Us and Them by jomel77

jomel77 - Us and Them

jomel77

Jul 18, 2024 08:04am

"Us and Them" is a song by English <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_music" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">rock</a> band <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Floyd" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pink Floyd</a> from their 1973 album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Side_of_the_Moon" target="_blank">The Dark Side of the Moon</a>. The music was written by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wright_(musician)" target="_blank">Richard Wright</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Waters" target="_blank">Roger Waters,</a> and the lyrics were also written by Waters. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gilmour" target="_blank">David Gilmour sings the song</a>, with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmony" target="_blank">harmonies</a> by Wright. The song is 7 minutes and 49 seconds long, the longest on the album."Us and Them" was released as the second single from The Dark Side of the Moon in the United States, peaking at No. 72 on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashbox_(magazine)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cash Box</a> Top 100 Singles chart in March 1974.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Us_and_Them_(song)#cite_note-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[3]</a> The single peaked at No. 85 in the Canadian chart.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Us_and_Them_(song)#cite_note-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[4]</a>Richard Wright introduces the song with harmonies on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammond_organ" target="_blank" style="background-color: white;">the Hammond organ</a> and puts a piano chordal backing and short piano solo afterward on the arrangement. The tune was originally written on the piano by Wright for the film <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zabriskie_Point_(film)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Zabriskie Point</a> in 1969 and was titled "The Violent Sequence."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Us_and_Them_(song)#cite_note-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[5]</a> It was instrumental in its original demo form, featuring only piano and bass. Director <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo_Antonioni" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Michelangelo Antonioni</a> rejected it because it was too unlike material such as "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Careful_with_That_Axe,_Eugene" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Careful with That Axe, Eugene</a>", which was the style of music he wanted to use. As Roger Waters recalls it in impersonation, Antonioni responded: "It's beautiful, but is too sad, you know? It makes me think of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_service" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">church</a>".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Us_and_Them_(song)#cite_note-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[6]</a> The song was then shelved until The Dark Side of the Moon was made.Waters wrote the lyrics of the song. They describe the senseless nature of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">war</a> and the ignorance of modern-day humans who have been taken over by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">consumerism</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_materialism" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">materialism</a>. In an interview, Waters shared the significance of each verse:<blockquote>The first verse is about going to war, how on the front line we don't get much chance to communicate with one another, because someone else has decided that we shouldn't. The second verse is about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_liberties" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">civil liberties</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">racism</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimination_based_on_skin_color" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">colour prejudice</a>. The last verse is about passing a tramp in the street and not helping.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Us_and_Them_(song)#cite_note-loud-7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[7]</a></blockquote>The verses have a unique, jazz-influenced <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chord_progression" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">chord progression</a>: Dsus2, D6add9 (or Esus2/D), D minor major 7, and G/D. The tonic of D, alternating with the dominant, A, is sustained on bass guitar as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedal_point" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">pedal point</a> throughout the verses. The D6 with an added 9th is not unlike an Esus2 with a D in the bass, but because the bass line also provides the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_fifth" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">fifth</a>, it is more accurately described as a kind of D <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chord_(music)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">chord</a>. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_major_seventh_chord" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">D minor chord with a major seventh</a> is a rarity in 1970s rock music. There is also a secondary sequence, louder, with thick vocal harmonies, with a progression of B minor, A major, G <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_seventh_chord" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">major seventh</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspended_chord" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">suspended second</a>, commonly written as "Gmaj7sus2" (enharmonic to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_chord" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">slash chord</a> D/G), and C major. This progression is played twice between each verse and is not unlike a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrain" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">chorus</a>, except that the lyrics are different with each repeat.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Us_and_Them_(song)#cite_note-8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[8]</a>In the middle, there is a break during which <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_crew" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">roadie</a> Roger "The Hat" Manifold speaks.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Us_and_Them_(song)#cite_note-long-9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[9]</a>It was re-released on the 2001 best-of album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echoes:_The_Best_of_Pink_Floyd" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd</a>, where it is the seventh track of the second disc. The song's ending was edited in this version, with the vocals from the last bar treated with heavy <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delay_(audio_effect)" target="_blank">delay</a> and the music track muted entirely to avoid the seamless transition to "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Any_Colour_You_Like" target="_blank">Any Colour You Like</a>" that occurs on The Dark Side of the Moon.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Us_and_Them_(song)#cite_note-Echoes-10" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[10]</a>