The song is about two periods in Roger Waters' life. It's a doctor talking to his patient (Waters' vocals), then the patient responding (David Gilmour's vocals). It's related to Roger Waters fever he had as a child which caused him to become delirious. He would get those same feelings as an adult becoming delirious again at times. Waters also said that a part of the song is about the time he had hepatitis and didn't know it. They had a show to do in Philadelphia, and the doctor gave him a sedative to help the pain so he could go through with the show. The sedative made his hands so numb they felt like two balloons and he couldn't focus. The phrase "comfortably numb" comes from Roger realizing that the fans didn't give a shit because they were too busy screaming to notice anything.
In an interview released in the 80s, Waters said that much of the song comes from something that really happened one evening when, in order to allow him to perform in Philadelphia, the doctor gave him a sedative for a severe stomach ache, which had probably caused by nerves. On the stage, his hands were numb and his vision blurred, but none of this derailed the crowd, who continued to dance and sing.
When a family friend who was murdered by her crazed boyfriend, this also was played in the same manner. Many, I'm sure, probably thought it was a strange & unfitting song for the occasion but, she was one of those people who, if you knew.... you knew so, it was the perfect song to end the service with! R. I. P. to your friend! 💙🙏🏼💙
the wall came out in 1979, and is actually not about drugs at all. from songfacts: Roger Waters wrote the lyrics. While many people thought the song was about drugs, Waters claims it is not. The lyrics are about what he felt like as a child when he was sick with a fever. As an adult, he got that feeling again sometimes, entering a state of delirium, where he felt detached from reality. He told Mojo magazine (December 2009) that the lines, "When I was a child I had a fever/My hands felt just like two balloons" were autobiographical. He explained: "I remember having the flu or something, an infection with a temperature of 105 and being delirious. It wasn't like the hands looked like balloons, but they looked way too big, frightening. A lot of people think those lines are about masturbation. God knows why.". now do the pulse version, the solo goes longer and better!
In continuation he was too sick to perform and was given drugs “to keep you going through the show”. And yes, the solo from the Pulse live is almost life changing.
The first guitar solo is beautiful & melancholy, but the outro solo is angry & bitter, very much like the outro guitar solo on Pigs. Gilmour is so great at making you feel the specific emotion of the solo.
the movie is wonderful. it can seem a bit random but it's about the main characters life, and his decent into insanity. it starts with him as a child and everything that contributed to his downfall. each of these event are "bricks" building to his isolation and decent. at points it shows things from the point of view of his subconscious hence a lot of authoritarian imagery showing how these stressers kept him in place and isolated. it's a wonderful movie to dissect.
Even the scenes in When The Tigers Broke Free was taken from Roger Waters' childhood. He said that he found out about his father's death in the war by finding the box of his father's things that were sent home. There are plenty of things throughout the movie that were a mirror of their lives, even the scene in the beginning with Pink sitting staring at the TV with the cigarette burned down to the filter. Roger Waters said he found Sid Barret I'm his apartment one day like that.
@@inquisitorbacon8170 , Sid was beyond out of it! After his over indulgence with Acid/LSD he was NEVER normal again. Sad....Do u happen to know which song was about Sid? I have a feeling you definitely do. 😉
@@teresaboone7298 Roger waters said this album was highly inspired about sid barret and his decent into acid induced psychosis...the needle shot and it working to get him going for the show was lithium. It was and still used to combat lsd bad trips and overdoses. In this case it may have also been used, as it often was in these cases, to bring someone "back" to a "normal" state mentally, from the side effects from chronic use of lsd...even when not having done the drug for a couple of weeks or even months one can feel chronically depressed of "feeling down"(as initially stated in the song)
You need to watch this live to really appreciate the solos, especially the second part. David Gilmour makes playing the guitar easy while he’s shredding the hell out of it.
when he was a kid, he had a fever... not just a temperature, but like a disease... part of his symptoms were swelling and numbness in his hands... he's telling the doctor (as part of the "basic information") that he feels something like that now, but all over, including his mind.
If you haven’t heard Pink Floyd - Echoes, I would highly recommend listening to the live version in Pompeii…funky bass lines and trippy solos like only Pink Floyd could produce
This song isn't actually about recreational drugs. Waters explained it as something that actually happened him. He had severe stomach ache one evening before a performance in Philadelphia. A doctor gave him a sedative so he could perform and his hands felt numb but he was able to go in stage. This also reminded him of when he had the flu as a child and had that same feeling
Hands down the absolute best guitar solo on the Pulse concert tour in ‘94 while promoting “The Division Bell “album. Saw it live at Philly’s Veterans Stadium in’89 with 75,000 fans. Best concert ever among hundreds. To fully appreciate David Gilmour’s guitar virtuosity check out “High Hopes” off the Pulse tour.
@@kristaspecht Isn’t “ High Hopes” amazing? I think David uses three types of guitar in the tune. Electric strat to start, then slide (pedal) steel and finishes with acoustic. Glad you enjoyed it!
“My hands felt kill just like two balloons” is referring to a medical incident, whether it was illness or allergy, where they really did swell up … leading to the feeling like they’re “asleep”, “pins & needles”, or general numbness. He’s feeling like that now. The rest of it is about a doctor giving him an injection so he can do the show. Health and well-being be damned. That’s the “pinprick”. “There will be no more ARRRGHHHH” and “you may feel a little sick” alludes to it being an opioid or benzo of some sort. Probably an opiod.
The lyrics are written to illustrate the numbness experienced after being a successful musician for so long, that the allure of his childhood dream had worn off, despite continuing through his shows. "The child has grown, the dream is gone". I'm not an expert, but there is a lot of speculation on whether or not the song is really about the numbness of drugs or the numbness of apathy. Legend of a song though, that we still talk about it years later.
If you have a really bad fever sometimes your extremities are perceived to feel big and floaty, especially when you close your eyes. Some drugs can also create this sensation. The lyrics are explicitly drawing this parallel as the song is partly about a doctor giving the character drugs to get him functioning to go on stage, though there's obviously psychological aspects about what he's thinking and feeling emotionally in the state he's in.
I don't think the "two balloons" reference had anything to do with the actual physical size of his hands, as in swelling up. I think it was just a reference to the numbness.
I definitely consider this one of the best songs of all time. I had the same thoughts on the lyrics initially as well. The lyrics came about after Waters got painkillers for a stomach injury while on tour.
The Wall, Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Final Cut are all albums that need to be listened to from start to finish. The individual songs are great, but are so much better as part of the whole.
Uhm... Animals? rofl. I get the hype around The Wall, Dark Side of the Moon and Wish you were Here, but I personally think Animals is the magnum opus of the creative height. Dogs, imo is the best song of Pink Floyd's. Echoes is a close second.
I feel every album is conceptual with them and to get the best experience should be listened to in it's entirety, Comfortable and high. But that's just me.
Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2 was the band's highest-charting hit and one of their most remembered songs, but Comfortably Numb is probably their most critically acclaimed song.
It's about a staff doctor giving him a shot just to get him on stage and how the managers and money people don't care about the people making the music.
To really appreciate this song, you really need to see it live - preferably the Live Pulse concert...that version shows how emotionally David Gilmour plays his guitar...
Man, having the privilege of being able to see Pink Floyd in concert, although it was in 1994 and wasn't all the original members, I was just mesmerized watching David Gilmour play this (as well as the countless other hits) like it was just another day at the office! And their stage/light show would rival anything that's produced even by today's standards! 🤘🏼💙🤘🏼
Also you should react to Dogs off of Animals by Pink Floyd probably the best song they’ve ever done it’s a 15 min track and will give you big time tool vibes especially lyrically
This studio version is the best version of this song, bar none, by far. NOT THE PULSE VERSION. The real meaning, mood, tone and the fidelity to the album is realized in this version, not the more popular Pulse version. Those who know what this song is really about will know this clearly, without doubt. Thanks for reacting to this
Got a thumbs up even before the song begun 😁 songs tits! Remember the first time I heard it I was high. All the effects and stuff send you somewhere else man. It's awesome! All chilled out man and then the solos hit. Masterpiece. This and High Hopes are my favorite Floyd songs. Remember when Scissor Sisters covered this man. Hated them even more 🤬🤬🤬🤜 loving the Zeppelin tshirt man, very nice! Hope you guys are good.
whenever i hear this, it is my favorite guitar solo of all time. But the lyrics - someone who has lost their mind a bit, lost their grip... their way... being treated by a doctor, trying to explain what he sees and feels... how detached he is... getting a shot so he can go out and play, probably at the direction of his management.... written from a place some people never go... what art!
Please do yourselves a favor and watch Comfortably Numb LIVE at the PULSE CONCERT (1994). The extended guitar solo and spectacular light show combine for an unforgettable performance.
I watched that Pink Floyd movie back in the day while on 🍄. It was definitely a wild movie. Pink Floyd is one of my all time favorite bands from back then. I was just telling my mom last night that Sixties and seventies music paved the way for modern music today. And that I hear bands from today saying all the time that they were inspired by those bands from that time. My dad is a huge Pink Floyd fan and got a chance to go see them some years ago live in concert and he said it was beyond amazing. And the the light show was spectacular.
In a radio interview around 1980 with Jim Ladd from KLOS in Los Angeles, Waters said part of the song is about the time he got hepatitis but didn't know it. Pink Floyd had to do a show that night in Philadelphia, and the doctor Roger saw gave him a sedative to help the pain, thinking it was a stomach disorder. At the show, Roger's hands were numb "like two toy balloons." He was unable to focus, but also realized the fans didn't care because they were so busy screaming, hence "comfortably" numb. He said most of The Wall is about alienation between the audience and band.
Hi Guys, For me, the beginning of the song feels like the dope is coaxing, luring and offering what it can do for you. Then, the recollection of maybe being given medication as a child in which the child was super high and it made an impression. It leads to a doctor visit and answering questions and where the pain is. At the end it's a means to keep going, to make it through the show. Either just the show of every day life or on stage. The song is so very dreamy. I can remember one night as a teenager in the early 80s. I was in bed, home from a party and super high. This song played on the radio and it just made sense. Loved the song ever since. I'd like to suggest a song from this album; Nobody's Home. The lyrics are fantastic as well as the vibe. Love your channel...
🦋🦋This Is My #1 Favorite Pink Floyd Song. I Had To Post A Comment On Such A Great Reaction Guys, Been Waiting For This Song A While Now. Love Watching Both Of You Enjoying The Music. It's Like A Breath Of Fresh Air Every Day. ''Much Like This Song, Life Is But A Comfortably Numb Illusion, Light Years From Tomorrow, The Dreamers Still Dream, On That Shore Of Tears, That Have, Been Cried. There Where The Darkness Resides, The Gypsy Spoke Of How Mystic Serpents Are Dripping From The Strain, And We Are All Comfortably Numb, Broken As We Wait''...
This song is about an overdosing rock star. All the record company wants is another performance. The chorus comes from the rock star, his childhood memory and what it's like for him. Greatest song ever!
You two are great! Entertaining, insightful, informative, intelligent and thought-provoking. Your commentary always brings out details I've never noticed, even in songs I've grown up with and heard countless times. If I were to make a group / song request, it would be: Robin Trower and his Too Rolling Stoned, The Day of the Eagle, Daydream or Bridge of Sighs. I would recommend a live version. Trower really feeds off the crowd and he does extended solos of what he's good at. You'll wonder why you've never heard of this band. Thanks, gents!
For a timeframe, The Wall is their 11th album, it was released in 1979. Their 1st album The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn was released in 1967. Their last album is The Endless River, their 15th album, released in 2014.
If you're going to do more Floyd, you need to check out Shine on You crazy Diamond. Which was written about Syd Barret after he was replaced by David Gilmour. Be forewarned though the 'full length' version of the song is over 20 minutes.
It's a conversation between a rocker and a doctor that's been brought in to make him capable of going on stage. He's so high he's basically catatonic and the "doctor's" giving him something to make him lucid enough to perform.
The Wall certainly does have a plot and that is the growing of isolation turned insanity of the main character Pink Floyd. Each act in the film from the war imagery to the abusive teachers, then the groupies at his concerts and his wife's affair all lay these metaphorical bricks that build up a wall that separates him from the rest of society. It's a haunting depiction of self-isolation and mental health that is painfully accurate. In terms of the lyrics to this song, you guys got it pretty much right, except the context of the character. At this point in the album, Pink is a Rock musician who's passed out alone in his hotel room just before a concert. His doctors and manager show up and bust down his door and find him unconscious. Despite his condition, his manager insists that his doctors just pump him with painkillers to get him up and running so they can get him on stage. This song details his perspective of being under those painkillers and being forced up when he can barely walk on his own. After the song, the next few tracks show the hallucinatory impacts of the drug as he envisions himself as a Fascist dictator spreading chaos at a rally (his audience).
To me “The Wall” is showing all the reasons “Pink” felt he needed to build his wall up around himself and also the ways in which he did so, for instance becoming “comfortably numb”. Then comes his judgment for building said wall and closing himself off from family, friends, the world. In the end the only true way to heal his wounds is to “Tear down the wall”. I would hope this would have been healing for Roger Waters since he put a lot of his “demons” into it but unfortunately (for him) his end in Pink Floyd was eminent. Pink Floyd is and always will be my favorite band. ✌🏻💛🎼
Pink Floyd is great music to smoke weed to. Reminds me of going on late night drives with friends while passing a blunt around the car and listening to the Dark Side of The Moon and The Wall. I’m happy to see you two react to this.
Once again I’m here to suggest y’all to react to Ride, Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine to get y’all started into shoegazing. Pretty sure you’ll love them! ______ The Wall as an album is pretty much about emotional detatchemt; this song in particular plays with the idea of being absolutely burnt out as a performer that the character needs something to keep him going on - the music industry pushing you to keep pushing whatever it takes. And the physical numbness created by the “something” given to the character builds on top of the emotional numbness he has been developing through the album until it reaches this point. Loved seeing Smokey vibin’ to the second solo. I can tell he definitely felt it.
So, a couple of things: 1) The song Smokey is talking about is by Joe Walsh (from Eagles, which did you know that the band isn't called The Eagles, but just Eagles?) called "Life has been Good" (Great song by the way. Y'all should react to it with the lyrics). 2) Talking about weird movies by bands/singers, have y'all seen The Broken Movie by Nine Inch Nails? It's from the Broken Album, and that movie was a "snuff" movie, and the part in it towards the end that goes with the song "Gave Up". Fun fact too, from what I recall, the original version of "Gave Up" was recorded in the Tate House I do believe? I know Trent and/or Manson did a few songs recorded in the Tate House way back when. But anyway, the Broken Movie Trent made with the "snuff", and it was underground for the longest time, and it looked so real that the FBI actually investigated it and Trent to the point where he couldn't commercially release it at the time. I'm not sure if he actually ever did, but it's widely known. The premise is basically this guy kidnaps and tortures this teenage boy around the songs of the Broken Album. It's an "interesting" watch to say the least, and the climax is the section towards the end with the song "Gave Up". If y'all decide to watch it, be forewarned. It's extremely graphic, and it's meant to look like a real "snuff" film, but it is NOT. Just remember that. 3) I had two best friends growing up from kindergarten. Andy and Eddie. We did everything together for the longest time (until around 11th/12th grade, so basically all throughout school.), and when we got in around 10th grade, they had a couple other friends we'd hang out with on the weekends, and go over to their house/their dad's house to hang out. Well, I've seen the Pink Floyd movie "The Wall" a couple times while hanging out at their house, and I was so high, that I don't remember any of it. Lol. I couldn't tell you a thing about the actual movie. We'd listen to all sorts of music, but a LOT of Pink Floyd was listened to. I think we even watched The Wizard of Oz synced up with Dark Side of the Moon, but again, so high, didn't really remember any of it. Lol. From what I remember, Eddie never would get high or anything, so he was always the designated one, but me, Andy, Jeremey, and Ryan would. I was also friends with April strictly through Andy because they were dating, but she was pretty cool, and she would get high too. It was mostly just us all together hanging out. Occasionally, Jeremey and Ryan would have other friends come over and everything as they had a little garage-type band, but they were pretty good from what I remember, so they'd play pretty often too. Those were some of the best times of my life until my senior year when I had another group of friends that we'd hang out together and sometimes get high and just hang out together. Basically, those two groups of friends were the only reason I enjoyed high school. Good times. Lol.
The Wall is a concept album / movie about a fictional character named Pink whose father died in WW2 when Pink was just a baby. His mother became overly protective of him, and encouraged him to build an emotional wall to protect him from the cruel world. The problem is that Pink never stopped building the wall even after he became an adult. He became so calloused and bitter that he kind of went insane. He starts to do some pretty extreme things, until his life crumbles and he is finally forced to confront his inner demons. The song "Comfortably Numb" is sort of in the middle of movie. Pink is a rock star in a popular band (of course), but he has lost all interest in life and is in emotional anguish by this point. He just sits in his hotel room and does not want to go on stage. In a panic, his band mates call a doctor who gives Pink a powerful drug so that he can go on stage and perform. The drug makes Pink remember when he was a child and he got really sick (I think it was small pox). Just in case you are not aware of this, Pink Floyd just released a brand new song about a week ago called "Hey Hey Rise Up" (feat. Andriy Khlyvnyuk of Boombox). The guest singer is a Ukranian. David Gilmour in an interview explained that his grandchildren are half Ukrainian, so the war encouraged him to come out of retirement. The video is here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jUfVmtAvfdg.html
This was brilliant I adore this song. The guitar solo at the end just hits me hard. I would love it if you guys also reacted to their live "pulse" version. The solo in that is just....seriously, you won't regret it.
I saw this live in 1980 Los Angeles and have had a few psychedelic moments with the movie, album and laser shows at the Griffith Park Observatory back in the 80s. Pink Floyd is an incredible band with an amazing catalog, my all time favorite band.
I was at the show that inspired this song. Although it was released on "The Wall" album in 1979 it was June of 1977, South Phillys Spectrum, Pink Floyd's "In the Flesh" tour promoting the "Animals" album where the seed was planted. Roger Waters could not play during 2 of the encores due to the backstage doctor injecting him with medication to help with his stomach problems. "My hands felt like 2 balloons" "Snowy" White, the 2nd touring guitarist, played the bass during the final 2 encore songs. Even without Roger playing those last 2 songs, "Animals live" was truly epic and never to be forgotten. The entire Animals and Wish You Were Here albums, and 3/4 of The Dark Side of the Moon album. Who could ask for more.
Most people, understandably think it's about a drug trip; heroin, acid, etc., even myself up until a few years ago. I read that one of the band members (i believe the bassist?) fell and broke his arm and this song is him talking to the EMTs. It sounds crazy, but now listen to this song with that info and you can totally hear it just as clear as what you thought it was about. It's pretty fascinating. AND Smokey, you gotta watch the live version of this. It's amazing and the solo is even longer (and more amazing). Great video guys. Still waiting for Dana Dan by Bloodywood!
The scene in the movie for the song is the character, Pink Floyd, finally descending into madness. At this point in the story his mother raised him to build a mental wall to protect him from the horrors of the world around him. This wall caused him to become distant in his marriage until his wife cheated on him, Pink only finding out by calling her while on tour in another country and her lover answering the phone and hanging up on him. At that point he snapped, destroyed the hotel room, and turned his band's image and used them as a platform for fascism, inspiring his fans to recreate the very ideology of Germany during WW2, where the character's father died. Comfortably Numb is Pink slowly descending further and further through the sedative to continue playing their show that night and the following song, Run Like Hell is where Pink Floyd and his band inspire their fans to violently attack anyone they deem too different for them.
I'd recommend watching the life performance of this from Pink Floyd's PULSE tour in the 1990s. The second guitar solo is indescribable. Earls Court performance is the one to watch.
On April 19" 19 2005 a loon blew up The Alfred Murry building in Oklahoma City. That njght was cold and rainy but I had to go there to see for myself.As I turned the corner and saw that massive tomb, this song came on the radio. Now it always reminds me of that horror.
The voice of the main verse, is the character Pink's band manager, trying to rouse him out of a drug and depression stupor to get him ready to perform, they are drugging him to wake him up, the chorus is the voice, or rather the thoughts of the character Pink, trying to explain what he's feeling, he doesn't want to perform, he wants to fade into his pain, the movie shows the entourage coming into the room and dragging Pink to a performance as he's tripping hard, once there he snaps into character, and shows him getting a crowd riled up, the movie doesn't have a plot persay, it's more like a collage of emotions that build a picture of examples of life trauma that causes people to build walls around themselves to protect us from further trauma in adulthood.
I remember you once said about doing 'Dark side of Oz' playing the dark side of the moon over the wizard of Oz movie... Do that as a live reaction 👍. One of the best guitar solos ever as well....
The word that describes the sound of this to me best is "ethereal." If I was playing this song to a friend for the first time I likely would look exactly like dude on the left. Well done.
Hey Hollywood, the wall by Pink Floyd was released I believe November 1979 it was your second to last studio album with Roger waters but you should know that if this is one of your favorite bands of all time
