PINK FLOYD
“THE FINAL CUT”
Roger Waters: Bajo, guitarras & voces
David Gilmour: Guitarras & voces
Nick Mason: Batería, percusión
Invitados:
Michael Kamen: Piano, Harmonium
Andy Bown: Hammond organ
Ray Cooper: Percusión
Andy Newmark: Batería en “Two suns in the sunset”
Raphael Ravenscroft: Saxo
La Natinal Philarmonic Orchestra, dirigida por Michael Kamen
Producido por Roger Waters, James Guthrie y Michael Kamen.
Portada diseñada por Roger Waters.
Tracklist:
1. The Post War Dream — 3:02
2. Your Possible Pasts — 4:22
3. One of the Few — 1:23
4. The Hero's Return — 2:56
5. The Gunners Dream — 5:07
6. Paranoid Eyes — 3:40
7. Get Your Filthy Hands off My Desert — 1:19
8. The Fletcher Memorial Home — 4:11
9. Southampton Dock — 2:13
10. The Final Cut — 4:46
11. Not Now John — 5:01
12. Two Suns in the Sunset — 5:14
Premonitorio título para un álbum que claramente significó el final de la banda como tal, al menos con la formación al completo, si exceptuamos a Barret.. En efecto, se trata claramente ,más de un proyecto en solitario de Roger Waters, que de un álbum de Pink Floyd en si.
El álbum está dedicado a la memoria del padre de Waters, Eric Fletcher Waters, muerto en la II Guerra Mundial, durante la batalla del puente de Anzio en 1944.
Este suceso siempre estuvo en la mente de Roger Waters, y finalmente desembocó en la creación de un disco homenaje a su padre, y a la vez un claro alegato antimilitarista, que además coincidió con la Guerra de las Malvinas, con lo que Waters se despachó a gusto en su crítica hacia la política belicista y colonialista de su propio gobierno, especialmente dirigido hacia su máximo dirigente Margaret Tatcher.
Se trata pues de un proyecto individual del bajista, el cual compuso todos los temas, y que, según palabras del propio David Gilmour, impidió a los demás miembros de la banda intervenir en él.
Hasta tal punto es así que prescindió directamente de Richard Wright, e incluso parece ser que dado el enfado de Mason y especialmente de Gilmour, quien le manifestó a Waters directamente su hastío por el recurrente tema de la muerte de su padre y su idea de hacerle un álbum homenaje, trató de que este álbum apareciera como un proyecto en solitario del propio Roger Waters, y que Mason y Gilmour aparecieran en los créditos como “músicos invitados” , lo cual no aceptaron de ninguna manera.
A causa de todo ello, el ambiente durante la grabación de este álbum , fue bastante enrarecido, y Mason y Gilmour se limitaron a poner sus partes correspondientes, sin ninguna participación en la composición de los temas. Waters incluyó a músicos de sesión a los teclados ( Michael Kamen y Andy Bown ) bastante diluídos, y sustituyó la ampulosidad de teclados ya característica de la banda cortesía de Wright, y que tan buen resultado había dado en álbumes como "The dark side of the moon" o "Wish you were here" con el sonido de la Nacional Philarmonic Orchestra, dirigida por el propio Michael Kamen.
Originalmente este álbum iba a ser la banda sonora de la película The Wall, pero al final, optó por grabarlo como un álbum-homenaje a su padre, y utilizó fundamentalmente el propio álbum “The Wall” para dicho film. El álbum iba a llamarse originalmente “Spare Bricks”, pero en el último momento Waters se decidió por el título que conocemos: “The final cut” .
Como curiosidad técnica, para la grabación de este álbum, se utilizó por segunda vez en la historia el sistema “Holophonics” ( la primera vez que se utilizó fue para la grabación de “Aqua” de Edgar Froese ). Este sistema permite reproducir un sonido de forma tridimensional, una especie de holograma sonoro, basado en el sistema de grabación binaural, aunque ciertamente para disfrutarlo, hay que contar con el equipo adecuado. No tuvo demasiado éxito y se abandonó la idea. Un sistema parecido, el Qsound, utilizaron más tarde Pink Floyd en su “Pulse”, con buenos resultados.
“The Final Cut” es pues una obra en la que Waters termina por desatar todas sus fobias, que ya dejó entrever en The Wall, y plasma es este álbum un completo alegato antibelicista y un homenaje a su padre muerto durante la II Guerra Mundial , que incluye en temas como “Two suns in the sunset” , una proclama en contra de la proliferación de las armas nucleares. Esta crítica hacia el gobierno conservador británico, que se hallaba inmerso en plena guerra de Las Malvinas, parece que incomodó bastante a Gilmour, lo cual contribuyó aún más a enrarecer la relación entre ellos, algo que sin embargo no afectó a los solos de guitarra que aparecen en varios temas del álbum , y que son francamente buenos. Es curioso comprobar que este disco apenas tiene partes de guitarra rítmica eléctrica, lo cual evidencia que Waters no contaba para nada con él en la creación del álbum, limitándose a incluir las guitarras acústicas de relleno y esporádicamente partes solistas por parte de Dave, y que como comentaba anteriormente son en mi opinión, lo mejor con diferencia del álbum, lo cual demuestra su profesionalidad , quien a pesar de estar ya prácticamente apartado de la banda por Waters, es capaz de plasmar unos solos con su guitarra muy bellos, como en el tema “ The Fletcher Memorial Home”.
Otra consecuencia de este ambiente enrarecido fue la posterior “lucha encarnizada” por hacerse con los derechos del nombre de Pink Floyd entre Roger Waters y el resto de sus componentes.
En cuanto al propio álbum en si, personalmente me parece uno de sus trabajos más flojos y aburridos. Especialmente su primera mitad. La cosa mejora a partir de ahí, sobre todo gracias curiosamente a la labor de Gilmour, pero francamente, aparte de las críticas letras de los temas con todo su alegato contra la guerra, musicalmente para mi resulta un disco bastante aburrido, muy lejos del fantástico “Animals” o del mismo “The Wall” que no es precisamente de mis discos preferidos de la banda.
Temas demasiado lineales, en los que claramente se da mas importancia a los textos que a la música, donde Waters canta de forma “deliberadamente dramatica”, pero que para mi gusto la música peca de sosa en prácticamente todo el disco. Dada dicha linealidad del álbum resulta difícil destacar algún tema sobre los demás, aunque yo me quedaría con los dos que cierran el álbum: “Not now John” el más potente de todos y “Two suns in the sunset”, con un estupendo Raphael Ravenscroft ( el que puso el famoso saxo en el tema “Baker Street” de Gerry Rafferty) al saxo.
Y no es que sea malo, es que cuando escuchas un álbum de Pink Floyd esperas que te sorprenda, y este no lo hace en ningún momento. A pesar de ello, y de la enorme controversia creada en el Reino Unido por la feroz crítica hacia su gobierno, fue Nº 1 en UK y vendió 3 millones de copias, algo que sin embargo se consideró un “fracaso “ , tratándose de PF , sobre todo tras el éxito de su anterior obra, “The Wall”.
En resumen, flojo disco con el que se acaba la colaboración de Waters con el resto de la banda y que pondría punto final a la mejor formación que tuvo nunca el grupo, y que a pesar de los intentos tanto de Waters en solitario como del resto de miembros, quienes al final de un largo litigio ganaron la batalla legal por quedarse con el nombre de Pink Floyd, los cuales grabaron una serie de álbumes más o menos convincentes, nunca llegaron a alcanzar la calidad de piezas como "Meddle", "The dark...", "Wish..." o "Animals".
Para comentar esta reseña: --->Entrar
LETRAS
The Post War Dream (Waters)
[Car sound, switching on of car radio]
"...announced plans to build a nuclear fallout shelter at Peterborough
in Cambridgeshire..."
[phzzt! of returning]
"...three high court judges have cleared the way..."
[phzzt!]
"...It was announced today, that the replacement for the Atlantic
Conveyor the container ship lost in the Falklands conflict would be
built in Japan, a spokesman for..."
[phzzt!]
"...moving in. They say the third world countries, like Bolivia, which
produce the drug are suffering from rising violence...[fades]"
Tell me true, tell me why, was Jesus crucified
Is it for this that Daddy died?
Was it for 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 have we done?
Your Possible Pasts (Waters)
They flutter behind you your possible pasts,
Some bright-eyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.
A warning to anyone still in command
[Cattle truck noises]
"Ranks! Fire!"
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.
Tongue tied and terrified we learned how to pray
Now our feelings run deep and cold as the clay.
And 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?
One of the Few (Waters)
When you're one of the few to land on your feet
What do you do to make ends meet?
Teach.
Make them mad, make them sad, make them add two and two.
Make them me, make them you, make them do what you want them to.
Make them laugh, make them cry, make them lie down and die.
The Hero's Return (Waters)
Jesus, Jesus, what's it all about?
Trying to clout these little ingrates into shape.
When I was their age all the lights 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 is 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 on everyone's door.
We danced and we sang in the street and
The church bells rang.
But burning in my heart
My memory smolders on
Of the gunners dying words on the intercom.
The Gunner's Dream (Waters)
Floating down through the clouds
Memories come rushing up to meet me now.
In the space between the heavens
and in the corner of some foreign field
I had a dream.
I had a dream.
Good-bye Max.
Good-bye Ma.
After the service when you're walking slowly to the car
And the silver in her hair shines in the cold November air
You hear the tolling bell
And touch the silk in your lapel
And as the tear drops rise to meet the comfort of the band
You take her frail hand
And hold on to the dream.
A place to stay
"Oi! A real one ..."
Enough to eat
Somewhere old heroes shuffle safely down the street
Where you can speak out loud
About your doubts and fears
And what's more no-one ever disappears
You never hear their standard issue kicking in your door.
You can relax on both sides of the tracks
And maniacs don't blow holes in bandsmen by remote control
And everyone has recourse to the law
And no-one kills the children anymore.
And no one kills the children anymore.
Night after night
Going round and round my brain
His dream is driving me insane.
In the corner of some foreign field
The gunner sleeps tonight.
What's done is done.
We cannot just write off his final scene.
Take heed of his dream.
Take heed.
Paranoid Eyes (Waters)
Button your lip. Don't let the shield slip.
Take 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,
"I'll tell you what, I'll give you three blacks, and play you for five
..."
"Ta! You was unlucky there son"
"Time gentleman!"
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 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.
"Oi!"
Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert (Waters)
"Oi...Get your filthy hands off my desert!"
"What 'e say?"
Brezhnev took Afghanistan.
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.
The Fletcher Memorial Home (Waters)
Take all your overgrown infants away somewhere
And build them a home, a little place of their own.
The Fletcher Memorial
Home for Incurable Tyrants and Kings.
And they can appear to themselves every day
On closed circuit T.V.
To make sure they're still real.
It's the only connection they feel.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, Reagan and Haig,
Mr. Begin and friend, Mrs. Thatcher, and Paisly,
"Hello Maggie!"
Mr. Brezhnev and party.
"Scusi dov'è il bar?"
The ghost of McCarthy,
The memories of Nixon.
"Who's the bald chap?"
"Good-bye!"
And now, adding colour, a group of anonymous latin-
American meat packing glitterati.
Did they expect us to treat them with any respect?
They can polish their medals and sharpen their
Smiles, and amuse themselves playing games for awhile.
Boom boom, bang bang, lie down you're dead.
Safe in the permanent gaze of a cold glass eye
With their favorite toys
They'll be good girls and boys
In the Fletcher Memorial Home for colonial
Wasters of life and limb.
Is everyone in?
Are you having a nice time?
Now the final solution can be applied.
Southampton Dock (Waters)
They disembarked in 45
And no-one spoke and no-one smiled
There were to many spaces in the line.
Gathered at the cenotaph
All agreed with the 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.
And still the dark stain spreads between
His shoulder blades.
A mute reminder of the poppy fields and graves.
And when the fight was over
We spent what they had made.
But in the bottom of our hearts
We felt the final cut.
The Final Cut (Waters)
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 shotgun in the hall,
Dial the combination, open the priesthole
And if I'm in I'll tell you what's behind the wall.
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.
"Hello? Listen, I think I've got it. Okay, listen its a HaHa!"
Not Now John (Waters)
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 go 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
Clickity 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 nah 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
Got to get on with the show.
Hang on John we'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.
But now 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!
Two Suns in the Sunset (Waters)
In my rear view mirror the sun is going down
Sinking behind bridges in the road
And I think of all the good things
That we have left undone
And I suffer premonitions
Confirm suspicions
Of the holocaust to come.
The wire that holds the cork
That keeps the anger in
Gives way
And suddenly it's day again.
The sun is in the east
Even though the day is done.
Two suns in the sunset
Hmmmmmmmmmm
Could be the human race is run.
Like the moment when the brakes lock
And you slide towards the big truck
"Oh no!"
"[scream] Daddy, Daddy!"
You stretch the frozen moments with your fear.
And you'll never hear their voices
And you'll never see their faces
You have no recourse to the law anymore.
And as the windshield melts
My tears evaporate
Leaving only charcoal to defend.
Finally I understand the feelings of the few.
Ashes and diamonds
Foe and friend
We were all equal in the end.
"...and now the weather. Tomorrow will be cloudy with scattered showers
spreading from the east ... with an expected high of 4000 degrees
Celsius"
