In the Flesh?/In the Flesh

This is the first song on The Wall by Pink Floyd. For the twenty-first song on The Wall, see In the Flesh (Pink Floyd song). For other uses, see In the Flesh (disambiguation).

"In the Flesh?/In the Flesh"
Song

"In the Flesh?" (working title, "The Show?") is a song by Pink Floyd. It was released on The Wall album in 1979. The title is a reference to the band's 1977 "In the Flesh" tour, during which bassist and songwriter Roger Waters, in frustration, spat at a fan attempting to climb the fence separating the band from the crowd (Waters has stated in subsequent interviews that the incident inspired the writing of The Wall). Waters has stated that the main chord sequence was not initially part of The Wall, but was borrowed, at a later stage, from his first solo release, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking.

Composition

The song is very dynamic. It is approximately 3 minutes, 20 seconds in length. The first 15 seconds of the song are quiet, and feature the melody of the song "Outside the Wall". On the album, this is used to create a 'cycle'; a concept which Roger Waters used in much of Pink Floyd's work during his tenure. The cycle is demonstrated by Waters' voice, which in the first two seconds of the album says "... we came in?" and in the last two seconds (at the end of "Outside the Wall") says "isn't this where ..." (making "In the Flesh?" non-standalone in the beginning, even though it is the first track of The Wall).

The song moves rapidly into an 'explosive', loud dynamic featuring a distorted organ. This lasts for a further 1 minute, 16 seconds before the song lyrics start. During these initial lyrics, the backing melody is significantly quieter than the previous opening. Following the lyrical portion, which lasts for 38 seconds, the melody returns to the explosive dynamic. During this lead-out, a number of stage directions are shouted and within the closing seconds of the piece, a Stuka dive-bomber can be heard. The final sound in the track is that of a baby crying, which then leads into "The Thin Ice". An extended version of this song is later used in the album.

Plot

As with the other songs on The Wall, "In the Flesh?" tells a portion of the story of Pink, the main protagonist. This first song signifies the beginning of the show (which is being narrated by Pink himself). The stage directions are used to show that Pink is going to tell us the story of the building of The Wall. The lyrics inform us that despite his outward appearances, things are much different "behind these cold eyes" and that if the listener ("sunshine") wants to find out what Pink thinks, he'll have to "claw his way through this disguise". The song also informs the listener, although not directly, that Pink's father is killed; this is done using the sound effect of the dive-bomber, indicating his death during World War II and it also informs that at the moment Pink's father was killed, Pink was born as at the end of the song the voice of a baby crying can be heard.

Live performances

During the original tour supporting The Wall, the song would be performed onstage by the backing musicians wearing masks to make them look like the real members of Pink Floyd, playing on the lines Tell me, is something eluding you sunshine? Is this not what you expected to see?, and you'll just have to claw your way through this disguise, as well as the references to a "surrogate band" in the song's reprise later on.

In Waters's 2010–2012 tour, The Wall Live, he performs the song himself, in the guise of the megalomaniacal dictator that his character Pink becomes at the climax of the show.

Film version

The beginning of the film shows Pink sitting in a locked hotel room; a crowd of people break down the door and rush in as the music suddenly gets loud. The film then cuts to various clips of rioting people that will show up later in the film. It then features a war scene where a German Ju-87 Stuka bombs a bunker, which signifies the death of Pink's father.

The song is performed by Pink (Bob Geldof) in his dictator garb, seeming to draw a parallel between rock stars and their audiences, and a Hitler-like dictator to his audience.

The film version also adds a second short guitar solo by David Gilmour in the intro. This second solo was cut from the studio album, but has since been heard in all live versions of the song.

Personnel

• David Gilmour — guitars
• Nick Mason — drums
• Roger Waters — lead vocals, bass, EMS VCS 3
• Richard Wright — synthesizers

with

• Fred Mandel — Hammond organ
• Joe Chemay — backing vocals
• Stan Farber — backing vocals
• Jim Haas — backing vocals
• Bruce Johnston — backing vocals
• John Joyce — backing vocals
• Toni Tennille — backing vocals

Covers

• This song is incorporated in the beginning of "The Big Medley" by Dream Theater, from their 1995 EP A Change of Seasons.
• The Dresden Dolls have played it live during their 2007/08 tour.
• Also, the band Primus has covered the song throughout its career.
• Type O Negative have frequently played it live, using it to open some of their live concerts.{{citation needed|date=February 2011}
• Jane's Addiction occasionally plays an instrumental version of the first half of the song.
• The Foo Fighters have been covering the song frequently on their Wasting Light tour. They also played the song live with Roger Waters on Jimmy Fallon's late night talk show.
• The Heavy Metal band Terbanz plays this song at the beginning of every concert, and closes with the other Pink Floyd song,Eclipse.

References

• Fitch, Vernon. The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia (3rd edition), 2005. ISBN 1-894959-24-8.
• Fitch, Vernon; Mahon, Richard (2006), Comfortably Numb: A History of "The Wall": Pink Floyd 1978–1981 (1st US hardcover ed.), St Petersburg, Florida: PFA Publishing, ISBN 978-0-977-73660-7.

External links

• Analysis of the song