Songs of the Century: Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd

“Another Brick in the Wall” is a three-part composition on Pink Floyd’s 1979 rock opera The Wall, written by bassist Roger Waters. “Part 2”, a protest song against rigid schooling, features a children’s choir. At the suggestion of producer Bob Ezrin, Pink Floyd added elements of disco.

“Part 2” was released as a single, Pink Floyd’s first in the UK since “Point Me at the Sky” (1968). It became their only number-one single in the UK, the United States, West Germany and many other countries, and sold over four million copies worldwide. It was nominated for a Grammy Award, and was number 384 on Rolling Stone’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.

The three parts of “Another Brick in the Wall” appear on Pink Floyd’s 1979 rock opera album The Wall. During “Part 1”, the protagonist, Pink, begins building a metaphorical wall around himself following the death of his father. In “Part 2”, traumas including his overprotective mother and abusive schoolteachers become metaphorical bricks in the wall. Following a violent breakdown in “Part 3”, Pink dismisses everyone he knows as “just bricks in the wall”.

Bassist Roger Waters wrote “Part 2” as a protest against rigid schooling, particularly boarding schools. “Another Brick in the Wall” appears in the Wall film. In the “Part 2” sequence, children enter a school and march in unison through a meat grinder, becoming “putty-faced” clones, before rioting and burning down the school.

Listen to the iconic song below:

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