Empty Spaces
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2012) |
| "Empty Spaces" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Pink Floyd | |
| from the album The Wall | |
| Published | Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd |
| Released | 30 November 1979 (UK) 8 December 1979 (US) |
| Recorded | 1978–1979 |
| Genre | Progressive rock |
| Length | 2:10 (album version) 3:55 (Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81 version combined with "What Shall We Do Now?") |
| Label | Harvest (UK) Columbia (US) |
| Songwriter(s) | Roger Waters |
| Producer(s) | Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour, James Guthrie and Roger Waters |
"Empty Spaces" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It appears on the 1979 album The Wall. It contains a backmasked message.
Composition
[edit] | This section possibly contains original research. (July 2022) |
The song is in the key of E minor, and is two minutes, eight seconds in length. It features a long introductory section, with solo guitar and a repetitive drumbeat, and an airport announcement, as a reference to Pink heading for a concert tour. The song reaches a climax of tension, at which point Roger Waters plays a descending blues scale over the minor dominant, B minor, cueing the start of the vocals. Roger Waters sings a short verse, ending on the phrase "How shall I complete the wall?" This track shares a backing track with the first half of "What Shall We Do Now?", sped up from D minor to E minor, with new guitar and vocals. The last beat introduces the next song, "Young Lust". The original D minor version of the track has never been released, officially or otherwise.
Plot
[edit]The Wall tells the story of Pink, an alienated and embittered rock star.[1] At this point in the narrative, Pink is now grown up and married, but he and his wife are having relationship problems because of his physical distance and nearly complete emotional "wall". Pink asks himself how he should complete its construction.
What Shall We Do Now?
[edit]Originally, "Empty Spaces" was intended to be much later on The Wall. Until very late in production, "Empty Spaces" was in the key of D minor, and sequenced between "Don't Leave Me Now" and "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 3", while "Goodbye Blue Sky" was followed by a song called "What Shall We Do Now?".
The first half of "What Shall We Do Now?" shares the same slow instrumental build up and four line verse structure as "Empty Spaces". The first verse begins with the same "What shall we use to fill the empty spaces" refrain as in "Empty Spaces", but the lyrical similarities end here. After the lyric "Shall we set out across this sea of faces / in search of more, and more applause", Nick Mason's drums kick in, and the song segues into its faster second half. This section continues for another minute or so before the song ends.
Lyrically, "What Shall We Do Now?" is very different to "Empty Spaces". In the story of the album, "What Shall We Do Now?" relates to the theme of Pink’s newfound stardom, and the disconnect he feels with his audience, whereas "Empty Spaces" relates more to the last few bricks in the wall, specifically the disconnect he feels with his wife. In "Empty Spaces", Pink seems to ask himself in quiet desperation how he should complete his wall, whereas "What Shall We Do Now?" lists the many material items available to him now that he is a successful rockstar.
Movie and live versions
[edit]On the film adaptation the song is dropped in favour of "What Shall We Do Now?"[1]. This version of "What Shall We Do Now?" is the only known release of the studio version. After the line "with our backs to the wall", the song abruptly ends cold, with the final ending beat slightly obscured by the sound effect of a window breaking, as seen in the film.
The original "Empty Spaces" has never been performed live. On both Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81 and Roger Waters: The Wall, "Empty Spaces" is once again dropped in favour of "What Shall We Do Now?", however these versions are split into two tracks: the slower first half is listed as "Empty Spaces", while the faster second half is listed as "What Shall We Do Now?". These versions of "What Shall We Do Now? both end the same way, after the line "with our backs to the wall", the song continues for another four beats before the line "backs to the wall" repeats, and the song ends with a decelerating cold fade in concert fashion.
Hidden message
[edit] | This section possibly contains original research. (July 2022) |
Directly before the lyrical section, there is a hidden message isolated on the left channel of the song. When heard normally, it appears to be nonsense. If played backwards, the following can be heard:
- –Hello looker. Congratulations, You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the Funny Farm, Chalfont...
- –Roger, Carolyne's on the phone!
- –Okay.[2][3]
Roger Waters congratulates the listener for finding this message, and jokes[citation needed] that they can send their answer to "Old Pink" (being either a reference to Syd Barrett, or a foreshadowing of Pink's eventual insanity[citation needed]), who lives in a funny farm (a term to describe a psychiatric hospital) somewhere in Chalfont. Before he can reveal the exact location, however, he gets interrupted by producer James Guthrie in the background who says Carolyne (Waters' then wife) is on the phone.[4]
Personnel
[edit]Empty Spaces
- David Gilmour – guitars, Prophet-5 and ARP Quadra synthesizers
- Roger Waters – lead vocals, bass, EMS VCS 3 synthesizer
- Richard Wright – piano
with:
- James Guthrie – ARP Quadra synthesizer[5]
What Shall We Do Now?
- David Gilmour – guitars, Prophet-5 and ARP Quadra synthesizers
- Roger Waters – lead vocals, bass, EMS VCS 3 synthesizer
- Richard Wright – piano
- Nick Mason – drums
with:
- James Guthrie – ARP Quadra synthesizer[6]
Further reading
[edit]- Fitch, Vernon. The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia (3rd edition), 2005. ISBN 1-894959-24-8.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Andy Mabbett (2010), Pink Floyd: The Music and the Mystery, Omnibus Press, OCLC 762731304, OL 16228023W, Wikidata Q25766745
- ^ "Jeff Milner's Backmasking site". Jeff Milner. Archived from the original on 27 March 2005. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
- ^ Nemcoff, Mark Yoshimoto (4 April 2013). "Empty Spaces: Backwards Messages, Stairway to Heaven and a Failure to Communicate". WordSushi. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
- ^ BBC - Culture, The Hidden Messages in Songs
- ^ Fitch, Vernon and Mahon, Richard, Comfortably Numb - A History of The Wall 1978–1981, 2006, p.82.
- ^ Fitch, Vernon and Mahon, Richard, Comfortably Numb - A History of The Wall 1978–1981, 2006, p.82.
| Songs |
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outtakes | |||||||||
| Remix single | |||||||||
| Live albums | |||||||||
| Films | |||||||||
| Tours | |||||||||
| Tribute albums | |||||||||
| Miscellaneous | |||||||||
