Us and Them
Pink FloydUs (Us, us, us, us, us) and them (Them, them, them, them)
And after all we're only ordinary men
Me (Me, me, me, me, me) and you (You, you, you, you, you)
God only knows it's not what we would choose to do
"Forward" he cried from the rear
And the front rank died
The general sat and the lines on the map
Moved from side to side
[Verse 2: David Gilmour & Richard Wright]
Black (Black, black, black, black) and blue (Blue, blue, blue, blue)
And who knows which is which and who is who
Up (Up, up, up, up, up) and down (Down, down, down, down)
And in the end it's only round and round, and round
"Haven't you heard it's a battle of words?"
The poster bearer cried
"Listen, son," said the man with the gun
"There's room for you inside"
[Interlude]
I mean, they're not gonna kill ya
So like, if you give 'em a quick short, sharp, shock
They won't do it again
Dig it? I mean he get off lightly
'Cause I would've given him a thrashing
I only hit him once!
It was only a difference of opinion
But really, I mean good manners don't cost nothing do they, eh?
[Verse 3: David Gilmour & Richard Wright]
Down (Down, down, down, down) and out (Out, out, out, out)
It can't be helped but there's a lot of it about
With (With, with, with, with), without
And who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about?
Out of the way, it's a busy day
I've got things on my mind
For want of the price of tea and a slice
The old man died
About
In the context of the Dark Side of the Moon album, as a catalog of the pressures on life, this song is about the senselessness of war. It began as a piano piece Rick Wright came up with while working on the soundtrack to the 1970 movie Zabriskie Point. It didn’t make the soundtrack, but they worked with it at the Dark Side Of The Moon sessions and it eventually became this song.
The director of Zabriskie Point, Michelangelo Antonioni, rejected the song for being “beautiful, but too sad… it makes me think of church.”
This song is about binaries. Black and white.
Us and them. Cats and dogs. It criticizes the cut and dry narrative that is given in a time of war.
This song reveals that we’re all just ordinary people, and when one takes a deeper look, war is senseless death
- 1.Speak to Me
- 3.On the Run
- 4.Time
- 6.Money
- 7.Us and Them
- 9.Brain Damage
- 10.Eclipse
I believe in the interviews it should be:
“…they DON’T do it again”,
“…he got off LIGHT”,
“‘cos I COULD’ve…”,
“…difference of opinion, ROG, INNIT?”.
Source: have lived in both Cambridge and London, know the accent, been listening to the Floyd for 35 years… yeah, yeah, original research, but you listen too. :-)
It the album The dark side of the moon , not live at pompei
The printed lyrics might say
“Haven’t you heard it’s a battle of words?”
The poster bearer cried
but until now I’ve always heard
“Haven’t you heard it’s a battle of words?”
And most of them are lies
which would do as well!
The Roadie’s words that were added in, can be taken from the DSOTM IMMERSION set. Roger “the Hat” Manifold. The quote is
“I mean, they’re not gunna kill ya, so like if you give ‘em a quick short,sharp, shock, they won’t do it again. Dig it? I mean he get off
lightly, 'cos I would’ve given him a thrashing – I only hit him once!
It was only a difference of right and wrong isn’t it?…I mean good manners don’t cost nothing, do they?” It’s actually two quotes taken from the same interview with Waters and Manifold. Waters asked “the Hat” :When was the last time you thumped someone?“ "The Hat” answered when someone did not use his mirror on the highway and suddenly stopped causing “the Hat” to suddenly swerve almost into oncoming traffic. The motorist then called The Hat a long-haired Git and that is when Roger delivered a quick short sharp shock. “I mean he was very rude. I only hit him once. I could have given 'em a good thrashing, dig it? He got off lightly. (paraphrasing). I had to to download the interview which was an Easter Egg on the Immersion set to my computer and put it through Adobe Audition before I could understand the accents being a Canadian, eh? The Hat is also on "On the Run” when Waters asks him about death. The Hat responds in a soliloquy but they only put in “Live for Today, Gone for Tomorrow, that’s me,hah…haha..hah” If you listen to old interviews of the Floyd talking about the voices; The Hat is the most infamous because of his chilling laugh.
I kinda get Beatles vibes from this song. like some of their older stuff such as Sgt. pepper’s lonely hearts club band
The part after the interlude is the single most beautiful instrumental part there will ever be, I can’t describe how breathtaking it is. My favorite song by Pink Floyd, no doubt.
