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Pigs on the Wing

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Wikipedia article




"'Pigs on the Wing'" is a two-part song by English rock band Pink Floyd from their 1977 concept album 'Animals', opening and closing the album. According to various interviews, it was written by Roger Waters as a declaration of love to his new wife Carolyne Christie. The song is significantly different from the other three songs on the album, "Dogs," "Pigs" and "Sheep," in that the other songs are dark, whereas this one is lighter-themed, as well as also being much shorter in duration, with each part at under a minute and a half while the others are all at least 10 minutes in length.

The title is a reference to the figure of speech "when pigs fly" and an image of a flying pig appears on the album cover and was subsequently used by Pink Floyd in their live concerts.

Composition



The song is divided into two parts, which are the first and last tracks of the album. Both are in stark contrast to the album's middle three songs. Without the inclusion of this track on 'Animals', Waters thought the album "would have just been a kind of scream of rage."

According to Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, and confirmed by Waters, it is a love song directed towards Waters' new wife at the time, Carolyne. She was really the only one of Waters' friends Mason had ever met who could hold her own in an argument with Waters. According to Mason, someone had to be very good with semantics to win an argument against Waters. Waters wrote the song because that is what he had been looking for all along: someone who could stand up to him, an equal.

The songs are constructed simply and feature no instrumentation besides a strummed acoustic guitar played by Waters.

A special version of the song was made for the 8-track cartridge release. The 8-track format featured a loop-play function where the end of the recording looped back to the beginning, allowing an album to play continuously without having to turn over the cartridge. To exploit this feature, the special 8-track version of the song linked part 2 and part 1 with a guitar solo, performed by Snowy White, who would later play the guitar solo in live performances on the 1977 In the Flesh Tour. The complete version of the song, including the instrumental bridge, was re-released on White's 'Goldtop' compilation album in 1995.

Reception



In a review for 'Animals', Brice Ezell of 'Consequence of Sound' described "Pigs on the Wing (Part One)" as "a brief acoustic framing device. Its major key signature is a clear contrast to the frequently sinister riffs that form the landscape of 'Dogs,' 'Pigs (Three Different Ones)' and 'Sheep.'" He described "Part Two" as "a reminder that humans find ways to stick together even amidst the turmoil of a cravenly capitalist world."

Personnel



* Roger Waters acoustic guitar, lead vocals

* Snowy White electric guitar solo (8-track version only)

* Richard Wright Hammond organ (8-track version only)

References



Footnotes



Bibliography



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Category:Pink Floyd songs

Category:1977 songs

Category:Folk rock songs

Category:Songs written by Roger Waters

Category:Song recordings produced by David Gilmour

Category:Song recordings produced by Roger Waters

Category:Song recordings produced by Richard Wright (musician)

Category:Song recordings produced by Nick Mason

Category:Harvest Records singles

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