Young Lust (song)

"Young Lust"
Song by Pink Floyd from the album The Wall
Released	30 November 1979 (UK) 8 December 1979 (US)
Recorded	April–November, 1979
Genre	Hard rock
Length	3:25 3:56 (Italian single version)[1]
Label	Harvest Records (UK) Columbia Records (US)/Capitol Records (US)
Writer	Waters/Gilmour
Producer	Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour, James Guthrie and Roger Waters
The Wall track listing
"Empty Spaces" (8 of disc 1) "Young Lust" (9 of disc 1) "One of My Turns" (10 of disc 1)

"Young Lust" is a song by Pink Floyd.^[2] It appeared on The Wall album in 1979.^[3]

Composition

"Young Lust" is approximately 3 minutes, 25 seconds in length. The lead vocals in the song are sung by David Gilmour, with background harmony vocals from Roger Waters during the chorus.

On the album, the preceding song, Empty Spaces, ends with an abrupt transition into Young Lust.

Plot

As with the other songs on The Wall, "Young Lust" tells a portion of the story of "Pink", the album's protagonist. Pink has become a rock star, and is always away from home as a result of his demanding lifestyle. He begins inviting groupies into his room between concerts, having not seen his wife in months.

The end of the song is part of a dialogue between Pink and a telephone operator; it is at this point he realises that his wife has been having an affair for some time, and his mental breakdown accelerates. The dialogue with the operator was the result of an arrangement co-producer James Guthrie made with his neighbour in London during the recording of the album in Los Angeles. He felt that the operator actually had to believe he'd caught his wife having an affair, and so didn't inform the operator she was being recorded.

Film version

In the film, the phone call where Pink finds out that his wife is cheating on him, occurs before "Young Lust" rather than at the end of it. The implications of the song are therefore slightly different: on the album he is not faithful to his wife while on his tour, making him a hypocrite when he becomes appalled to discover that she isn't faithful to him either, but in the film he only invites a groupie in when he has realized his wife does not love him anymore, which shows the character in a much more sympathetic light.

Personnel

• David Gilmour — guitars, bass guitar, lead vocals^[4]
• Nick Mason — drums^[4]
• Roger Waters — backing vocals^[4]
• Richard Wright — organs, electric piano^[4]
• Chris Fitzmorris — male telephone voice^[4]

Cover versions

• During Roger Waters' The Wall concert in Berlin on 21 July 1990, the song was performed by Canadian rock star Bryan Adams.^[5] This version reached #7 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart^[6] and is still popular. It has been added to YouTube from Adams' official channel.^[7]
• Producer John Law covered the song with banjo and electronics.^[8]

Further reading

• Fitch, Vernon. The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia (3rd edition), 2005. ISBN 1-894959-24-8.

References

1. ^ Vernon Fitch, Pink Floyd: Italian Vinyl Singles Discography, The Pink Floyd Archives, 1997–2009.
2. ^ Mabbett, Andy (1995). The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-4301-X. 
3. ^ Strong, Martin C. (2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 1177. ISBN 1-84195-551-5. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} Fitch, Vernon and Mahon, Richard, Comfortably Numb — A History of The Wall 1978–1981, 2006, p.84.
5. ^ "Pink Floyd — The Wall". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A5907332. Retrieved 2009-10-25. 
6. ^ "Artist Chart History (singles) — Bryan Adams". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p3502. Retrieved 2009-10-25. 
7. ^ Bryan Adams cover, YouTube.
8. ^ Ray Padgett, Full Albums: Pink Floyd’s The Wall, Pt. 1, Cover Me Songs, 15 September 2010.