Don't Leave Me Now (Pink Floyd song)

"Don't Leave Me Now"
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	4:08
Label	Harvest Records (UK) Columbia Records (US)/Capitol Records (US)
Writer	Roger Waters
Producer	Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour, James Guthrie and Roger Waters
The Wall track listing
"One of My Turns" (10 of disc 1) "Don't Leave Me Now" (11 of disc 1) "Another Brick in the Wall, Part III" (12 of disc 1)

"Don't Leave Me Now" is a song by Pink Floyd.^[1] It appears on The Wall album (1979).^[2]

Composition

The song is split into two main portions; the first of which is very quiet and dissonant, reflected by a 'sluggish' piano and reverb-laden synthesiser. The lyrics are rather cynical (as in "The Thin Ice") and have a lackluster quality to them, accentuating the plot. The second section contains a protracted, emotional plea, and is louder in tone. The song ends as Pink quickly switches between different channels on his TV, and finishes the song with a hysterical scream. The song marks the infidelity of Pink's wife and his corresponding, and increasing, isolation from society. The music has a slow, haunting quality to it, culminating in a mournful guitar solo. Chick Hearn, the broadcaster of the Lakers, can be heard at the 4:07 mark of the song as Pink is changing channels. This soundbite appears to have been taken from an actual game between the Lakers and the Bulls, recorded in the 1978-79 season.

Plot

As with the other songs on The Wall, "Don't Leave Me Now" tells a segment of the story of Pink, the album's protagonist. Having failed to win over his unfaithful wife or a groupie, Pink falls into a bout of depression. He pleads with his wife not to go, but in the next breath states that his need is to, metaphorically at least, put her through the shredder in public and beat her. Waters, in a 1980 interview with Jim Ladd, described this song as being about "two people who have treated each other very badly", yet are devastated at the prospect of their relationship ending. He also stated on the 1992 US radio special Pink Floyd: The 25th Anniversary Special that the lyrics had nothing to do with his personal life as he had a more cordial relationship with his wife in real-life than Pink did.

Film version

The song begins with a close-up of the debris in Pink's hotel room, then switches over to the hotel's pool, where Pink is seen floating in a crucifix position. With his right hand having been cut earlier in a shard of glass (when Pink trashed his penthouse), his blood pours out and stains the pool water. What follows is a fantasy sequence in which Pink watches The Dam Busters on TV in a much larger and entirely empty hotel room. The shadow of Pink's wife emerges on the back wall before materialising into a praying mantis-like monster, which then transforms into the vulva-shaped flower from "What Shall We Do Now?". The song ends with Pink cowering in the corner of the room, tortured by both the imaginary mantis in front of him and the thoughts of his wife's adulterous acts superimposed on the screen.

Personnel

• Roger Waters — EMS VCS 3, vocals^[3]
• Nick Mason — drums^[3]
• David Gilmour — bass guitar, guitars, backing vocals, breathing^[3]
• Richard Wright — bass pedals, organ, piano, synthesizer^[3]

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} Fitch, Vernon and Mahon, Richard, Comfortably Numb — A History of The Wall 1978–1981, 2006, p. 87.