THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

280-Pink Floyd-Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2.)

1979-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 2.18. And they say that school days are meant to be the best days of your life.

‘Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2’) was the first single released by Pink Floyd (see also best songs 992) in 11 years. The band felt that the single format didn’t suit their music, as all their songs were parts of concept Albums. It was the groups producer Bob Ezrin who talked the band around to the idea of a single release, even coming up with the idea of giving the song a ‘Disco’ beat, which to a Progressive Rock group would have probably seemed abhorrent at the time. ‘Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2’) went on to top the chart in both America and the UK, and has sold in excess of four million copies. In the UK it was the Christmas Number 1 single of 1979, and also the last Number 1 single of the 1970’s.

‘Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2’) was the first of three singles released from ‘The Wall,’ which was the 11th studio Album by Pink Floyd, from November 1979, the song was written by Roger Waters, who also wrote the majority of the other tracks on the Album, with the production being by Roger Waters, Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour, and James Guthrie. ‘The Wall’ is a concept Album, and loosely deals with Roger Waters life as an adolescent growing up after World War II. In 1982 ‘The Wall’ was made into a musical psychological drama film called ‘Pink Floyd – The Wall,’ the screenplay was written by Roger Waters, with Bob Geldof (see also best songs 632 and 455) starring as the Rock Star character ‘Pink.’ The character ‘Pink’ was based on Waters himself, and also his ex-Pink Floyd band mate Syd Barrett (1946-2006.) ‘The Wall’ is one of the best selling Albums of all time, with sales in excess of 30 million copies. The Album is Pink Floyd’s second biggest seller behind their 1973 eighth studio Album ‘The Dark Side of the Moon,’ which has estimated sales of 45 million. ‘Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2’) appears on ‘The Wall’ Album in a slightly different format to the songs single release. On ‘The Wall’ it follows on continuously from ‘Another Brick in the Wall Part 1, and ‘The Happiest Days of Our Lives,’ both of those songs were also written by Waters.

‘Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2′) is a protest song, with Roger Waters relaying the torrid time he had as child at school, where not only was he bullied by other children, but also by his school teachers. Waters has explained,’ You couldn’t find anybody in the world more pro-education than me, but the education I went through in a boys’ grammar school in the 50’s was very controlling and demanded rebellion. The song is meant to be a rebellion against people who have power over you, who are wrong.’ The lyrics attracted controversy, with the ‘Inner London Education Authority’ describing the song as ‘Scandalous,’ and it was also rumoured that Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013) ‘hated it.’

Roger Waters was born George Roger Waters on September 6th, 1943, in Great Bookham, Surrey, England, and was the co-founder of Pink Floyd, following the departure of Syd Barrett (1946-2006) in 1968, he took over as the bands main lyricist. Pink Floyd were formed in London, England in 1965, and are one of the worlds best ever selling artists, with sales in excess of 250 million Albums. It was Syd Barrett who chose the bands name, using the names of his favourite ‘Blues’ artists Pink Anderson, (1900-1974) and Floyd Council (1911-1976.) Waters left Pink Floyd in 1984, and has since released four solo studio Albums between 1984-2018.

‘Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2’) and it’s parent Album ‘The Wall’ was co-produced by Bob Ezrin, who was born Robert Alan Ezrin on March 25th, 1949, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, he is a music producer, musician and vocalist. Bob Ezrin has produced for many of the world’s top artists, including three studio Albums by Pink Floyd, 15 Albums by Alice Cooper, and Albums by Lou Reed, (1942-2013) Rod Stewart, and many more. Bob Ezrin has been described by Alice Cooper as ‘Our George Martin.’ and was the producer of the Alice Cooper classic track ‘School’s Out,’ (1972-Billboard Number 7 & UK Number 1) so both of Bob Ezrin’s most commercially successful ‘singles’ productions, have had the theme of being at school as their basis. Ezrin was inducted into the ‘Canadian Music Hall of Fame’ in April 2004, and the ‘Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame’ in March 2006, and in 2022 he was named an ‘Officer of the Order of Canada,’ ‘For his ongoing contributions to music and entertainment production, and for his sustained advocacy of musical education, journalism and environmental justice.’ It was Bob Ezrin who instructed another of this songs co-producers Nick Griffiths to record a children’s choir singing on the track. The children were from ‘Islington Green School,’ Greater London, close to Pink Floyd’s recording studio. The children’s choir in the recording featured 23 students, who practised for about a week to prepare. According to Ezrin, when he played the children’s vocals to Roger Waters, ‘There was a total softening of his face, and you just knew that he knew it was going to be an important record.’ Waters said, ‘It was great, exactly the thing I expected from a collaborator.’

‘Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2’) is about Roger Waters schooldays, but the Album ‘The Wall’ explores his life growing up, including his Rock Star career, and the death of his father. Each event, and the problems that occur in his life, are ‘another brick in the wall.’

‘We don’t need no education, we don’t need no thought control. No dark sarcasm in the classroom, teachers leave those kids alone.’