"Us and Them" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd, from their 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon. The music was written by Richard Wright with lyrics by Waters. It is sung by David Gilmour, with harmonies by Wright. The song is 7 minutes and 49 seconds, the longest on the album.
| "Us and Them" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
US 7-inch single
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| SinglebyPink Floyd | ||||
| from the album The Dark Side of the Moon | ||||
| B-side | "Time" | |||
| Released | 4 February 1974 | |||
| Recorded | 1 June 1972 – 9 January 1973 | |||
| Studio | EMI, London | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:15 (single edit) 7:49 (album version) 7:51 (”Echoes” version) | |||
| Label | Harvest | |||
| Composer(s) | ||||
| Lyricist(s) | Roger Waters | |||
| Producer(s) | Pink Floyd | |||
| Pink Floyd singles chronology | ||||
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"Us and Them" was released as the second single from The Dark Side of the Moon in the United States, peaking at No. 72 on the Cash Box Top 100 Singles chart in March 1974.[3] The single peaked at No. 85 in the Canadian chart.[4]
Richard Wright introduces the song with harmonies on Hammond organ, and put a piano chordal backing and short piano solo afterwards on the arrangement. The tune was originally written on the piano by Wright for the film Zabriskie Point in 1969 and was titled "The Violent Sequence".[5] In its original demo form it was instrumental, featuring only piano and bass. Director Michelangelo Antonioni rejected it on the grounds that it was too unlike material such as "Careful with That Axe, Eugene", which was the style of music he wanted to use. As Roger Waters recalls it in impersonation, Antonioni's response was: "It's beautiful, but is a too sad, you know? It makes me think of church".[6] The song was then shelved until the making of The Dark Side of the Moon.
The lyrics of the song were written by Waters. They describe the senseless nature of war and the ignorance of modern-day humans who have been taken over by consumerism and materialism. In an interview, Waters shared the significance of each verse:
The first verse is about going to war, how on the front line we don't get much chance to communicate with one another, because someone else has decided that we shouldn't. The second verse is about civil liberties, racism and colour prejudice. The last verse is about passing a tramp in the street and not helping.[7]
The verses have a unique, jazz-influenced chord progression: Dsus2, D6add9 (or Esus2/D), D minor major 7, and G/D. The tonic of D, alternating with the dominant, A, is sustained on bass guitar as a pedal point throughout the verses. The D6 with an added 9th is not unlike an Esus2 with a D in the bass, but because the bass line also provides the fifth, it is more accurately described as a kind of D chord. The D minor chord with a major seventh is a rarity in 1970s rock music. There is also a secondary sequence, louder, with thick vocal harmonies, with a progression of B minor, A major, G major seventh suspended second, commonly written as "Gmaj7sus2" (enharmonic to the slash chord D/G), and C major. This progression is played twice between each verse, and is not unlike a chorus, except that the lyrics are different with each repeat.[8]
In the middle, there is a break during which roadie Roger "The Hat" Manifold speaks.[9]
It was re-released on the 2001 best of album, Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd, where it is the seventh track of the second disc. The ending of the song was edited in this version, with the vocals from the last bar treated with heavy delay, and the music track muted entirely, to avoid the seamless transition to "Any Colour You Like" that occurs on The Dark Side of the Moon.[10]
The following dialogue by the band's roadie, Roger "The Hat" Manifold, one of his two spoken segments on the album, is heard before the second saxophone solo (5:04), describing an altercation he had with a driver a few days prior:
I mean, they're gonna kill ya, so like, if you give 'em a quick sh ... short, sharp shock, they don't do it again. Dig it? I mean 'e got off light, 'cause I coulda given 'im a thrashin' but I only hit 'im once. It's only the difference between right and wrong innit? I mean good manners don't cost nothin' do they, eh?[11]
Cash Box called it a "hypnotizing ballad" that is "as pretty as it is commercial."[12] Record World called it an "ethereal number."[13] Billboard and Louder Sound ranked the song number three and number eight, respectively, on their lists of the 50 greatest Pink Floyd songs.[14][15]
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[16] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
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