Goodbye Cruel World (Pink Floyd song)

For other uses, see Goodbye Cruel World (disambiguation).

"Goodbye Cruel World"
Song by Pink Floyd from the album The Wall
Released	30 November 1979 (UK), 8 December 1979 (US)
Recorded	April–November, 1979
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	0:48
Label	Harvest Records (UK) Columbia Records (US)/Capitol Records (US)
Writer	Waters
Producer	Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour, James Guthrie and Roger Waters
The Wall track listing
26 tracks Side one "In the Flesh?" "The Thin Ice" "Another Brick in the Wall Part 1" "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2" "Mother" Side two "Goodbye Blue Sky" "Empty Spaces" "Young Lust" "One of My Turns" "Don't Leave Me Now" "Another Brick in the Wall Part 3" "Goodbye Cruel World" Side three "Hey You" "Is There Anybody Out There?" "Nobody Home" "Vera" "Bring the Boys Back Home" "Comfortably Numb" Side four "The Show Must Go On" "In the Flesh" "Run Like Hell" "Waiting for the Worms" "Stop" "The Trial" "Outside the Wall"

"Goodbye Cruel World" is a song by Pink Floyd. It appears on The Wall album (1979).

Composition

The song is quiet, the Prophet-5 provides the D major chord sequence—D, G, D, A, D, while the bass guitar plays the root notes and their octaves. A similar bass riff was used in the earlier Pink Floyd songs "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" and the fade-out of "See Emily Play". Notably, the final instance of the word "goodbye" is spoken as the music is cut, causing the final "goodbye" to appear somewhat despairing, as well as identifying the listener with Pink as he cuts all ties to the outside world.

Plot

As with the other songs on The Wall, "Goodbye Cruel World" tells a segment of the story of Pink, the album's protagonist. This song details Pink's reaction to the completion of his mental wall, and marks his acknowledgement of his isolation from society.

Live versions

In all performances of The Wall, both by Pink Floyd and in Roger Waters' solo career, the song represents the end of the first half of the show. The wall is built, apart from one brick. Waters appears in this small gap. As he sings the final word, goodbye, the last brick is put into place, ending the first half of the show.

Personnel

• Roger Waters — bass guitar, vocals
• Richard Wright — Prophet-5 synthesizer

Cover versions

• Anathema covered the song for the re-release of their album, Alternative 4.
• The Korn cover of "Another Brick in the Wall" on their album Greatest Hits Volume 1 includes this song at the end.
• Noel Gallagher of Oasis covered the song in 1995 when guest of an American radio station.
• Musician Orlando Francisco Garcia performs an acoustic version of this song.

References

• Fitch, Vernon. The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia (3rd edition), 2005. ISBN 1-894959-24-8
• Pink Floyd: The Wall (1980 Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd., London, England, ISBN 0 7119 1031 6 [USA ISBN 0 8256 1076 1]) for "Goodbye Cruel World"
• Pink Floyd: Anthology songbook (1980 Warner Bros. Publications, Inc., Secaucus N.J.) for "See Emily Play"