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Pink Floyd nostalgia trip


sobo

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OK, so I dragged out my CD of The Wall today. I haven’t had it in a drive for years, but listening to it made me think of something from way back when the movie came out, like, 25 years ago or so.

 

For those of you that remember/have seen the movie, there is a scene (right before the song Comfortably Numb begins) where the young “Pink” is going through his mother’s dresser drawers and comes upon the trappings of his dead soldier father: the military cover, the medals, etc. Pink puts them on and views himself in the mirror. There is a song playing in the background which is not on the The Wall's CD soundtrack. I have never been able to find it on any medium other than the movie video.

 

Some of the lyrics:

 

"They held the Anzio beachhead,

At a cost of a few hundred more lives."

(some more lines I can’t remember)

"…and that’s how the Royal Command

Took my Daddy from me!"

 

The scene changes to outdoors along an English canal, with Pink running to care for his "pet" rat, and Comfortably Numb begins.

 

So my question is: what is the name of that song, and where can I find it?

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Thanks, Mike, for the quick response and beta.

 

Was it ever released on an album when it originally came out, or was it released only as a single? I have a bazillion PF albums, both vinyl and CD, but it isn't on any of them.

 

Edited to add:

I just Googled the lyrics. Got that funky chill/tingle on the back of my head when I read them. :shudder:

 

I want that tune!

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Mike, I just answered my own question from above...

 

From the Pink Floyd HyperBase:

When The Tigers Broke Free

Music from the film Pink Floyd - The Wall

 

7" single released July 26, 1982.

 

EP: Harvest HAR 5217

EP: Harvest HAR 5222

 

Tracklist

When The Tigers Broke Free

Bring The Boys Back Home

 

Until the release of Echoes - The best of Pink Floyd, 'When The Tigers Broke Free' was only available on this single and in the actual film. 'Bring The Boys Back Home' is the version used in the film.

 

The covernotes on the the single said: FROM THE FORTHCOMING ALBUM 'THE FINAL CUT'. 'The Final Cut' was originally planned as a kind of soundtrack from the film 'Pink Floyd - The Wall'. The song was finally included on the 2004 rerelease of the Final Cut.

 

emphasis added by sobo

 

link

 

My CD of The Final Cut is from waaaaaaaaaaaaay before 2004. More like 1983. Guess I'll have to buy it again... rolleyes.gif

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WHEN THE TIGERS BROKE FREE

Pink Floyd 1982

Lyrics/Music: Waters

 

Albums:

When the Tigers Broke Free (single, 1982)

Echoes

The Final Cut (2004 remaster)

 

Film/Video:

Pink Floyd - The Wall

 

It was just before dawn one miserable morning

in black forty-four

when the forward commander was told to sit tight

when asked that his men be withdrawn

And the generals gave thanks as the other ranks

held back the enemy tanks - for a while

And then the Anzio beachhead was held for the price

of a few hundred ordinary lives

 

And kind old King George sent mother a note

when he heard that father was gone

It was, I recall, in the form of a scroll

with golden leaf and all

And I found it one day in a drawer of old

photographs hidden away

And my eyes still grow damp to remember

His Majesty signed with his own rubber stamp

 

It was dark all around

There was frost in the ground

When the tigers broke free

And noone survived from the Royal Fusiliers Company C

They were all left behind

Most of them dead

The rest of them dying

And that's how the High Command took my Daddy from me

 

Lyrics Copyright: Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd.

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Not really.

 

My liner notes indicate that he wrote most of the lyrics, but collaborated on Young Lust, Comfortably Numb, Run Like Hell (with Gilmour), and The Trial (with Ezrin).

 

The album was produced by Waters, Gilmour, and Ezrin.

 

Just noticed where Toni Tennille (can you say "Captain and Tennille"?) was one of the backing vocal voices. hellno3d.gif

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wierd bill! i was doing 'bout the same shit then i saw yer post!

 

someone post the mp3 here! those lyrics rock and i want to play them for my history of war class and further stress to 30 17-year olds that their ardent dreams for desperate glory are crap n' all....

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