Sheep (song)

"Sheep"
Song by Pink Floyd from the album Animals
Released	23 January 1977 (UK) February 2, 1977 (US)
Recorded	April–May, July 1976
Genre	Progressive rock Hard rock
Length	10:20
Label	Harvest / Capitol
Writer	Roger Waters
Producer	Pink Floyd
Animals track listing
"Pigs on the Wing 1" "Dogs" "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" "Sheep" "Pigs on the Wing 2"
Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd track listing "Keep Talking" (11) "Sheep" (12) "Sorrow" (13)

"Sheep" is a song by the English band Pink Floyd. It was released on the album Animals in 1977. In 1974, it was originally titled "Raving and Drooling".

History

During their tours in 1974, Pink Floyd played three new songs in the first half of the shows, followed by The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety. Those three new songs were "You Gotta Be Crazy" (which would later become "Dogs"), "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Raving and Drooling" (which would later become "Sheep").

During performances of "Raving and Drooling", a recording of a DJ at BBC Radio called Jimmy Young was played after being cut up and reassembled randomly. This was Roger Waters' idea of a man "raving and drooling" (or being insane). The lyrics of the song at this point were quite different from the ones that were to become "Sheep" [1]. "Raving and Drooling" was originally a more jam-based song, containing fewer lyrics.

Both "You Gotta Be Crazy" and "Raving and Drooling" were originally planned to be on the album following the tour (Wish You Were Here), but the plans were changed and they both ended up in different forms on Animals. In November 2011 versions of both tracks recorded at Wembley in 1974 were officially released as part of the Experience and Immersion versions of the Wish You Were Here album.

In live versions from 1977, backing guitarist Snowy White played bass guitar as Roger Waters shared electric guitar duties with David Gilmour. The performance was almost identical to the album version except that it would give way to a slower ending with Richard Wright playing an organ solo.

Ian Peel, a musical columnist for The Guardian, noted the resemblance of "Sheep" to the Doctor Who theme, due to its bassline and sound effects.

Psalm 23

Starting at 6:27 and ending at 7:08, a parody of Psalm 23 ("The Lord is my shepherd...") is spoken in the background, by means of a vocoder^{[citation needed]}, with the words changed to suit the subject of the song ("Through quiet reflection and great dedication, Master the art of karate").

Originally (during live shows) this was performed by Nick Mason, but on the album this was spoken by Waters.^{[citation needed]}

Personnel

• Roger Waters — music, lyrics, vocals, rhythm guitar, tape and electronic effects, vocoder
• David Gilmour — lead guitar, bass guitar, ARP Quadra synthesizer, echoed vocal (from "Dogs")
• Richard Wright — Fender-Rhodes piano, Hammond organ, ARP String Synthesizer, Minimoog
• Nick Mason — drums, tape effects

Recording

The song was recorded during April, May and July 1976 at the band's own Britannia Row Studios, Islington, London.

Quotation

“

On Animals Roger played bass on "Dogs" and I played bass on "Sheep" and "Pigs." Most of the bass line on "Sheep" (apart from the ending) was what Roger had been playing onstage, as we had been performing it as "Raving and Drooling" for a couple of years. However, in the studio Roger had a rhythm guitar part he wanted to play, so we swapped roles. On "Pigs" the part and the playing are mine.

”

David Gilmour, 1998, to Karl Coryat, Bass Player

Cover version

• Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade covered the entire Animals album on their Live Frogs Set 2 release.

See also

• "Sheep", by the Strawbs, the other progressive rock song of this name (Rick Wakeman appears before joining Yes)

References

• Fitch, Vernon (2005). The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). ISBN 1-894959-24-8.