numb

The lyrics refer to The Wall's protagonist Pink, finally burned out and passed out in his hotel room, being drugged to enable him to perform. The verses, sung by Waters, are the words of the doctor treating Pink, while the chorus, sung by Gilmour, is Pink's hazy vision and thoughts.

History

While most songs on The Wall were written by Waters alone, most of the music for this particular song was written by David Gilmour while recording his first solo album in the South of France. Gilmour then decided not to use it on that album, but instead brought his demo of it to The Wall sessions.

The song is the only track on The Wall which is completely free-standing and does not fade into or out of an adjacent track (although the curious emphasis on the word 'in' in the opening line is there to contrast with the reprisal of the line 'Is There Anybody Out There?' from the preceding track "Bring the Boys Back Home)."

According to Rolling Stone the lyrics came from Roger Waters' experience when he was injected with tranqulizers for hepatitis by a doctor prior to playing a Pink Floyd Show in Philadlephia. "That was the longest two hours of my life," Waters said. "Trying to do a show when you can hardly lift your arm." The experience gave him the idea which became this song

Waters and Gilmour disagreed about how to record the song. In the end, Waters' preferred opening to the song and Gilmour's final solo were used on the album (Gilmour preferred a more grungy approach to the verses). Gilmour would later say, "We argued over 'Comfortably Numb' like mad. Really had a big fight, went on for ages." [Rock Compact Disc magazine, September 1992]

This song features two guitar solos by David Gilmour, and is a particular favourite with Pink Floyd fans. The final solo (outro, coda, or fade out), is widely revered by fans and air-guitarists worldwide as one of Gilmour's best, and is an archetypal rock guitar solo.

David Gilmour's solo was rated the 4th best guitar solo of all-time^[1], by Guitar World magazine, in a reader poll. It was named the Greatest Guitar Solo of All Time by DigitalDreamDoor, just ahead of "Stairway to Heaven".

In 1989 the readers of the Pink Floyd fanzine The Amazing Pudding voted this song the best Floyd song of all time.

In 1984 when David Gilmour was doing a few solo performances, the song was referenced in the setlist as "Come On Big Bum". Gilmour also revised the verses to his preferred more grungy approach when the song was played on Pink Floyd tours after Waters left the band. The post-Waters live album P*U*L*S*E (1994), includes a longer, 4.5 minute long version of the concluding guitar solo. The P*U*L*S*E solo has been particularly revered for its length and accuracy, being voted by DigitalDreamDoor as the 5th best live solo.

Cover versions

• In 2001, the Canadian alternative country band Luther Wright and the Wrongs released a country version of the song on their Rebuild the Wall album, a track-for-track reimagining of The Wall as a country album.

• In 2003, legendary British Pub Rocker Graham Parker released a solo acoustic version of "Comfortably Numb" on the two-disc compilation A Fair Forgery of Pink Floyd (title taken from Roger Waters' 1987 assessment of the A Momentary Lapse of Reason LP viz "A pretty fair forgery"). Parker's version has elements of Nebraska-era Bruce Springsteen as well as Bob Dylan.

• In 2004, a disco-oriented cover of the song was released by Scissor Sisters on Polydor, a remix by Canadian electronic musician and DJ/producer Tiga. Although the cover (sung entirely in falsetto) has irked some Floyd fans, David Gilmour and Nick Mason have expressed a liking for the group; Roger Waters is also known to have contacted the band to congratulate them on the version. It is performed in a style reminsiscent of The Bee Gees' disco era, and in particular, "Stayin' Alive". The word "I" in the chorus lyric "I have become, comfortably numb" is sung with the same style as the repeated "Ah ha ha ha" in the chorus of "Staying Alive". It is the biggest UK hit single to be cover of a Pink Floyd song to date.

• In 2005 Dar Williams included a version of "Comfortably Numb" on her album My Better Self, duetting on the track with Ani DiFranco. Unfortunately, for some Pink Floyd fans, this version does not feature the guitar solo. "I always thought a woman should record it," Dar Williams explains, "So I decided to do it, but I thought it needed another woman. Ani was my dream choice and she just nailed it," Williams says, "The song is a commentary on who we are in the aftermath of the last election, no matter who you voted for. On one level it is about a dream which seems to have died in our society and the ultra convenient numbing I am witnessing these days."

• Also in 2005, Billy Sherwood and Yes members Chris Squire and Alan White covered this track for The Wall tribute album Back Against The Wall.

• In 2006, the chanting group Gregorian covered the song on their album Masters of Chant Chapter V.

• In 2006, Sarah Slean covered the song on the Pink Floyd Redux album.

• English band Anathema also covered the song in their several gigs.

• Dream Theater has covered the song in several of their gigs including one in which they performed it with the band Queensrÿche. Dream Theater has also performed the entire Dark Side Of The Moon album on some of their special shows.

• The British progressive rock band Mostly Autumn covered the song and included it on their Pink Floyd Revisited DVD and performed it on several gigs. The chorus is sung by female leadsinger Heather Findlay.

• On September 26, 2006 the rock band Staind played the song, acoustically, live in Orlando FL while on the Ambassadors of Rock Tour with Three Days Grace, Hinder, and Black Stone Cherry.

• The soundtrack of the 2006 Martin Scorsese film The Departed includes a cover by Van Morrison.

Personnel

• David Gilmour - guitars, bass guitar, synthesizer, pedal steel, vocals (chorus)
• Nick Mason - drums
• Roger Waters - vocals (verse), bass guitar
• Richard Wright - organ
• Lee Ritenour - acoustic guitar
• The New York Orchestra

References

• Fitch, Vernon. The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia (3rd edition), 2005. ISBN 1-894959-24-8
• http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pinkfloyd/articles/story/6596159/comfortably_numb

External links

• Lyrics
• Guitar tabs
• Videos:
  • Original music video at YouTube.
  • Live version from P*U*L*S*E at YouTube.
  • Live 8 performance at YouTube.