Music
The first half of the piece has the same concept of "Hey You", being a distress call from Pink. The second half is instrumental. An interesting part of the song is the classical guitar solo, as it is not widely known who played it. In several interviews, David Gilmour said that he tried to perform it, and was not satisfied with the final result ("I could play it with a leather pick but couldn't play it properly fingerstyle"). Accordingly, session musician Ron Di Blasi was brought in by Michael Kamen to play with the rest of the orchestra. Gilmour also says that the song was composed by Bob Ezrin, with the understanding that Roger Waters would receive credit. The shrill siren-like sound effect used during this song is also used in an earlier Pink Floyd work, "Echoes". The noise was originally used as a sort of whale call for the deep-water-based "Echoes", and is created by Gilmour using a wah-wah pedal with the cables reversed. The guitarist in the song, Joe DiBlasi, is often referred to as "Ron DiBlasi" because Roger Waters only remembered that it was a three-letter name; Ron was the closest name he could remember to Joe when creating the record.
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Famous quotes containing the word music:
“Music is either sacred or secular. The sacred agrees with its dignity, and here has its greatest effect on life, an effect that remains the same through all ages and epochs. Secular music should be cheerful throughout.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)
“As I define it, rock & roll is dead. The attitude isn’t dead, but the music is no longer vital. It doesn’t have the same meaning. The attitude, though, is still very much alive—and it still informs other kinds of music.”
—David Byrne (b. 1952)
“It is hard to describe the thrill of creative joy which the artist feels when the conviction seizes her that at last she has caught the very soul of the character she wishes to portray, in the music and action which reveal it.”
—Maria Jeritza (1887–1982)