Us and Them

Infobox Single
Name = Us and Them


Artist = Pink Floyd
from Album = The Dark Side of the Moon
A-side = "Time (edited version)"
Released = 1973
Format = 7"
Recorded = Abbey Road
June 1972-January 1973
Genre = Progressive rock
Length = 7:51
3:15 (single edit)
Label = Harvest, EMI (UK)
Harvest, Capitol (US)
Writer = Roger Waters/Richard Wright
Producer = Pink Floyd
Last single = "Money"
(1973)
This single = "Us and Them"/"Time"
(1973)
Next single = "Have a Cigar"
(1975)
Misc = "The Dark Side of the Moon"Tracks

1. "Speak to Me" (1:08)
2. "Breathe" (2:48)
3. "On the Run" (3:31)
4. "Time" / "Breathe (Reprise)" (7:04)
5. "The Great Gig in the Sky" (4:47)
6. "Money" (6:23)
7. "Us and Them" (7:51)
8. "Any Colour You Like" (3:25)
9. "Brain Damage" (3:50)
10. "Eclipse" (2:06)

"Us and Them" is the sixth (on the 1994 CD version) or seventh track [The track number depends upon the edition of the album; some releases merge the two tracks "Speak to Me" and "Breathe", for instance.] from English progressive rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album, "The Dark Side of the Moon". It was written by Richard Wright and Roger Waters and sung by David Gilmour (harmonies by Wright). It is 7 minutes, 51 seconds in length, making it the longest song on the album. When performed live throughout the 70s, it was even slightly longer, though in later tours, as evidenced in bootlegs and the releases "P•U•L•S•E" and "Delicate Sound of Thunder", it was sometimes up to a minute shorter.

Composition

"Us and Them" is rather quiet in tone and dynamics. It has two saxophone solos in it, one at the beginning and another towards the end of the song. Rick Wright introduces the song with harmonies on his Hammond organ, and put a piano chordal backing and short piano solo afterwards on the arrangement.The verses have a unique, jazz-influenced chord progression: Dsus2, D6(add9), Dminor major7 and G (with D in the bass, sustained as a pedal point throughout). 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. [Pink Floyd: "The Dark Side of the Moon" 1973 Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd., London, England, ISBN: 0 7119 1028 6 (USA ISBN: 0 8256 1078 8)]

In the middle, there is a break during which roadie "Roger the Hat" speaks (during the recording of the album a number of interviews were laid down, including with Paul and Linda McCartney who were recording in the same studio). Before its release, the song was known as "The Violent Sequence" which is available on bootlegs.

The tune was originally written on the piano by Rick for the movie "Zabriskie Point" in 1969; this is where the "Violent Sequence" title came from. Director Michelangelo Antonioni rejected it on the grounds that it was too unlike their "Careful with That Axe, Eugene"-esque work, which was the style of music he wanted to use. As Waters recalls it in impersonation, Antonioni's response was, "It's beautiful, but too sad, you know? It makes me think of church." ["The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon" Pt. 5 (Us and Them)] . The song was shelved until "Dark Side of the Moon."

It was also re-released on the 2001 greatest hits album, "", where it is the seventh track of the second disc.

poken parts

"Echoes" segue

On "Echoes" the song has a different ending: instead of segueing into what would be the next track on "Dark Side of the Moon" ("Any Colour You Like"), engineer and Floyd collaborator James Guthrie gave the song a cold ending, before adding a backwards piano note that would lead into the collection's next track, "Learning to Fly". [ [http://www.floydianslip.com/discs/echoes.htm Floydian Slip(tm) : The Pink Floyd Experience] ]

Cover versions

The song has been covered by Between the Buried and Me on the album "The Anatomy Of". This song was covered on the Echoes of Pink tribute album in 2002 by Brielle Morgan.This song was covered by Easy Dub All-Stars in 2003. This reggae group reproduced the entire Dark Side of the Moon album in their own style, calling it "Dub Side of the Moon".The song has also been covered by experimental group Donny Who Loved Bowling.

Alternative and Live versions

*The original 1973 mix of the album includes a few more saxophone notes from Dick Parry, right before the first lines are sung. On later reissues of the album, the notes are inaudible. Nevertheless, this mix has been used to this day.
*It was performed live by Pink Floyd from 1972–1977 and after the departure of Waters from 1987-1994.
*1972 versions did not include any saxophone and the lead vocals were performed by Roger Waters and Rick Wright, with David Gilmour providing backing vocals. The vocals by Gilmour sounded like those found on the celestial voices section of A Saucerful of Secrets.
*It occasionally featured as an encore during the band's 1977 "In The Flesh" tour (this was performed at most shows on the band's 1977 US tours during the encore). It was often used to intentionally calm the often rowdy stadium audiences.
*The "P*U*L*S*E" and "Delicate Sound Of Thunder" CD and videos feature this track. Both versions are shorter than the original studio recording, and the latter features a slightly altered saxophone solo.
*Roger Waters included the song in his recent 2006/2007 The Dark Side of the Moon Live tour, with Jon Carin replacing Gilmour on lead vocals.

Personnel

*David Gilmour - Guitar, vocals
*Roger Waters - Bass guitar
*Richard Wright - Organ, piano and vocals
*Nick Mason - Percussion, drums
*Dick Parry - Saxophone

Notes

External links

* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:9wq8b5p4psza AMG review]