The Final Cut (album) - Concept and Storyline

Concept and Storyline

The Final Cut is an anti-war concept album, whose lyrics explore what Waters regards as the betrayal of fallen British servicemen — such as his father — who during World War II sacrificed their lives in the spirit of a post-war dream. This post-war dream was that their victory would usher in a more peaceful world, whose leaders would no longer be so eager to solve disputes by resorting to war. The album's lyrics are critical of Thatcher, whose policies and decisions Waters regarded as an example of this betrayal. She is referred to as "Maggie" throughout the album.

The opening track, "The Post War Dream", opens to a recorded announcement that the replacement for a ship lost during the campaign will be built in Japan. Waters' lyrics refer to his dead father, the Japanese and Margaret Thatcher, before moving on to "Your Possible Pasts", a rewritten version of one of the songs rejected for The Wall. In "One of the Few", another rejected song, the schoolteacher from The Wall features as the main character, presented as a war hero returned to civilian life. He is unable to relate his experiences to his wife, and in "The Hero's Return" is tormented by the loss of one of his air crew ("The Hero's Return" was titled "Teacher, Teacher" when it was part of the demo version of The Wall). "The Gunner's Dream" discusses the post-war dream of a world free from tyranny and the threat of terrorism (a reference to the Hyde Park bombing), and is followed in "Paranoid Eyes" by the teacher's descent into alcoholism.

The second half of the album deals with various war-related issues. While "Southampton Dock" is a lament to returning war heroes, and also those soldiers heading out to a certain death, "Not Now John" addresses the ignorance of society toward political and economic problems. "Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert" deals with Waters' feelings about war and invasion, and "The Fletcher Memorial Home" (the title is a nod to Waters' lost father) reflects the fantasy of gathering together political leaders such as Leonid Brezhnev, Menachem Begin, and Margaret Thatcher, and executing them all. The album's title track reveals Waters' deepest intimacies; the lyrics deal with the aftermath of a man's isolation and sexual repression, as he contemplates suicide, and struggles to reconnect with the world around him. The album ends with "Two Suns in the Sunset", a song that portrays a nuclear holocaust, the final result of a world obsessed with war and control.