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Nobody Home
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Wikipedia article
"'Nobody Home'" is a song from the Pink Floyd album 'The Wall'. This song was one of several to be considered for the band's "best of" album, 'Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd'.
Background
"Nobody Home" was written late into the development of 'The Wall' after an argument between the band and Roger Waters. David Gilmour said that the song "came along when we were well into the thing ['The Wall'] and hed [Waters] gone off in a sulk the night before and came in the next day with something fantastic."
Lyrics
In the song, the character Pink describes his lonely life of isolation behind his self-created mental wall. He has no one to talk to, and all he has are his possessions. The song describes what Roger Waters says he experienced during the band's 1977 tour, the band's first major stadium tour. Additionally, the song contains some references to founding Pink Floyd member, Syd Barrett. The song was written after an argument between Gilmour, Waters, and co-producer Bob Ezrin during production of 'The Wall' in which Gilmour and Ezrin challenged Waters to come up with one more song for the album. Waters then wrote "Nobody Home" and returned to the studio two days later to present it to the band. It was the last song written for 'The Wall'. On the 30th anniversary of 'The Wall' episode of the US radio show 'In the Studio with Redbeard', Gilmour revealed that "Nobody Home" was one of his favorite songs from the album.
A television playing in the background is frequently heard, including the line, "Surprise! Surprise, Surprise!" from 'Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.' The lyrics "I got nicotine stains on my fingers, I got a silver spoon on a chain. Got a grand piano to prop up my mortal remains" are said to have been written specifically about Floyd's pianist Richard Wright, who was allegedly struggling with cocaine addiction at the time.
Personnel
*David Gilmour bass guitar
*Roger Waters vocals, EMS VCS 3
*Richard Wright Prophet-5 synthesiser
with:
*Bob Ezrin piano
*New York Symphony Orchestra
Personnel per Fitch and Mahon.Fitch and Mahon, p. 94.
Cover versions
* An orchestrated version, arranged by Jaz Coleman and performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Peter Scholes, appears on the 1995 instrumental album 'Us and Them: Symphonic Pink Floyd'.
* On Metric's 2011 tour, for their 2009 album, 'Fantasies'.
* On the tribute album 'Back Against the Wall', the track is performed by Rick Wakeman.[http://www.therockradio.com/2005/08/pink-floyds-wall-tribute.html Pink Floyd's The Wall tribute] , [http://www.therockradio.com/ The Rock Radio], 2005.
Bibliography
* Fitch, Vernon; Richard Mahon (2006). 'Comfortably Numb: A History of The Wall 19781981'.
* Fitch, Vernon (2005). 'The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia' (3rd edition). .
References
Category:1979 songs
Category:Pink Floyd songs
Category:Songs written by Roger Waters
Category:Song recordings produced by Bob Ezrin
Category:Song recordings produced by David Gilmour
Category:Song recordings produced by Roger Waters
Category:Songs about loneliness
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