PINK FLOYD - US AND THEM

US AND THEM

PINK FLOYD

SONGWRITERS: GEORGE ROGER WATERS & RICK WRIGHT

COUNTRY: U.S.

ALBUM: THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

LABEL: HARVEST

GENRE: PROGRESSIVE ROCK

YEAR: 1973

George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English singer, songwriter, bassist, and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd with drummer Nick Mason, keyboardist Rick Wright, and guitarist, singer, and songwriter Syd Barrett. Waters initially served as the group's bassist, but following the departure of Barrett in 1968, he also became their lyricist, co-lead vocalist, and conceptual leader.

Pink Floyd achieved international success with the concept albums The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall. By the early 1980s, they had become one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful groups in the history of popular music; by 2013, they had sold more than 250 million albums worldwide. Amid creative differences, Waters left in 1985 and began a legal dispute with the remaining members over their use of the band's name and material. They settled out of court in 1987, and nearly eighteen years passed before he performed with them again.

The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. The album built on ideas explored in earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions following the departure of founding member and principal contributor, Syd Barrett, in 1968, that characterised their earlier work. It thematically explores conflict, greed, the passage of time, and mental illness, the latter partly inspired by Barrett's deteriorating mental state.

Developed during live performances, an early version was premiered several months before recording began; new material was recorded in two sessions in 1972 and 1973 at Abbey Road in London. The group used some advanced recording techniques at the time, including multitrack recording and tape loops. Analogue synthesizers were prominent in several tracks, and snippets from recorded interviews with Pink Floyd's road crew and others provided philosophical quotations throughout. Engineer Alan Parsons was responsible for many distinctively notable sonic aspects and the recruitment of singer Clare Torry. The album's iconic sleeve, designed by Storm Thorgerson, depicts a prism spectrum and represents the band's lighting, the record's thematic material, and keyboardist Richard Wright's "simple and bold" design request.

Us, and them

And after all we're only ordinary men

Me, and you

God only knows it's not what we would choose to do

Forward he cried from the rear

and the front rank died

And the general sat and the lines on the map

moved from side to side

Black and blue

And who knows which is which and who is who

Up and down

And in the end it's only round and round... and round

Haven't you heard it's a battle of words

The poster bearer cried

Listen son, said the man with the gun

There's room for you inside

"I mean, they're not gunna kill ya

so if you give 'em a quick short

sharp, shock, they won't do it again

Dig it? I mean he get off

lightly, 'cos I would've given him a thrashing

I only hit him once!

It was only a difference of opinion

but really... I mean good manners

don't cost nothing do they, eh? "

Down and out

It can't be helped but there's a lot of it about

With, without

And who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about?

Out of the way, it's a busy day

I've got things on my mind

For want of the price of a tea and a slice

The old man died.