Bring the boys back home here we are at bring the boys back home you know what that means right Comfortably Numb is right around the corner and if you want to go ahead and listen to that first lesson as well as all the rest to the end of the album you
Can always find them on my coffee and patreon now of course when we are all anticipating such a great one coming up there’s the risk of not giving enough attention to what precedes it we’re simply so eager to get to the big stuff this is just a short one right maybe we
Can just hurry through it right but be careful this one is perhaps more important than we think and in fact Roger Waters said in the 1979 interview about this album that bring the boys back home is the central song on the whole album that’s quite a statement and I’m
Curious how many of you if any if someone were to ask you to identify the central song the one which carries the core message of the whole album sums up the entire work and around which everything else is built how many of you would choose this song Bring the
Boys Back Home does it feel Central to your experience of the album to your understanding and perspective of the work well of course as I’ve reiterated throughout this project good art and especially great art can make its statement convey its message fulfill its purpose while still allowing us the
Audience to explore and discover even more beyond what perhaps even the artist had in mind allows us to inter interpret and apply it in multiple ways depending on our own experiences and perspectives and the context in which it is placed and so if it doesn’t feel Central to you that’s
Okay it doesn’t mean that your experience and your perspective of the work is wrong but when an artist makes such a statement about his work such as this is the central song of the whole album we should sit up and take notice and so let’s take our time on this one
Let’s give it the attention it deserves and see if we can discover some of what it has to offer us well as practically everyone knows and now myself as well Waters is legendary for his anti-war stance and so this should certainly be one of the perspectives we explore in
Fact in his 2010 through 2012 Tour of this work he included the projection of of a quote by Eisenhower it says every gun that is made every warship launched every rocket fired signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed those who are cold and not
Clothed it’s a powerful quote indeed and it helps us it helps to focus our understanding of this work in the direction of its anti-war message this is what’s agenda we could say bring the boys back home stop robbing the hungry the cold the innocent and Powerless the future Generations the
Children by conflicts and warfare and it’s an easy one to relate to especially now as we all feel the horror of the conflicts going on around the world and as this album points out the generations into the future impact that these current conflicts s will have but this song is also about more
Much more and even Roger Waters said way back in his 1979 interview with Vance that it is partly about not letting people go off and be killed in Wars but it’s also partly about not allowing rock and roll or making cars or selling soap or getting involved in biological
Research or anything that anybody might do not letting that become such an important and jolly boys game that it becomes more important than friends wives children other people well that broadens the application immensely it turns out there’s a whole lot to unpack in here and by extension
The entire work since we have to remember this is the central song of the whole album but before we get lost in the deep end let’s make a little inventory of the outstanding musical elements it starts off with a recognizable Marshall style we hear the
Marching drums and as it as it begins to blossom into this sense of verdant abundance Springtime and growth we hear triumphant brass also somewhat militaristic celebratory strings running up and down the scale there’s the mass chorus and pink and I want to point out that it is the chorus plus pink well I
Should say it’s um Roger Waters but his voice is Pink’s voice right here they are not one and the same there is the chorus and there is pink even though they are singing the same thing and as the chorus ends Pink’s anguished voice continues and I’ll talk about that more in a
Little bit the drums Fade Into the distance it’s as if the marching Army has passed and is moving on into the distance and then we start to hear the swirling mix of sounds from the past the teacher’s voice the groupy question the phone call laughter and playground
Voices along with a new voice knocking and calling time to go culminating after all of that swirl and mix of sounds in the question is there anybody out there kind of throwing us back to that song earlier in the album now harmonically it’s built on a 451 progression that repeats
Through out we’re in the key of G the four chord of G is or the what we might call the subdominant is the c chord that is our first chord then it moves to D that’s our five the dominant and then we end up on G which is the tonic so we have
Bring the boys back home the exact same progression bring the boys back home then it does something really interesting the same progression but it becomes a sort of mirror image we start with a c don’t leave the children on their own now Mirror Image back to D
No and back to C no so instead of c d g and stopping there phrase goes c d g d c it’s as if we’re we’re staring in a mirror and we see the chords reflecting both directions and then the final progression same as always bring the boys back
Home this time it’s E minor and that is something want to talk about a bit more but but it’s also the home from hey you well this entire work centers around G E minor a lot but we can go ahead and and Note and observe that this final chord adds an extra note
Of POS to the ending sonically harmonically especially as we are hearing Pink’s voice water’s voice carrying on long after the chorus ends in that brokenhearted tragic fragile tone of utter loneliness and abandonment now this is a good time to remember that the message of this entire
Work is being presented to us as the tale of a rock musician and the new voice we hear at the end Pink’s manager knocking and calling out time to go reminds us of that fact not every song in the album in fact many of them are not
Explicit as to the fact that this is a a an operatically told story of a rock musician but here we find it very clearly with embedded within the music and the sound world and we have to look ahead to the next song to get the full
Import of the time to go summons but it’s interesting to notice that this song being such a central pillar to the entire work has none of the classic rock and roll instruments in the orchestra in any of the instrumental mix that we hear even the drums are not given an
Identifiably Rock style or sound instead it’s Marshal and classically orchestral and the chorus really sounds operatic in style why is this I see several good reasons why and maybe you will be able to add others as well but first of all it tells us that this song is unlike
Most of the others in this album not just showing Pink’s Viewpoint alone Pink’s perspective and experience now how can we be sure of that well listen to the voices how many do we hear it’s a whole Mast chorus this is not just the voice going on in Pink’s
Mind but a mass of people and I will say real people each with a voice each choosing to join their voice in harmony with all the rest around including with pink I’ll get back to that in a few minutes the musical style also communicates to us that not only is it
Not just about pink the rock and roll musician it emphasizes the dramatic storytelling and symbolism embedded in Opera and the classical tradition the style itself sends us towards that kind of interpretation reinforcing the fact that we should not view it as merely literal or biographical and the triumphal
Marshall elements let us know that this is an army they have a purpose a goal a a battle to fight and win but it’s not a military operation it’s an army of citizens an army made up of people of all kinds from all walks of life all ages all various
Abilities but it is an army and this Army is on the Move advancing this battle is one which will end in Victory this is not a defeated Army limping back from the front lines this is an army that is United strong hopeful and with the spirit of conquerors but it’s not necessarily a
Finished battle after all it’s not saying all our boys are home now let’s celebrate it’s not a celebration of something already achieved rather it’s a vibrant call to comp complete a mission think about the harmonic shape of the music it’s bold strong Marshal it’s we have the four five and one chords which
Is a very assertive cadential progression but the final E minor chord lets us feel that it is not quite happily ever after not yet there’s work to be done just as the lyrics don’t claim that the battle is over so also this triumphal music is crafted in such a way
So as not to end on an overly confident note so who are these people what does this chorus signify really I think it represents Society the real people who make up the world around us our families our neighbors the community the people with whom we belong
Among whom we live in other words our home after all when they the chorus is singing bring the boys back home we understand that wherever they are singing from that is where the boys are to be brought they’re not saying send the boys home elsewhere bring the
Boys back home this is home and the message is that this Army being the entire population the society has the answer for the end of conflict for the end of War for the end of all war isn’t it interesting to encounter this song here after pink has walled himself off from the
World one of the most fascinating elements to me is this in the album version Pink is singing along with the chorus or perhaps we should say the chorus is singing along with pink or maybe a better way to describe it is both pink and the chorus are singing the same thing in other
Words even though pink is now so completely cut off from society that he can’t even hear anyone out there and even though those who would and could help him can’t break through his wall still the thing that pink needs the thing that his whole life has been
Crying out for in anguish is exactly what society around him is trying to accomplish all the people on the outside of his wall are even though he doesn’t believe it or see it working towards calling for the exactly the thing that he needs and now bringing the movie into our equation
It gets even more interesting because in the movie unlike the album version we don’t hear Pink’s Voice singing with the chorus it’s a different version of the music let’s remember that pink has just reassured himself that the place for him to be is behind the wall and his new persona is
The correct identity for him to have to own to live that was done in the previous song Vera and as the scenes for this song begin we’re still seeing Pink’s mind as he is revisiting key moments of his life and now in the train station pink finds
A soldier who from behind might be his father he touches him the soldier turns and the same scene as what we saw way back at the park is repeated it’s not his father All fathers are someone else’s fathers but not pinks and just as the soldier was about to talk to Pink
His wife with his baby in her arms comes and the soldier turns to them forgets all about who then walks away with the Deep disappointment written all over his face his hands are in his pockets just like in the park he’s a picture of lonely dejected hopeless
And then bring the boys back home Begins the drummers emerge from the same fog of his imagination as he did and here’s where the Paradigm shifts everybody stops in the middle of their manifestations of joy and reunion and they all begin to sing bring the boys back home
Don’t leave the children on their own no no bring the boys back home and in the movie Pink as I said is not singing with them instead he’s alone separate from the crowd and the crowd is all ranged around and singing to him in the center this presents the message from a
Slightly different angle as if it’s an Anthem of solidarity coming from all those who have relationships reunions Society speaking to and for the Forgotten abandoned isolated helpless and weak ones so the image of pink being abandoned again in Vera which is in turn meming the park
Scene earlier in the album that image we could say is corrected or rather correctly framed in other words it’s showing us that those members of the community with privilege and family and friends while they do and should Place their priorities with their own familiar familial ties and responsibilities first they are not as
Pink has always thought they are not indifferent to him they are not indifferent to Those whom pink represents rather they do remember and they not only remember but they also speak out or in this case sing out for the voiceless calling to their aid all responsible members of society and all
Society’s resources this is the Dunkirk Spirit moment of the Wall album Remember The Battle of Dunkirk I think it was in May and June of 1940 when hundreds of thousands of Allied troops were surrounded on the beach of dunker and they were stuck there they it was
Expected that they would mostly be lost and then this miraculous project to rescue them included civilians civilians participating in the rescue efforts with their little ships of all kinds and it was not just a military moment it was a moment where civilians Society stepped up and took the actions and made the
Efforts and gave the sacrifices that needed to be done in order to bring the boys back home so this is the dunk Spirit moment of The Wall album this is when every able-bodied person with any available resource steps up to the plate to join the effort to bring the boys back
Home thereby proving that pink is after all wrong this societal voice the voice of the people speaking on behalf of some of their own including pink and when I say some of their own it is because some people are in pink situation although not necessarily all speaking on behalf of the people on
Behalf of pink and by extension his father and all who are out alone and not only including him in their Circle but placing him in the center this has a powerful effect on the Outlook of the future because unlike so many of the scenes in the movie in which
The fog closes in and acts as a barrier a wall of swords in this song as the chorus progresses the song Moves forwards the fog gradually clears the sun becomes visible even lighting and reflecting off the helmets of the massed soldiers as they are singing signifying a a brighter future
Not only for the boys but also for pink although pink himself cannot see it yet he still can’t see outside of himself and when the station clears he is still there alone abandoned sitting down to listen yet again to the voices of the breaks repeating themselves in his ears over and
Over and then we see again that the closing image of the dejected little boy is the inner pink because the scene changes and we find the adult pink passed out in his hotel with the TV on well the scenes at the end of the song are perhaps better left for Comfortably
Numb because they set the stage for that song so we’ll dig into those a bit more next time but now we have to stop and ask why is this simple unsophisticated forline Anthem the central song of the whole album it’s not only because of its Universal message because of its attractive peace
Message but also because of its Universal participation it gathers all civilians not just the Warriors the non-combatants the ones doing the laundry picking up the trash into another Army an army of peace that is marching and as I said in my first listen of the song demanding to
Bring the boys back home now what would that mean if it were to actually happen surrender we have to ask ourselves the question because the world right now is involved in some pretty heavyweight conflicts with long lasting consequences and so we have to ask would it mean surrender maybe but that’s not
Water’s point at all because the demand is is universal it’s not only for the English not only for the Western World or any other side it is for all and if all of the boys were to be brought back to their homes it would mean the end of the war
The end of all war it reminds me a bit of the beautiful European movie Joy Noel which depicts one of the instances of fraternization during the first world war the Brits well okay they were Scottish the French and the Germans forgot about the war for a few hours during a Christmas
Eve and I should say that this movie is not just a madeup story it it is a depiction of something that happened many times along the front in that war and in spite of the war propaganda all of these different sides and factions realized and took time to experience everyone as humans as
Brothers in that way the war ended for those few hours or days not by one party Conquering the other but by fraternizing by turning from enemies into brothers and actually if you remember to fraternize comes from the Latin frater meaning brother well in English that’s where we get our word
Fraternity which means Brotherhood and you’ll also find some form of it in all the romance languages well in Romanian it’s frate now here in bring the boys back home the core element in this song is the word home remember the final chord is E Minor which is the home of hey you when when it says open your heart I’m coming home and then this is home this song does not just demand to bring the boys back from the front or back to their motherland back to their families although of course all of that is
Included but the place to which they are to be brought is home and in this context it means far more than for them to just be in the midst of their families and loved ones in the country to which they belong this song’s solution for the end
Of all wars is to bring them home to the reality of human Brotherhood to live as active participants in the strong healthy relation relationships and bonds of Brotherhood well when we when all of us when all of humanity will come back to that home that is come back to our senses and
Understand that we’re all brothers and that love is the Supreme answer to conflicts and problems well it is then that Eve Miriam’s dream would come true true remember she’s the one that said I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask Mother what was war now with all this
Fresh in our minds remember again what else Waters said in that interview it is partly about not letting people go off and be killed in Wars but it’s also and here’s the important part partly about not allowing rock and roll or making cars or selling soap or getting involved in biological research
Or anything that anybody might do it’s about not letting that become such an important and jolly boy game that it becomes more important than friends wives children other people in other words this song is about all activities and Pursuits that divide separate distract and otherwise weaken and build
Walls between the core relationships the connections built on love which give our hearts a place of safety and freedom don’t go filling the empty spaces instead bring the absent ones back home don’t leave the children on their own no no well of course this line which is the
One which was a sort of mirror image harmonically it points out one of the reasons why this return home is so important those at home are left to suffer in our absence when we go off and fight and the consequences continue for Generations afterwards but even this
Line tells us more than that because who really are the children not only are they the children of the soldiers the soldiers who’ve gone off to war but also they are the soldiers themselves because remember this song is not just part of an after effects of War Story it’s a
Parable of the world and every individual born on this world in this world on this Earth is a child is Someone’s Child we’re not just talking about individual families Fathers and Sons in a in a military context but about society and all its parts these soldiers are children barely
Out of childhood sent off to do the dirty work for others they also feel the same loneliness the same fear the same pain tears apart both the hearts of the soldiers on the front as well as the hearts of the children back home of course many times
The ones who are absent from home are so out of necessity they do it for the sake of those Left Behind even though the doing of it itself is injurious and so it has to be the mission of the entire Community all members of society to make it possible for them to return
Home and this is what peace Manifesto for the whole world a rather powerful one I have to say but beyond that as the central pillar of the entire album it points us to the fundamental message of the whole work which is treasure the relationships in which true love
Exists care for them nurture them feed and guard them handle them bravely truthfully and with love because this is the home that every person ought to have this is the way out of the horrors that we find all too often in this world and as a member of society when you find an
Injured damaged person do whatever you can to help them on their path towards the restoration of healthy relationships even if you can’t tear down their wall even if it’s a society and pink situation where they are so separated they cannot hear each other crying out for the same thing even
If you can’t find can’t see really truly who is on the other side of the wall and as an individual when you find yourself failing because we all do at least sometimes and we all have our walls it’s human when you find yourself there tend to the things tend to your needs that
You have in order to recover and build relationships that will carry you through and remind yourself that there is an army out there is there anybody out there there there is an army out there who is working and calling out for you even if you cannot hear it beyond your
Wall wherever you are in whatever situation you find yourself place the utmost value on this light this Sunshine as it’s represented in the movie of true genuine love-based relationships that is the message of this entire work now back to Pink’s Story the closing moments of the song
Remind us that this is all about himself his tragedy his wall the adult Pink’s voice mixes with the choir until at the very end he remains The only voice singing as the long final home word carries on and on and the desperation in that voice is hard to be expressed in
Words it grabs me and I find myself listening to it over and over as it fades into the sum of the wall around him the voice of the teacher saying wrong do it again the the telephone the groupies question are you feeling okay um the phone operator saying there’s a
Man answering but he keeps hanging up all these bricks surrounding him and through which we hear his manager calling to him and then finally is there anybody out there just as his hotel door is burst open interestingly comfortably numbs first line which is the next song for
Those of you whove been waiting is hello is there anybody in there you see it’s all about the one side and the other side of the wall but this bring the boys back home this is the central song of the whole album and it lets us see both sides at once and
What a view it is it’s so wonderfully sums up all the pain and tragedy well also giving us our first glimpse of sunshine our hope for a better future and so it is a peace Manifesto and an anti-war song but its core message is that of relationships it is that of not allowing
Rock and roll or making cars or selling soap or getting involved in biological research or anything that anybody might do not let getting that becomes such an important and jolly boys game that it becomes more important than friends wives children other people I’ll see you next time
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