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March 21, 1983... The Final Cut comes to light. The world will savor the last effort of Pink Floyd in their original formation, indeed no title was more fitting. This was the album that marked Waters' definitive separation from the Floyd and consequently the situation had irreparably deteriorated. The album is in memory of Roger's father (Eric Fletcher Waters), but it seems to be more in memory of the Pink Floyd themselves. In fact, it was recorded in the most total indifference among the various members who had reached the point of not speaking to each other. The relationship between Gilmour and Waters then was severely strained... the question that arises is how it was possible to achieve yet another masterpiece. It's unknown, perhaps in the end it's a demonstration that music can overcome all the barriers set by humans!!!
Right from the first track, you can tell it's not the usual album. The tones are much more subdued even more so than the Floydian standard. The weight of a masterpiece like "The Wall" is felt even by those who created it. After a few seconds, you are immediately immersed in a relaxing atmosphere, just keyboard and Waters' warm voice inviting you to turn off all the lights, close your eyes, and start dreaming. A small stir in the slow rhythm, an apotheosis of brass and drums, and you're already in the second track of the CD. Here we are at "Your Possible Pasts." As usual with the Floyd, you move from one track to another without the listener really being able to tell, once again the entire album is crafted to seem like a single track. Even in this track, there is a very mild rhythm, with the guitar almost absent if not for that exhilarating solo that reminds everyone: "Gentlemen, I'm still here, I haven't left!" : naturally, it's the good old Gilmour saying it. The scenario repeats itself throughout the album, it's a constant, a continuous interweaving of calm moments and sudden rhythm changes, almost symbolizing their vicissitudes.
Listening to "One of the Few," "Paranoid Eyes," and "The Final Cut" (just to name a few episodes of the album), you notice how the rest of the tracks are all based on the same pattern, making it one of the most homogeneous works of the entire production of the Cambridge band. Perhaps this is one of the reasons justifying the low sales (the lowest of the entire career of the British quartet).
The contents of the album are subtly political, the sound is typical of the Cambridge band, with Waters clearly taking the lead, making almost all the choices, starting from the structure of the album, moving through some lyrics, and even up to the choice of the cover. In short, Waters creates the most "his" album under the name Pink Floyd alongside "The Wall," with which there are many references in this album.
An album that must not be missing for anyone who loves the band, great work, perhaps below its predecessors but still an album to remember in the discography of Waters and company.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 The Post War Dream (03:03)
Tell me true, tell me why was Jesus crucified
Was it for this that Daddy died?
Was it you? Was it me?
Did I watch too much T.V.?
Is that a hint of accusation in your eyes?
If it wasn't for the nips
Being so good at building ships
The yards would still be open on the clyde.
And it can't be much fun for them
Beneath the rising sun
With all their kids committing suicide.
What have we done, Maggie what have we done?
What have we done to England?
Should we shout, should we scream
"What happened to the post war dream?"
Oh Maggie, Maggie what did we do?
02 Your Possible Pasts (04:22)
They flutter behind you your possible pasts,
Some brighteyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.
A warning to anyone still in command
Of their possible future, to take care.
In derelict sidings the poppies entwine
With cattle trucks lying in wait for the next time.
Do you remember me? How we used to be?
Do you think we should be closer?
She stood in the doorway, the ghost of a smile
Haunting her face like a cheap hotel sign.
Her cold eyes imploring the men in their macs
For the gold in their bags or the knives in their backs.
Stepping up boldly one put out his hand.
He said, "I was just a child then, now I'm only a man."
Do you remember me? How we used to be?
Do you think we should be closer?
By the cold and religious we were taken in hand
Shown how to feel good and told to feel bad.
Strung out behind us the banners and flags
Of our possible pasts lie in tatters and rags.
Do you remember me? How we used to be?
Do you think we should be closer?
04 The Hero's Return (02:57)
Jesus, jesus, whats it all about?
Tryin to clout these little ingrates into shape.
When I was their age all the light went out.
There was no time to whine or mope about.
And even now part of me flies over
Dresden at angels one five.
Though they'll never fathom it behind my
Sarcasm desperate memories lie.
Sweetheart, sweetheart are you fast asleep?Good.
'Cause that's the only time that I can really speak to you.
And there's something that I've locked away
A memory that is too painful
To withstand the light of day.
When we came back from the war the banners and
Flags hung everyone's door.
We danced and we sang in the streets and
The church bells ring.
But burning in my heart
My memory smolders on
Of the gunners dying words on the intercom.
06 Paranoid Eyes (03:43)
Button your lip and don't let the shield slip.
Seek a fresh grip on your bullet proof mask.
And if they try to break down your disguise with their questions
You can hide, hide, hide,
Behind paranoid eyes.
You put on our brave face and slip over the road for a jar.
Fixing your grin as you casually lean on the bar,
Laughing too loud at the rest of the world
With the boys in the crowd
You can hide, hide, hide,
Behind petrified eyes.
You believed in their stories of fame, fortune and glory.
Now you're lost in a haze of alcohol soft middle age
The pie in the sky turned out to be miles too high.
And you hide, hide, hide,
Behind brown and mild eyes.
07 Get Your Filthy Hands off My Desert (01:16)
"Oi...Get your filthy hands off my desert!"
"What 'e say?"
Brezhnev took Afghanistan.
And Begin took Beirut.
Galtieri took the Union Jack.
And Maggie, over lunch one day,
Took a cruiser with all hands.
Apparently, to make him give it back.
09 Southampton Dock (02:08)
They disembarked in 45
and no-one spoke and no-one smiled.
There were too many spaces in the line.
Gathered at the cenotaph
all agreed with hand on heart
to sheath the sacrificial knifes.
But now she stands upon Southampton dock
with her handkerchief.
And her summer frock
clings to her wet body in the rain.
In quiet desperation
Knuckles white upon the slippery reins
she bravely waves the boys Goodbye again.
Still the dark stain spreads between their shoulder blades,
a mute reminder of the poppy fields and graves.
When the fight was over
we spent what they had made.
But in the bottom of our hearts
we felt the final...
10 The Final Cut (04:48)
...Cut.
Through the fish-eyed lens of tear stained eyes
I can barely define the shape of this moment in time.
And far from flying high in clear blue skies
I'm spiraling down to the hole in the ground where I hide.
If you negotiate the minefield in the drive
And beat the dogs and cheat the cold electronic eyes
And if you make it past the shotguns in the hall
Dial the combination, open the priesthole
And if I'm in I'll tell you
There's a kid who had a big hallucination
Making love to girls in magazines
He wonders if you're sleeping with your new found faith
Could anybody love him
Or is it just a crazy dream
And if i show you my dark side
Will you still hold me tonight
And if i open my heart to you
And show you my weak side
What would you do?
Would you sell your story to Rolling Stone
Would you take the children away
And leave me alone
And smile in reassurance
As you whisper down the phone
Would you send me packing
Or would you take me home
Thought I oughta bare my naked feelings
Thought I oughta tear the curtain down
I held the blade in trembling hands
Prepared to make it but just then the phone rang
I never had the nerve to make the final cut
11 Not Now John (05:02)
Fuck all that we've got to get on with these
Gotta compete with the wily Japanese.
There's too many home fires burning
And not enough trees.
So fuck all that
We've got to get on with these.
Can't stop
Lose job
Mind gone
Silicon
What bomb
Get away
Pay day
Make hay
Break down
Need fix
Big six
Click click
Hold on
Oh no
Brrrrrrrrrring bingo!
Make 'em laugh.
Make 'em cry.
Make 'em dance in the aisles.
Make 'em pay.
Make 'em stay.
Make'em feel ok.
Not now John
We've got to get on with the film show.
Hollywood waits at the end of the rainbow.
Who cares what it's about
As long as the kids go?
Not now John
We've got to get on with the show.
Hang on John
I've got to get on with this.
I don't know what it is
But it fits on here like.....
Come at the end of the shift
We'll go and get pissed.
Not now John
I've got to get on with this.
Hold on John
I think there's something good on.
I used to read books but.....
It could be the news
Or some other abuse
Or it could be reusable shows.
Fuck all that we've got to get on with these
Got to compete with the wily Japanese.
No need to worry about the Vietnamese.
Got to bring the Russian Bear to his knees.
Well, maybe not the Russian Bear
Maybe the Swedes.
We showed Argentina
Now let's go and show these.
Make us feel tough
And wouldn't Maggie be pleased?
Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah!
"s'cusi dove il bar
(What?)
se para collo pou eine toe bar
s'il vous plait ou est le bar
(...say it in English!...)
oi, where's the fucking bar John?
(Oh, now you're talking!)"
Oh! Rule Britannia! Britannia rules the day
Down!
Go, Maggie!
Hammer, Hammer, Hammer, Hammer, now!
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Other reviews
By Em
"To this day, I consider it Pink Floyd’s best album."
"Despite everything, he continues to dream."
By floyd92
The album can easily be considered a sort of Roger Waters’ first solo product, especially in style, even less Floydian than that used in The Wall.
The Final Cut becomes an album that uses the sadness of the bassist’s father’s death as the first argument to construct a critique that is not only political but also emotional.
By PAZZO AL SACCO
"Oh my God, what a depression, but damn what a sound!"
"This is the album that deserves more attention in the history of rock... Listen until fully assimilated and then, judge."
By claudio carpentieri
"Recording The Final Cut was a real challenge because there was no collaboration, no understanding among us; at least on the name, we all agreed" (Roger Waters).
"It was supposed to be ... a follow-up to the previous The Wall ... and in the end, it turned out to be something quite different from our original intentions..." (Nick Mason).
By paolofreddie
The Final Cut is an album in which you can feel the passion of the bassist tormented by the ghosts of his past.
The song that gives the album its title... reveals a great unease, a great fear of being left alone, of being abandoned.
