Hey You (Pink Floyd song)

This article is about the Pink Floyd song. For the Shakira song, see Hey You (Shakira song). For The Exies song, see Hey You (The Exies song).

"Hey You"
Song

"Hey You" is a song by the British progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was released on The Wall album in 1979. It starts the second disc of the double album. This song was edited out of the film for fear on the part of the filmmakers that the film was running too long (however, a rough version is avalible as an extra on the 25th anniversery edition DVD).

Composition

The song starts off with a solo acoustic guitar playing in the classical style with the bass slightly similar to the of the opening of "Pigs" joining in shortly after. Next to join in is the synthesizer, the vocals, and finally the drums. In the middle is a guitar solo which plays the main melody of the song "Another Brick in the Wall". After this is a section which includes only synth, bass, and drums. The next section starts out with synth and acoustic guitar, which is soon joined by the bass. At this point there is a bunch of indecipherable whispering from the left channel. After this, the drums and vocals join in. At about 3:23 into the song, a common Floydian technique of recycling sounds occurs when a sonar-like ping similar to the ping in "Echoes" is introduced, adding to the atmosphere of isolation and emptiness. In general, the feeling of the song is one of despair, as most songs have on The Wall.

The song is a distress call sung from the point of view of "Pink", the protagonist of the album, to people who pass him by to help him with his crumbling life. His mental wall blocks his calls, so nobody hears him. The wall is a symbol of isolation, in this case from the world.

In the broader sense, the album is about an artist's isolation from his audience. Under this view, "Hey You" takes on a different view, high-lighting the alienation of the audience (who are standing in the aisles, all alone, getting cold and no longer smiling), and the artist wondering if he can even reach them any longer (whether they can hear him, touch him, feel him).

Film

Hey You was featured in the 2005 Noah Baumbach film The Squid and the Whale. In the film the teenage son, for a talent show, tries to pass off Hey You as his own composition. Perhaps emphasizing the wall that has been erected between him and his mother.

Personnel

• David Gilmour - guitars, pedal steel, fretless bass, vocals
• Nick Mason - drums
• Roger Waters - vocals
• Richard Wright - electric piano, organ, synthesizer
• James Guthrie - drill

References

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