The first track, Cluster One, is haunting. It is an instrumental. It evokes an image of running along a beach on a cold, lonely day. It yearns.
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The next track is called What Do You Want From Me. It is angry. Not in a fierce, ragey angry way, but more like a helpless anger. A pre-listen scan of the lyrics to all tracks made me think this album was made for Syd. Of course I don't know anything about them... I probably should get started on learning more, lol. There are a lot of backing vocals in this track, and Gilmour sounds almost throaty.
Do you want me to make a daisy chain for you
I'm not the one you need
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Poles Apart makes me want to toss my assignment into the bin. I don't want to do homework when I've got something like this to listen to! The guitar at the start sounds acoustic to me, but then again I'm not Shawn. The vocals are pretty low here, but the lyrics are, too. The song is rich, golden like the golden boy it refers to, and the instrumental bit in the centre makes me think of an afternoon in the snow in a royal garden, prancing around and playing with the frost-riven roses and building a careless snowman. Actually the tune reminds me of an accordion. The solo sounds disappointed. It's not lousy, it's great! But that's the feeling it gives me - it's disappointed. Like... something happened that made it sad: that's the golden boy who lost the light in his eyes. I can hear seagulls at the end of the track, weirdly enough. This song sounds like it could have been for Syd.
I never thought that you'd lose that light in your eyes.
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The seagulls return at the start of Marooned, the next track. I have listened to this instrumental many times before but never within The Division Bell. Here, the guitar gives me goosebumps. Marooned is absolutely brilliant, beyond verbal description, but it still can't beat my favourite Pink Floyd instrumental.
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A Great Day for Freedom starts with the words 'on the day the wall came down'. What does that bring to mind? Definitely the album The Wall, also the Berlin Wall, and Robert Frost's Mending Wall. This sounds like an anthem to me. It's very unlike the other songs. I cannot put my thumb on the tone, but the solo is heartfelt. It sounds like it would have been a nice addition to the end of The Wall. Like... the bricks and mortar are torn down, and after so many years the dawn is finally coming in. Triumphant? Yes. The song also ends with what I think is the solo.
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Wearing the Inside Out immediately reminds me of RATM's Maria, but only because of the jazzy start. Saxophone, mmm! (At least I think so, lol. Allow me this disclaimer: I have absolutely no musical talent, I was kicked out of the only band I was ever a part of and I cannot sing.) Wearing the Inside Out is the song whose lyrics struck me as especially poetic. I like the chanted words that come in about a third of the way into the track. This later turns into soothing ooohs as Gilmour sings of darkness and an empty smile. The sax dominates here. The chanted words are admittedly very distracting for me but they give the primary verse a nice depth. Ooh, and now a guitar solo? So there's both a short solo for the sax and the guitar.
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I've only listened to the more popular Pink Floyd albums, and Take It Back sounds so unlike what I know. Holy shit, it could almost pass for something Def Lep or Motley Crue would do! And... I really like it. The drums are consistent from the start, like a typical song of the classic rock genre. And I REALLY REALLY LIKE THIS. It's a very unbelievable change but I really enjoy classic rock. I would not have expected Pink Floyd to ever have a song like this though. Because of the tone, I immediately associate the lyrics with a love song lol. The bridge is awesome, strummy goodness, very representative of the 80s. Though this was made in 1994...
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I loved the intro of Coming Back to Life. But I really hate the echoes that follow certain lines in the first verse. The second verse is pretty disappointing. It follows the same 80s-esque style as Take It Back but I don't feel like it suits the lyrics. This would have been so much better as a traditional Floyd song. It actually brings to mind films like The Breakfast Club, which is kind of disappointing because you would not associate Pink Floyd with The Breakfast Club, as cute a movie as it is. I did like Take It Back because it was consistent throughout and a nice breath of fresh air to boot, but Coming Back to Life is kind of like they forgot what was going on and decided to do it in a totally different style for the 2nd verse. (EDIT: Oh god this reminds me of Dream Theatre's Falling Into Infinity songs) And... you know, on hindsight Pink Floyd should not sound like a second rate 80s rock band.
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Keep Talking reclaims the spacey feel so representative of many Floyd songs. Well, the intro at least. I can't remember which of album I previously heard this in, but that aside, I love the why won't you talk to me bits layered behind each line. I really love those because it makes me feel like the 'protagonist' in the song is really struggling with his own thoughts on the situation.
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I'm not sure if I like Lost for Words. It's very poetic, the way the aabb rhyming style of poetry is. But it does not sound like the Pink Floyd I love. I... enjoy it, I really like the lyrics and what they carry across, but they're also very blatant. The final verse is pretty funny and sort of redeems everything else, so yeah, I guess I could live with this.
So I open my door to my enemies
And I ask could we wipe the slate clean
But they tell me to please go fuck myself
You know you just can't win
The lyric booklet includes a picture of a pair of boxing gloves for this song.
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As the final song of their final studio album, I feel High Hopes is a very fitting end. The lyrics, especially, speak strongly of a golden time long past, of heaven. For some reason I'm reminded of Elric of Melnibone. Maybe it's cause this song would have suited him too.The grass was greener
The light was brighter
The taste was sweeter
The nights of wonder
With friends surrounding
The dawn mist glowing
The water flowing
The endless river
Forever and ever.
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But of course, you know they reunited for Live 8 in 2005. I watched that concert from 9pm to 7am before they finally came out but it was so worth it. I like most of the songs in The Division Bell but it really isn't what I expected of a Pink Floyd album. Worth a listen, but skip Coming Back to Life, maybe.
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