One of My Turns

"One of My Turns"
Song by Pink Floyd from the album The Wall
Released	30 November 1979 (UK) 8 December 1979 (US)
Recorded	April–November, 1979
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	3:41
Label	Harvest (UK) Columbia (US)/Capitol (US)
Writer	Waters
Producer	Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour, James Guthrie and Roger Waters
The Wall track listing
"Young Lust" (9 of disc 1) "One of My Turns" (10 of disc 1) "Don't Leave Me Now" (11 of disc 1)

"One of My Turns"
Single by Pink Floyd
from the album The Wall
A-side	"Another Brick in the Wall, Part II"
Released	30 November 1979 (UK), 8 December 1979 (US)
Recorded	April–November, 1979
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	3:35
Label	Harvest (UK) Columbia (US)/Capitol (US)
Writer(s)	Waters
Producer	Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour and Roger Waters

"One of My Turns" is a song by Pink Floyd.^[1] It appears on The Wall album in 1979, and was released as a B-side on the single of "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)".^[2]

Composition

The song is split into three distinct portions; a fragmented dialogue, a quieter lyrical portion, and a loud lyrical portion. It is approximately 3 minutes, 41 seconds in length. The song features one of Waters' most strenuous recorded vocal workouts, with him ending at one of the highest tones of his register, the A above middle C.

Plot

As with the other songs on The Wall, "One of My Turns" tells a segment of the story of Pink, the album's protagonist. Pink invites a groupie into his room after learning of his wife's affair. At first when the groupie tries to get his attention, he is too busy thinking of his wife to hear her, and the song is largely a description of his failed relationship with his wife. A TV can be heard in the background, the dialog mixed in with the groupie's conversation.

As the groupie continues to try to get his attention, Pink explodes into a fit of violence and destroys his room which drives the groupie away. Lyrically, the explosion of violence toward the groupie is a metaphor for fear-based explosions of anger at his wife. At the end of the song Pink puts on a darkly sarcastic tone and starts nonchalantly telling the groupie about his "favourite axe" (in this case, axe means guitar; perhaps a reference to the early Pink Floyd song "Careful with That Axe, Eugene") and asks her "would you like something to eat", a reference to the groupie helping herself to a glass of water. As the groupie flees the room he screams "Why are you running away?", feeling pity for himself.

Film version

Pink enters his hotel room with an American groupie, played by actress Jenny Wright. The groupie tries to be friendly to Pink (her monologue appears on the album as well). Pink is oblivious to the groupie as he watches the film The Dam Busters on television. When the groupie tries to make contact with Pink saying "Are you feeling okay?", he explodes into a violent fit of rage and begins to destroy his hotel room. Pink then chases the groupie around the room throwing various objects at her, cutting his own hand after he throws a television set out his window onto the street below.

The show that is on the television during the beginning of the song is from September 24–26, 1979, Another World episodes 3864–3866.^{[citation needed]} Kirk Laverty brings Iris Bancroft and her maid, Vivan Gorrow, to his lodge in the Adirondacks. Dobbs was the caretaker of the lodge. Laverty is the man talking to Dobbs, not Mr. Bancroft. Laverty was played by Charles Gioffi.

Personnel

• David Gilmour — lead guitar^[3]
• Nick Mason — drums and percussion^[3]
• Roger Waters — vocals, bass^[3]
• Richard Wright — piano^[3]
• Bob Ezrin — organ, prophet-5 synthesizer^[3]
• Lee Ritenour — rhythm guitar and rhythm guitar with a wah-wah pedal^[3]
• Trudy Young — voice of the groupie^[3]

Further reading

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

References

1. ^ Mabbett, Andy (1995). The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-4301-X. 
2. ^ Strong, Martin C. (2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 1177. ISBN 1-84195-551-5. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Fitch, Vernon and Mahon, Richard, Comfortably Numb — A History of The Wall 1978–1981, 2006, p.86