Us and Them
Encyclopedia
"Us and Them" is the sixth track from English
progressive rock
band Pink Floyd
's 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon
. The music was written by Richard Wright
and the lyrics by Roger Waters
and it is sung by David Gilmour
, with harmonies
by Wright. It is 7 minutes, 46 seconds in length, making it the longest song on the album.
solos in it, one at the beginning and another towards the end of the song. Richard Wright introduces the song with harmonies on his Hammond organ
, and put a piano chordal backing and short piano solo afterwards on the arrangement.
The tune was originally written on the piano by Richard Wright for the movie Zabriskie Point
in 1969 and was titled "The Violent Sequence". In its original demo form it was instrumental, featuring only piano and bass. Director Michelangelo Antonioni
rejected it on the grounds that it was too unlike their "Careful with That Axe, Eugene
"-esque work, which was the style of music he wanted to use. As Waters recalls it in impersonation, Antonioni's response was, "It's beautiful, but is it too sad, you know? It makes me think of church
". The song was shelved until The Dark Side of the Moon where Waters put some vocals in to it.
The verses have a unique, jazz-influenced chord progression
: Dsus2, D6add9 (or Esus2/D), D minor major 7 (or Faug/D), and G/D (the D in the bass is sustained as a pedal point
throughout). The D6 with an added 9th is not unlike an Esus2 with a D in the bass, but because the bass line also provides the fifth
, it is more accurately described as a kind of D chord
. The D minor chord with a major seventh
is a rarity in 1970s rock music.
In the middle, there is a break during which roadie
"Roger the Hat" speaks (during the recording of the album a number of interviews were laid down, including with Paul
and Linda McCartney
who were recording in the same studio).
It was also re-released on the 2001 greatest hits album, Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd
, where it is the seventh track of the second disc.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band 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...
's 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in March 1973. It built on ideas explored in the band's earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterised their work following the departure...
. The music was written by Richard Wright
Richard Wright (musician)
Richard William Wright was an English pianist, keyboardist and songwriter, best known for his career with Pink Floyd. Wright's richly textured keyboard layers were a vital ingredient and a distinctive characteristic of Pink Floyd's sound...
and the lyrics 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 it is sung by 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...
, with harmonies
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
by Wright. It is 7 minutes, 46 seconds in length, making it the longest song on the album.
Composition
"Us and Them" is rather quiet in tone and dynamics, although the choruses are louder than the verses. It has two saxophoneSaxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
solos in it, one at the beginning and another towards the end of the song. Richard Wright introduces the song with harmonies on his Hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
, and put a piano chordal backing and short piano solo afterwards on the arrangement.
The tune was originally written on the piano by Richard Wright for the movie Zabriskie Point
Zabriskie Point (film)
Zabriskie Point is a 1970 film by Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, widely noted at the time for its setting in the late 1960s counterculture of the United States...
in 1969 and was titled "The Violent Sequence". In its original demo form it was instrumental, featuring only piano and bass. Director Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian modernist film director, screenwriter, editor and short story writer.- Personal life :...
rejected it on the grounds that it was too unlike their "Careful with That Axe, Eugene
Careful with That Axe, Eugene
"Careful with That Axe, Eugene" is an instrumental song by the British band Pink Floyd. The studio recording was originally released as the B-side of their single "Point Me at the Sky" and is also featured on the Relics compilation album; live versions can also be found on Ummagumma and in the film...
"-esque work, which was the style of music he wanted to use. As Waters recalls it in impersonation, Antonioni's response was, "It's beautiful, but is it too sad, you know? It makes me think of church
Church service
In Christianity, a church service is a term used to describe a formalized period of communal worship, often but not exclusively occurring on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day Sabbatarianism. The church service is the gathering together of Christians to be...
". The song was shelved until The Dark Side of the Moon where Waters put some vocals in to it.
The verses have a unique, jazz-influenced chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
: Dsus2, D6add9 (or Esus2/D), D minor major 7 (or Faug/D), and G/D (the D in the bass is sustained as a pedal point
Pedal point
In tonal music, a pedal point is a sustained tone, typically in the bass, during which at least one foreign, i.e., dissonant harmony is sounded in the other parts. A pedal point sometimes functions as a "non-chord tone", placing it in the categories alongside suspensions, retardations, and passing...
throughout). The D6 with an added 9th is not unlike an Esus2 with a D in the bass, but because the bass line also provides the 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...
, it is more accurately described as a kind of D chord
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
. The D minor chord with a major seventh
Minor major seventh chord
A minor major seventh chord, or minor/major seventh chord is a naturally occurring diatonic nondominant seventh chord in the harmonic minor scale. The chord is built on a root, and above that the intervals of a minor third, a major third above that note and above that a major third...
is a rarity in 1970s rock music.
In the middle, there is a break during which roadie
Road crew
The road crew are the technicians or support personnel who travel with a band on tour, usually in sleeper buses, and handle every part of the concert productions except actually performing the music with the musicians...
"Roger the Hat" speaks (during the recording of the album a number of interviews were laid down, including with Paul
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
and Linda McCartney
Linda McCartney
Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....
who were recording in the same studio).
It was also re-released on the 2001 greatest hits album, Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd
Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd
Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd is a compilation album by Pink Floyd. It was released by EMI Records in the United Kingdom on 5 November 2001 and the following day in the United States through Capitol Records. It debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart on 24 November 2001, with sales...
, where it is the seventh track of the second disc.
Spoken parts
Alternative and live versions
- The instrumental "Violent Sequence" was performed on a handful of occasions in early 1970. These performances were much the same as the Zabriskie Point demo, with some added percussion from Nick Mason. On at least two occasions, the song was paired with another piece from the Zabriskie sessions, "Heartbeat, Pigmeat".
- In early 1972 performances, a short audio clip of a man groaning in tortuous painPainPain is an unpleasant sensation often caused by intense or damaging stimuli such as stubbing a toe, burning a finger, putting iodine on a cut, and bumping the "funny bone."...
would be played at the beginning of the song, immediately highlighting the song's theme of violenceViolenceViolence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
. The song did not include any saxophone and the lead vocals were performed by Roger Waters and Richard Wright, with David Gilmour providing backing vocals. - It was occasionally featured as an encore during the band's 1977 "In the Flesh" tour (this was performed at most shows on the band's 1977 US tours during the encore). It was often used to intentionally calm the often rowdy stadium audiences.
- P·U·L·S·E and the second disc and video of Delicate Sound of ThunderDelicate Sound of Thunder-LP / Cassette:Side 1# "Shine On You Crazy Diamond"# "Learning to Fly# "Yet Another Movie"# "Round and Around"Side 2# "Sorrow"# "The Dogs of War"# "On the Turning Away"Side 3# "One of These Days"# "Time"...
feature this track. Both versions are shorter than the original studio recording, and the latter features a slightly altered saxophone solo. - On Echoes, the song has a different ending: instead of segueing into what would be the next track on The Dark Side of the MoonThe Dark Side of the MoonThe Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in March 1973. It built on ideas explored in the band's earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterised their work following the departure...
("Any Colour You LikeAny Colour You Like"Any Colour You Like" is the eighth track from English progressive rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon. It is instrumental and was written by David Gilmour, Richard Wright and Nick Mason, making it one of two songs on the album that Roger Waters did not contribute to, and...
"), engineer and Floyd collaborator James GuthrieJames Guthrie (record producer)James K.A. Guthrie is a British recording engineer and record producer best known for his work with the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, having served as a producer and engineer for the band since 1978...
gave the song a cold ending, before adding a backwards piano note that would lead into the collection's next track, "Learning to Fly". - 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...
included the song in his recent 2006–2008 The Dark Side of the Moon Live tour, with Jon CarinJon CarinJon Carin is a producer, artist and musician best known for his association with Pink Floyd, and more specifically its guitarist David Gilmour and former member Roger Waters over the last twenty five years. In the early eighties, he gained fame as the front-man for the band Industry...
replacing Gilmour on lead vocals.
Cover versions
- The song has been covered by Between the Buried and MeBetween the Buried and MeBetween the Buried and Me is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. They have released a total of five studio albums, as well as a cover album, an EP and a live DVD/CD...
on the album The Anatomy OfThe Anatomy OfThe Anatomy Of is the first cover album by the American progressive metal band Between the Buried and Me. It is the second release to include Dan Briggs, Blake Richardson, and Dustie Waring.-Track listing:-Reception:*Allmusic [ link]*Lambgoat...
. - An orchestrated version, arranged by Jaz ColemanJaz ColemanJeremy "Jaz" Coleman is a musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is notable for his vocal contributions to rock band Killing Joke...
and performed by the London Philharmonic OrchestraLondon Philharmonic OrchestraThe London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...
conducted by Peter Scholes, appears on the 1995 instrumental album Us and Them: Symphonic Pink FloydUs and Them: Symphonic Pink Floyd- Chart position :...
. - The song was also covered by the Scissor SistersScissor SistersScissor Sisters are an American band "spawned by the scuzzy, gay nightlife scene of New York" who took their name from a sexual position between two women also known as tribadism...
for their first album, but was cut. More recently, the song was covered by Swedish band, A CampA CampA Camp is the solo side project of Nina Persson, vocalist for the Swedish Indie Pop band The Cardigans.Persson formed A Camp when The Cardigans took a break after several years of touring and the recording of their 1998 album Gran Turismo.-A Camp:...
, and appeared as a B-side for their single "Love Has Left the RoomLove Has Left the Room"Love Has Left the Room" is the first full-length single to be released from A Camp's second album Colonia. Released solely as a digital download on 27 April 2009, the a-side was backed by covers of Pink Floyd's "Us and Them" and a version of David Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging", which had previously...
". - The song was also covered by American progressive metal band Dream TheaterDream TheaterDream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
on October 11, 2005. It was later released as part of the official bootlegs series. - The Flaming LipsThe Flaming LipsThe Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...
included it as a part of their Dark Side of the Moon cover album. - Misery SignalsMisery SignalsMisery Signals is an American metalcore band formed in Wisconsin in 2002. The sound of their music is defined by bright melodies backed up by odd time signatures, chugging riffs, and breakdowns.-Formation :...
covered the song for the companion soundtrack to the video game HomefrontHomefront (video game)Homefront is a first-person shooter video game developed by now defunct Kaos Studios and published by THQ, in which players play as members of a resistance movement fighting against a near-future Korean military occupation of the United States. The story was written by John Milius, who co-wrote...
. - Easy Star All-StarsEasy Star All-StarsOriginally formed as a studio band for the label's earliest recordings, Easy Star All-Stars is a reggae collective with a rotating roster of musicians and singers founded by the co-founders of New York City-based Easy Star Records in 1997...
covered the song on their cover album Dub Side of the MoonDub Side of the MoonDub Side of the Moon is a dub reggae tribute to the Pink Floyd album, The Dark Side of the Moon, co-produced by Easy Star All-Stars founder's Michael G and Ticklah . Dub Side of the Moon has remained on the Billboard Reggae Charts since its release in 2003...
.
Personnel
- 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...
– guitar, lead vocals - 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...
– bass guitar, lyrics - Richard WrightRichard Wright (musician)Richard William Wright was an English pianist, keyboardist and songwriter, best known for his career with Pink Floyd. Wright's richly textured keyboard layers were a vital ingredient and a distinctive characteristic of Pink Floyd's sound...
– music, organ, piano, harmony 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...
– percussion, drums - Dick ParryDick ParryRichard 'Dick' Parry is an English saxophonist. He has appeared as a session musician on various albums by modern bands and artists, and is probably best known for his solo parts on the Pink Floyd songs "Money", "Us and Them", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Wearing the Inside Out"...
– saxophone
External links
- [ AMG review]