The Trial (song)
Encyclopedia
"The Trial" is a track from the rock opera
/concept album
The Wall
, by Pink Floyd
. The song, written by Roger Waters
and Bob Ezrin
, marks the climax
of the album and the film.
schoolmaster, Pink's adulterous wife, and his overprotective mother. Pink's subconscious
struggle for sanity is overseen by a new character, "The Judge". In Pink Floyd The Wall, and the concert animations, the Judge is a giant worm for most of the song until his verse, at which point he transforms into a giant pair of buttocks (bigger than the marching hammers in "Waiting for the Worms
"). A prosecutor conducts the early portions, which consist of the antagonists explaining their actions, intercut with Pink's refrain, "Crazy/Toys in the attic, I am crazy". The culmination of the trial is the judge's sentence for Pink "to be exposed before your peers" whereupon he orders Pink to "Tear down the wall!"
As Waters sings the dialogue for each character he transitions into different accents including: upper-class British dialect (the prosecutor and judge), Scottish accent (the schoolmaster) and Northern English accent (Pink's mother). For the character of Pink's wife he used his normal voice on the album and the original 1980-81 tour. However, in his solo 2010-11 tour of The Wall he portrays the wife with a distinctively French
accent.
This and the following song "Outside the Wall
" are the only two songs on the album which the story is seen from an outsider's perspective, most notably through the four antagonists of "The Trial", even though it is all in Pink's mind. The film shows the three characters making it past The Wall in one of the famous animated sequences, symbolically invading Pink's mind, and telling The Worm their part of the story. Each of the animations references an earlier key moment:
This further emphasizes the fact that Pink is the true guilty one, leading to the Judge's response to the trial "...the way you made them suffer, your exquisite wife and mother..." and his sentencing "...since, my friend, you have revealed your deepest fear, I sentence you to be exposed before your peers..." The song ends with the sound of a wall being demolished amid chants of "Tear down the wall!", marking the destruction of Pink's metaphorical wall.
directed the design for the segment. The film segment relies not only on visuals, but also on the themes, music, and lyrics of the original song. The three principle antagonists have pronounced cartoon forms and are known individually by their role. "The Schoolmaster" (from "The Happiest Days of Our Lives
") is portrayed as a marionette
and is controlled by his overbearing wife. "The Mother" is portrayed as overprotective, and "The Wife" is portrayed as a scorpion-like creature. The Judge is a fourth featured caricature used in the segment and is portrayed as a giant pair of buttocks — complete with two backwards facing legs, an anus
for a mouth (with a monstrous voice), and a scrotum
for a chin (referencing a cleft) — wearing a judge's wig; this choice was derived from a line in Charles Dickens
' Oliver Twist
: "The law is an ass". The Prosecutor is a caricature of the stereotypical 18th century attorney. After a moment of silence, when the judge orders the wall to be torn down, and after a montage of clips from the movie shown before were played, the wall begins to fall apart.
The animated sequence was used in the 1980/81 concert versions of The Wall with Roger Waters
singing the song in front of The Wall as "The Trial"'s animation played behind him on the wall. It was then used again in the 2010/2011 touring concert version.
than a rock song; it is fully orchestrated, with no traditional rock elements until David Gilmour
's guitar starts up at the verdict, to the main melody of "Hey You".
Musically, the structure of "The Trial" is similar to an earlier track on the album, "Run Like Hell
", with the same basic chord sequence. However, there are various differences between the two songs, not the least of which being vastly different instrumentation. The bass alternates between the root
(E) and fifth
(B) of the E minor chord, and when the chord changes to F Major, the bass remains the same, resulting in a strong feeling of tension and dissonance
, as the relationship between the F chord and the B note is a tritone
, the most unstable interval in music.
In the last verse (The Judge's verdict), a distorted electric guitar enters, playing a leitmotif
from the album, the melody from "Waiting for the Worms". Here, the theme is in the key of E minor (indeed, most expressions of this theme have been in E minor, rather than the D minor of "Another Brick in the Wall"), and as in an earlier song from the album, "Hey You", it alternates between E minor (with the notes E, F#, G, F#) and A minor (A, B, C, B). However, the overall tonality of the orchestration is really alternating between E minor and F major, in keeping with the introduction of the piece. This results in further tension, as the guitar, with its aggressive, distorted tone, is starting on the major third
of the second chord, rather than the root as the listener would expect—and concluding on the tritone, B.
In the Berlin 1990 performance, "The Trial" contained these cast members and their roles:
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
/concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
The Wall
The Wall
The Wall is the eleventh studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. Released as a double album on 30 November 1979, it was subsequently performed live with elaborate theatrical effects, and adapted into a feature film, Pink Floyd—The Wall.As with the band's previous three...
, by Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
. The song, written by Roger Waters
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
and Bob Ezrin
Bob Ezrin
Robert Alan "Bob" Ezrin is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, known for his work with artists including Alice Cooper, Kiss and Pink Floyd. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2004.-Biography:...
, marks the climax
Climax (narrative)
The Climax is the point in the story where the main character's point of view changes, or the most exciting/action filled part of the story. It also known has the main turning point in the story...
of the album and the film.
Plot
The song centres on the main character, Pink, who having lived a life filled with emotional trauma and substance abuse has reached a critical psychological break. "The Trial" is the fulcrum on which Pink's mental state balances. In the song, Pink is charged with "showing feelings...of an almost human nature". This means that Pink has committed a crime against himself by actually attempting to interact with his fellow human beings. Through the course of the song, he is confronted by the primary influences of his life (who have been introduced over the course of the album): his school's abusiveChild abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
schoolmaster, Pink's adulterous wife, and his overprotective mother. Pink's subconscious
Subconscious
The term subconscious is used in many different contexts and has no single or precise definition. This greatly limits its significance as a definition-bearing concept, and in consequence the word tends to be avoided in academic and scientific settings....
struggle for sanity is overseen by a new character, "The Judge". In Pink Floyd The Wall, and the concert animations, the Judge is a giant worm for most of the song until his verse, at which point he transforms into a giant pair of buttocks (bigger than the marching hammers in "Waiting for the Worms
Waiting for the Worms
"Waiting for the Worms" is a song from the 1979 Pink Floyd album The Wall. It is preceded by "Run Like Hell" and followed by "Stop".-Overview:...
"). A prosecutor conducts the early portions, which consist of the antagonists explaining their actions, intercut with Pink's refrain, "Crazy/Toys in the attic, I am crazy". The culmination of the trial is the judge's sentence for Pink "to be exposed before your peers" whereupon he orders Pink to "Tear down the wall!"
As Waters sings the dialogue for each character he transitions into different accents including: upper-class British dialect (the prosecutor and judge), Scottish accent (the schoolmaster) and Northern English accent (Pink's mother). For the character of Pink's wife he used his normal voice on the album and the original 1980-81 tour. However, in his solo 2010-11 tour of The Wall he portrays the wife with a distinctively French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
accent.
This and the following song "Outside the Wall
Outside the Wall
"Outside the Wall" is a song by Pink Floyd. It appeared on their 1979 album The Wall. It was written by Roger Waters.-Overview:...
" are the only two songs on the album which the story is seen from an outsider's perspective, most notably through the four antagonists of "The Trial", even though it is all in Pink's mind. The film shows the three characters making it past The Wall in one of the famous animated sequences, symbolically invading Pink's mind, and telling The Worm their part of the story. Each of the animations references an earlier key moment:
- The Prosecutor himself is represented as short and rotund; wearing a long navy gown which trails behind him, at points above his own head, such as when he leaps onto the "wall" (depicted as being composed of white bricks, as in the album's cover). His facial features are occasionally greatly exaggerated; depending on what he is saying. For instance, when he describes Pink's charges, during saying that Pink has experienced "feelings... feelings of an almost human nature", his face moves close to the camera and assumes a grotesque expression of disgust and contempt.
- The School Master is brought down like a puppet on strings by his wife, referencing the earlier song "The Happiest Days of Our LivesThe Happiest Days of Our Lives"The Happiest Days of Our Lives" is a song by Pink Floyd. It appeared on The Wall album in 1979.-Composition:The song is approximately 1 minute, 46 seconds in length, beginning with 24 seconds of a helicopter sound effect; followed by shouting from the schoolmaster . Then the sound effects abruptly...
" and "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)". - The Wife comes out from underneath The Wall, represented as a scorpionScorpionScorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...
/praying mantisMantisMantis is the common name of any insect in the order Mantodea, also commonly known as praying mantises. The word itself means "prophet" in Latin and Greek...
, which is done during "Don't Leave Me Now". - The Mother (mentioned in "MotherMother (Pink Floyd song)"Mother" is a song by Pink Floyd. It appeared on The Wall album in 1979. The song is notable for its varied use of time signatures.-Composition:...
") comes in through the bricks in an abstract, morphing image of an airplane (referencing the plane which killed Pink's father, and also the plane which Pink was playing with in "Another Brick in the Wall (Part I)"), and then transforms into a talking labia, which then encircles Pink.
This further emphasizes the fact that Pink is the true guilty one, leading to the Judge's response to the trial "...the way you made them suffer, your exquisite wife and mother..." and his sentencing "...since, my friend, you have revealed your deepest fear, I sentence you to be exposed before your peers..." The song ends with the sound of a wall being demolished amid chants of "Tear down the wall!", marking the destruction of Pink's metaphorical wall.
Film version
The segment in the film version is a full-length animated sequence of vivid color and unusual visuals. Political cartoonist Gerald ScarfeGerald Scarfe
Gerald Anthony Scarfe, CBE, RDI, is an English cartoonist and illustrator. He worked as editorial cartoonist for The Sunday Times and illustrator for The New Yorker...
directed the design for the segment. The film segment relies not only on visuals, but also on the themes, music, and lyrics of the original song. The three principle antagonists have pronounced cartoon forms and are known individually by their role. "The Schoolmaster" (from "The Happiest Days of Our Lives
The Happiest Days of Our Lives
"The Happiest Days of Our Lives" is a song by Pink Floyd. It appeared on The Wall album in 1979.-Composition:The song is approximately 1 minute, 46 seconds in length, beginning with 24 seconds of a helicopter sound effect; followed by shouting from the schoolmaster . Then the sound effects abruptly...
") is portrayed as a marionette
Marionette
A marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a manipulator. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms...
and is controlled by his overbearing wife. "The Mother" is portrayed as overprotective, and "The Wife" is portrayed as a scorpion-like creature. The Judge is a fourth featured caricature used in the segment and is portrayed as a giant pair of buttocks — complete with two backwards facing legs, an anus
Anus
The anus is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to control the expulsion of feces, unwanted semi-solid matter produced during digestion, which, depending on the type of animal, may be one or more of: matter which the animal cannot digest,...
for a mouth (with a monstrous voice), and a scrotum
Scrotum
In some male mammals the scrotum is a dual-chambered protuberance of skin and muscle containing the testicles and divided by a septum. It is an extension of the perineum, and is located between the penis and anus. In humans and some other mammals, the base of the scrotum becomes covered with curly...
for a chin (referencing a cleft) — wearing a judge's wig; this choice was derived from a line in Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens, published by Richard Bentley in 1838. The story is about an orphan Oliver Twist, who endures a miserable existence in a workhouse and then is placed with an undertaker. He escapes and travels to...
: "The law is an ass". The Prosecutor is a caricature of the stereotypical 18th century attorney. After a moment of silence, when the judge orders the wall to be torn down, and after a montage of clips from the movie shown before were played, the wall begins to fall apart.
The animated sequence was used in the 1980/81 concert versions of The Wall with Roger Waters
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
singing the song in front of The Wall as "The Trial"'s animation played behind him on the wall. It was then used again in the 2010/2011 touring concert version.
Composition
The track is noted for its distinctive voice work by Roger Waters, as well as its grandiose musical style, which is more akin to a Broadway musicalBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
than a rock song; it is fully orchestrated, with no traditional rock elements until David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
's guitar starts up at the verdict, to the main melody of "Hey You".
Musically, the structure of "The Trial" is similar to an earlier track on the album, "Run Like Hell
Run Like Hell
"Run Like Hell" is a song from the 1979 Pink Floyd album The Wall.-Overview:The song is written from the point of view of anti-hero Pink during a hallucination in which he becomes a fascist dictator and turns a concert audience into an angry mob...
", with the same basic chord sequence. However, there are various differences between the two songs, not the least of which being vastly different instrumentation. The bass alternates between the root
Root (chord)
In music theory, the root of a chord is the note or pitch upon which a triadic chord is built. For example, the root of the major triad C-E-G is C....
(E) and fifth
Perfect fifth
In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is a musical interval encompassing five staff positions , and the perfect fifth is a fifth spanning seven semitones, or in meantone, four diatonic semitones and three chromatic semitones...
(B) of the E minor chord, and when the chord changes to F Major, the bass remains the same, resulting in a strong feeling of tension and dissonance
Consonance and dissonance
In music, a consonance is a harmony, chord, or interval considered stable, as opposed to a dissonance , which is considered to be unstable...
, as the relationship between the F chord and the B note is a tritone
Tritone
In classical music from Western culture, the tritone |tone]]) is traditionally defined as a musical interval composed of three whole tones. In a chromatic scale, each whole tone can be further divided into two semitones...
, the most unstable interval in music.
In the last verse (The Judge's verdict), a distorted electric guitar enters, playing a leitmotif
Leitmotif
A leitmotif , sometimes written leit-motif, is a musical term , referring to a recurring theme, associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical idea of idée fixe...
from the album, the melody from "Waiting for the Worms". Here, the theme is in the key of E minor (indeed, most expressions of this theme have been in E minor, rather than the D minor of "Another Brick in the Wall"), and as in an earlier song from the album, "Hey You", it alternates between E minor (with the notes E, F#, G, F#) and A minor (A, B, C, B). However, the overall tonality of the orchestration is really alternating between E minor and F major, in keeping with the introduction of the piece. This results in further tension, as the guitar, with its aggressive, distorted tone, is starting on the major third
Major third
In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions , and the major third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. It is qualified as major because it is the largest of the two: the major third spans four semitones, the minor third three...
of the second chord, rather than the root as the listener would expect—and concluding on the tritone, B.
Concerts and versions
- In the Berlin performance, before The Wall crumbles, it briefly "becomes" the Berlin WallBerlin WallThe Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
, building up graffitiGraffitiGraffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
like the actual wall until it is pulled down. - In the concert animation, when the GodzillaGodzillais a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
-sized judge looks over the crowd, it seems that the "marching hammers" of fame are all lined up in his possession. - In the film version, the animation from the stage show is used, but certain shots (including the School Master turning into a hammer) were stretched from their original full-frame imageAspect ratio (image)The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of the width of the image to its height, expressed as two numbers separated by a colon. That is, for an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this...
to a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The rest of the animation that was featured reused the original cels though expanded the backgrounds to fill the cinematic image. Waters used the film's anamorphic version for his 2010–11 tour of The Wall. - In 2009, pianist Andreas Behrendt released an instrumental version of the song.
Personnel
- Roger WatersRoger WatersGeorge Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
— vocals - Nick MasonNick MasonNicholas Berkeley "Nick" Mason is an English drummer and songwriter, best known for his work with Pink Floyd. He was the only constant member of the band since its formation in 1965...
— bass drum and cymbals - David GilmourDavid GilmourDavid Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
— guitars, bass guitar - Rick Wright — piano
- Vicki & Clare — backing vocals
- New York Symphony OrchestraNew York Symphony OrchestraThe New York Symphony Orchestra was founded as the New York Symphony Society in New York City by Leopold Damrosch in 1878. For many years it was a fierce rival to the older Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York. It was supported by Andrew Carnegie who built Carnegie Hall expressly for the...
conducted by Michael KamenMichael KamenMichael Arnold Kamen was an American composer , orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, song writer, and session musician.-Background:...
In the Berlin 1990 performance, "The Trial" contained these cast members and their roles:
- Tim CurryTim CurryTimothy James "Tim" Curry is a British actor, singer, composer and voice actor, known for his work in a diverse range of theatre, film and television productions. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California....
— The Prosecutor - Thomas DolbyThomas DolbyThomas Dolby is an English musician and producer. Best known for his 1982 hit "She Blinded Me with Science", and 1984 single "Hyperactive!", he has also worked extensively in production and as a session musician.-Early life:Dolby was born in London, England, contrary to information in early 1980s...
— The Schoolmaster - Ute LemperUte LemperUte Lemper is a German chanteuse and actress renowned for her interpretation of the work of Kurt Weill.- Biography :Born in Münster, Germany, Ute Lemper was raised in a Roman Catholic family. She joined the punk music group known as the Panama Drive Band at the age of 16...
— Pink's Wife - Marianne FaithfullMarianne FaithfullMarianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
— Pink's Mother - Albert FinneyAlbert FinneyAlbert Finney is an English actor. He achieved prominence in films in the early 1960s, and has maintained a successful career in theatre, film and television....
— The Judge - Roger WatersRoger WatersGeorge Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
(pre-recorded vocals) — Pink
Further reading
- Fitch, Vernon. The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia (3rd edition), 2005. ISBN 1-894959-24-8.
- Pink Floyd: The Wall (Sheet music songbook) (1980 Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd., London, England, ISBN 0-7119-1031-6 (USA ISBN 0-8256-1076-1).