Behind the Wall: The Secrets of Comfortably Numb

Your humble host PJ Pat delves into the legendary Pink Floyd track 'Comfortably Numb.' The episode covers the song's background within the 1979 album 'The Wall,' largely written by Roger Waters, who drew from his personal experiences. PJ Pat highlights the pivotal moment the song represents in the album's narrative and touches on the real-life incident that inspired Waters. The episode explores the contentious creation of the song, where Waters and David Gilmour clashed over its musical direction, resulting in a unique blend of orchestral and rock elements. Listeners are treated to fascinating details about Gilmour’s iconic guitar solo, the gear he used, and memorable live performances. PJ Pat also shares his own unforgettable experience of seeing Pink Floyd live and invites listeners to share their favorite guitar solos.

00:00 Welcome to the It's 1 Louder Podcast
00:27 Background on Pink Floyd's 'The Wall'
01:14 The Story Behind 'Comfortably Numb'
02:10 The Waters-Gilmour Conflict
02:56 Iconic Guitar Solo and Gear
05:10 Personal Memories and Iconic Solos
06:35 Final Thoughts and Viewer Interaction

Transcript

[00:00:00] Hello, rock lovers. Thanks for joining the Its One Letter podcast. I'm your humble host, PJ Pat, and today we're gonna check out and go deep into the iconic song called Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd, obviously spawn from this album right here, the wall. You ready to do this? Let's do it.

[00:00:27] All right. Before we get into the song, comfortably Numb, just wanna give you a little background around this iconic album by Pink Flood released in 1979. Now, this was largely written by Roger Waters, and it reflects a story of a rock star named Pink as he descends into Manness, and he builds a metaphorical wall between him.

[00:00:49] And the world, and this has a personal meaning for Rogers 'cause that's how he felt at some point during the Animals tour. I believe he actually felt so distanced between himself and the fans that he actually spat on one of the fans and wished that he had a wall between them. 'cause he just needed some space at that time.

[00:01:09] And so that's what kind of spurred the concept of this double album. Now, comfortably comes a pivotal moment. In the story of this album, pink Has Overdosed, so his manager finds it pretty much laid out before a show and desperate. He calls for a doctor to revive him, just enough to shove him back on stage.

[00:01:28] Roger Waters just didn't pull that concept of that idea from thin air. He actually pretty much lived that experience during the Animals Tour in 1977. Rogers fell ill before a gig in Philadelphia. A doctor injected him, believe it or not, with a muscle relaxant, then he went on stage. Roger Waters described the feeling of being detached from his body, comfortably numb as he performed, barely aware of what was going on.

[00:01:54] Another interesting thing about comfortably numb outside of it being one of the greatest solos of all time in. You can find that in a lot of these greatest solos lists, and I personally agree with that. I get goosebumps even to this day listening to it, and I literally have listened to it a hundred times or more.

[00:02:10] But this track was actually a major point of contention between Roger Waters and David Gilmore. Waters wanted a strip down oral version while Gilmore preferred a much more rock driven feel. So the final version is actually a compromise between the two. Water's orchestration for the verses and Gilmore's guitar heavy arrangement for the courses and solos.

[00:02:31] Go check out and you can see exactly that is happening, which is really cool. The crazy thing is that despite being one of Pink Floyd's most iconic and beloved songs, believe it or not, comfortably Numb, was never released as a single in the uk Uhuh never. It did okay in the US in terms of billboard charts, but obviously became a fan favorite at live shows, especially during Gilmore's, amazing iconic solos at the end.

[00:02:56] Since we're talking about that solo, let me fill you in on a fun few facts that I found fascinating. Gilmore used that custom stratocaster to layer multiple takes that come up with that epic emotional solo. Woo. I'm not sure if he has that guitar, but if he does, man. What an iconic object in rock and roll.

[00:03:14] I know recently he's sold a lot of his guitars off to charity. I guess at his old age, he just realized he doesn't need all these extra hundreds of guitars. Another really cool fact about Comfortably numb. As I mentioned earlier, Roger Waters pretty much wrote the entirety of this album, but Comfortably Numb stands up as the only track on the album credited equally to both Rogers and David Gilmore and the Creator Friction that I mentioned earlier.

[00:03:39] Gave it song, its Power Roger's concept and lyrics and Gilmore's melody and guitar Firepower, for sure. I can't believe I'm saying this, but this song, due to the disagreements and a lot of conflict between waters and Gilmore, this song was almost left outta the album. They almost said, fuck it. It's way too hard.

[00:03:57] Gilmore wanted an extended guitar solo heavy mix. Roger wanted orchestral minimalism. Thank God for producer Bob een, who also produced a couple of KISS albums. By the way, he actually brokered the truce. Kept the song alive and was able to have Roger Waters and David Gilmore meet in the middle and compromise.

[00:04:14] Now for all your guitar freaks out there, Gilmore's Epic solo tone came from a big muff pedal paired with a high watt amp, and of course that iconic custom Strat guitar. So that warmth and sustain was. Pretty much part of what made the solo feel like it was singing, and it's definitely Gilmore's signature sound.

[00:04:33] He has one of my favorite tones ever. I love his tone. I can't get enough of it. My favorite tone of all time has gotta come from ZZ Tops. Billy Gibbons. Man, I just. Love his. I can't get enough of his tone. To me, a amazing guitar player that has his own unique voice where you just hear one note on a radio and you're like, yeah, that's the guy.

[00:04:54] That's the guy who's playing that guitar. And they're far and few between. Out there you got Billy Gibbons Gilmore, obviously, maybe Eddie Van Halen, Tom More, Neil Young. There's very few guitar players like that. And Man Gilmore is definitely one of 'em, and that makes him one of my favorite guitar players of all time.

[00:05:10] I remember I saw Pink Floyd when they did the pulse tour in the, I think mid nineties. And I have this vivid memory of me being at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal High as a kite because everyone around me and I was like just outta high school. Everyone around me was just. Freaking high end, like you can see the smoke just coming off of the crowd and David Gilmore with the one spotlight on him just soloing away that freaking amazing solo.

[00:05:41] And like the laser lights, they had this huge disco ball right in the middle of the stadium and all these laser lights pointing at it, the disco ball turning and just. Just touching everybody and I was just like, oh my God. I still have goosebumps talking about it. And maybe it's 'cause I was half high.

[00:06:01] But wow. Just the clarity of that solo and the lights, it was just a magical moment. And I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels that way. Do you think this is one of the most iconic rock solos of all time? Obviously, stairway to Heaven is right up there for sure. Maybe the Freebird song by Lynard, Skynyrd Hotel California, of course.

[00:06:22] But man, if I were to pick out of those four, it's gotta be this one. It's tough choice, but it's gotta be this one. Maybe it's 'cause I have that memory and that'll never leave me. To the day I die. But man, there you go. Those are my thoughts. Lemme know what you think. Is this your favorite solo of all time?

[00:06:38] Please put in the comments down below the solos that you love. I would love to discover them. Hopefully there's some of them that have no idea about so I can check out. Really appreciate you. Thank you. Rock on. Check out it's one louder.com to support the show. Rock on.