortably Numb" was written by Gilmour, while Waters contributed the lyrics and some additional notes. "Comfortably Numb" is one of the most famous Pink Floyd songs, and is known especially for its guitar solos. In 2004, the song was ranked #314 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Contents |
[edit] History
While most songs on The Wall were written by Waters alone, most of the music for "Comfortably Numb" was written by David Gilmour, who originally recorded it for his first solo album. Gilmour later decided not to use it for his album, and instead brought his demo of it to The Wall sessions.
The song is one of two tracks on The Wall which are completely freestanding and do not fade into or out of an adjacent track. (The other freestanding song is "Mother.") This is because on the original LP there was a break on the music as side three of the album finished. (However, for the CD release of earlier Pink Floyd records, such as The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, crossfades were added to link the two sides of the respective albums[citation needed].)
According to Rolling Stone the lyric came from Roger Waters' experience when he was injected with tranquillizers for hepatitis by a doctor prior to playing a Pink Floyd show in Philadelphia on the band's 1977 tour for the Animals album.[2] "That was the longest two hours of my life," Waters said. "Trying to do a show when you can hardly lift your arm." The experience gave him the idea which became the lyric to this song.
Waters and Gilmour disagreed about how to record the song as Gilmour preferred a more grungy approach to the verses. In the end, Waters' preferred opening to the song and Gilmour's final solo were used on the album. Gilmour would later say, "We argued over 'Comfortably Numb' like mad. Really had a big fight, went on for ages." [Rock Compact Disc magazine, September 1992]
[edit] Plot
Like the rest of the songs on the album, "Comfortably Numb" tells a part of the story of Pink, the album's protagonist. Pink, feeling completely isolated from society, cannot stand the pressures of life as a rock star and collapses in his hotel room before leaving for his concert. A doctor is sent into the room and gives Pink an injection that gives him the energy he needs to perform. The lyrics are written as a conversation, with Waters voicing the doctor and Gilmour voicing Pink.
[edit] Film version
A large group consisting of Pink's manager (played by Bob Hoskins), the hotel manager (played by Crash Bandicoot's Michael Ensign), paramedics, and groupies burst into Pink's hotel room to find an unconscious Pink sitting in a sofa. The hotel manager does not take kindly to Pink's untidyness, but Pink's manager insists that "he's an artist". After injecting a drug into Pink's arm, the paramedics drag Pink out of the hotel and to his limousine. During this time, the drug causes Pink to hallucinate that his body is decaying. Upon being inserted into the limousine, Pink tears off his diseased shell to reveal a Nazi-esque attire.
Flashbacks of Pink's childhood are intercut into the scene. In the flashback, a young Pink finds a wild rat and shows it to his overprotective mother. Her negative reaction towards the rodent causes Pink to hide the rat in a nearby shed. Pink later catches a fever that keeps him bed-ridden until the next morning. The next day, Pink returns to the shed, only to find that the rat has died in his absence, forcing Pink to dump the body into the nearby river.
[edit] Guitar solos
This song features two guitar solos by David Gilmour, and is a particular favourite with Pink Floyd fans. The final solo (outro, coda, or fade out), is widely revered by fans worldwide as one of Gilmour's best, and is an archetypal rock guitar solo.
In 1989 the readers of the Pink Floyd fanzine The Amazing Pudding voted this song the best Floyd song of all time. David Gilmour's solo was rated the 4th best guitar solo of all-time,[3] by Guitar World magazine, in a reader poll. It was named the Greatest Guitar Solo of All Time by DigitalDreamDoor, just ahead of "Stairway to Heaven". And in August 2006, Gilmour's solo on "Comfortably Numb" was voted the greatest guitar solo of all time [2] in a poll by viewers of TV music channel Planet Rock.
[edit] Live performances (Pink Floyd)
During the 1980–81 The Wall tour, where a giant wall was constructed across the stage during the performance, the song was performed with Roger Waters dressed as a doctor at the bottom of the wall, and David Gilmour singing and playing guitar from the top of the wall on a raised platform with spotlights shining from behind him. According to David Gilmour the final solo was one of the few opportunities during those concerts that he could be free to improvise completely[citation needed]. Gilmour also revised the verses to his preferred[citation needed] more grungy approach when the song was played on 1990s Pink Floyd tours after Waters left the band.
When the post-Waters Pink Floyd performs the song without Waters, the verse vocals are arranged for harmonies, rather than attempt to imitate Waters's voice. In both 1987-88 and 1994, these vocals were performed by Richard Wright, Guy Pratt and Jon Carin.
In December of 1988, a video of the live performance from Delicate Sound of Thunder reached #11 on MTV's Top 20 Video Countdown. The video was two minutes shorter than the album version and the video clip had some different camera angles as opposed to the released home video version.
A 10-minute version of "Comfortably Numb" was performed at Earls Court, London on October 20, 1994, as part of the Division Bell tour. The P*U*L*S*E video release unfortunately edited out approximately 1 1/2 minutes of the ending solo[citation needed] much to the disappointment of Floyd fans[citation needed]. (The original pay per view video has the unedited version). Gilmour is also said to have stated that the version of "Comfortably Numb" as played at the Superdome in New Orleans on the 1994 tour was the best version he has played[citation needed]. The P*U*L*S*E solo has been particularly revered[citation needed] for its length and accuracy, being voted by DigitalDreamDoor as the 5th best live solo.
[edit] Live performances (David Gilmour)
Gilmour has performed the song during each of his solo tours.
In 1984 the song was referenced in the set list as "Come On Big Bum". The vocals during the verses were performed by bandmembers Gregg Dechart and Mickey Feat.
In 2001 and 2002, the verse vocals were performed at different dates by guest singers: Robert Wyatt, Bob Geldof, Kate Bush and Durga McBroom.
During 2006, Richard Wright sang the Waters' part. On May 29th 2006 at the Royal Albert Hal, David Bowie sang Waters' part as a special guest. The song was often referred to as "C-Numb."
[edit] Live performances (Roger Waters)
Waters first performed Comfortably Numb as a solo artist at his massive concert in Berlin in 1990. On this occasion, Van Morrison, Rick Danko and Levon Helm sang Gilmour's parts, with guitar solos by Snowy White and Rick Di Fonzo.
Waters subsequently performed the song at the Guitar Legends festival in Spain in 1991 (guest vocals by Bruce Hornsby) and at the Waldon Woods benefit concert in Los Angeles in 1992 (guest vocals by Don Henley)
During 1999-2000, Doyle Bramhall II replicated Gilmour's vocals and guitar solos; a role carried out by Chester Kamen in 2002 and Dave Kilminster & Jon Carin in 2006-2007.
[edit] Cover versions
- "Comfortably Numb" by Van Morrison, Roger Waters & Rick Danko and Levon Helm of The Band & the Rundfunk Orchestra & Choir, guitar solos by Rick DiFonzo & Snowy White was performed on 21 July 1990 when Roger Waters produced a massive concert staging of The Wall Concert in Berlin. The event's purpose was to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall. Van Morrison played a live version of this song with Roger Waters. While Waters was a part of this version, it was not truly Pink Floyd, and therefore it is still considered a cover. This version was used in the 2006 Academy Award winning movie, The Departed, directed by Martin Scorsese. It was also used in an episode of The Sopranos called Kennedy and Heidi, in which Christopher Moltisanti plays The Departed soundtrack in the car shortly before his death. Van Morrison released this version on his 2007 compilation album, Van Morrison at the Movies.
- In 2001, the Canadian alternative country band Luther Wright and the Wrongs released a country version on their Rebuild the Wall album, a track-for-track reimagining of The Wall as a country album.
- In 2002, this song was covered on the Echoes of Pink tribute album by Patricia Maertens.
- In 2003, British Pub Rocker Graham Parker released a solo acoustic version on the two-disc compilation A Fair Forgery of Pink Floyd (title taken from Roger Waters' 1987 assessment of the A Momentary Lapse of Reason LP as "a pretty fair forgery").
- In 2004, a disco-oriented cover was released by Scissor Sisters on Polydor, a remix by Canadian electronic musician and DJ/producer Tiga. Although the cover (sung entirely in falsetto) has irked some Floyd fans, David Gilmour and Nick Mason[4] have expressed a liking for the group; Roger Waters is also known to have contacted the band to congratulate them on the version.[5] It is performed in a style reminiscent of The Bee Gees' disco era, and in particular, "Stayin' Alive". It is the biggest UK hit single to be a cover of a Pink Floyd song to date.
- Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears was invited by Gilmour to sing "Comfortably Numb" with him in some shows, but Gilmour went back on his offer and Shears offended him publicly[6]
- In 2005 Dar Williams included a version on her album My Better Self, duetting on the track with Ani DiFranco. This version does not feature the guitar solo. "I always thought a woman should record it," Dar Williams explains, "So I decided to do it, but I thought it needed another woman. Ani was my dream choice and she just nailed it," Williams says, "The song is a commentary on who we are in the aftermath of the last election, no matter who you voted for. On one level it is about a dream which seems to have died in our society and the ultra convenient numbing I am witnessing these days."
- Also in 2005, Billy Sherwood and Yes members Chris Squire and Alan White covered this track for The Wall tribute album Back Against The Wall.
- In 2006, the chanting group Gregorian covered it on their album Masters of Chant Chapter V.
- In 2006, Sarah Slean covered the song on the Pink Floyd Redux album.
- In 2006, Australian Hard Rock band The Amendments formed. The very first song they played together was Comfortably Numb. The song remains a band favourite during rehearsals and on stage.
- In 2006, June 26, at LA Band Shell with huge light show -
Distant Ships huge laser light show
- English band Anathema also covered the song live.
- The Sisters of Mercy often covered the song live as part of a medley with the song 'Some Kind of Stranger'.
- Dream Theater has covered the song in several of their gigs including one in which they performed it with the band Queensrÿche.
- The British progressive rock band Mostly Autumn covered the song and included it on their Pink Floyd Revisited DVD and performed it on several gigs. The verses are sung by female lead singer Heather Findlay, the chorus is sung by singer/guitarist Bryan Josh.
- On September 26 2006 the rock band Staind played the song, acoustically, live in Orlando FL while on the Ambassadors of Rock Tour. Staind included a live acoustic version on their compilation album The Singles 1996→2006.
- Bruce Hornsby often covers the song in concert (usually as part of a medley with his own "Fortunate Son"). A version of this medley can be found on the DVD Three Nights on the Town.
Pink Floyd "Comfortably Numb" (1979) Image:Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb.ogg
Problems listening to the file? See media help.
[edit] Personnel
- David Gilmour - guitars[7], pedal steel[8], bass guitar[9], Prophet-5 synthesizer[10]. vocals (chorus)[11]
- Nick Mason - drums[12]
- Roger Waters - vocals (verses)[13], bass guitar[14]
- Richard Wright - organ[15]
- Lee Ritenour - acoustic guitar[16]
- The New York Orchestra[17]
[edit] Notes
- ^ The song length variates from versions and albums. "Comfortably Numb" lasts 6:53 on Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd, 7:26 on Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81, 8:02 on The Wall Live in Berlin, 8:10 on In the Flesh Live, 8:56 on Delicate Sound Of Thunder, 7:59 on The Departed Soundtrack, 9:29 on P*U*L*S*E.
- ^ Rolling Stone: Comfortably Numb.
- ^ http://guitar.about.com/library/bl100greatest.htm
- ^ Interview with Nick Mason
- ^ [1]
- ^ Scissor Sisters star lashes out at Pink Floyd legend
- ^ Fitch, Vernon and Mahon, Richard, Comfortably Numb - A History of The Wall 1978-1981, 2006, p. 99
- ^ Fitch and Mahon, p. 99
- ^ Fitch and Mahon, p. 99
- ^ Fitch and Mahon, p. 99
- ^ Fitch and Mahon, p. 99
- ^ Fitch and Mahon, p. 99
- ^ Fitch and Mahon, p. 99
- ^ Fitch and Mahon, p. 99
- ^ Fitch and Mahon, p. 99
- ^ Fitch and Mahon, p. 99
- ^ Fitch and Mahon, p. 99
5. http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1697
[edit] References
- Fitch, Vernon. The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia (3rd edition), 2005. ISBN 1-894959-24-8
- http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pinkfloyd/articles/story/6596159/comfortably_numb
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