| "Us and Them" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.png) US 7-inch single | ||||
| Single byPink Floyd | ||||
| from the albumThe Dark Side of the Moon | ||||
| B-side | "Time" | |||
| Released | 4 February 1974 | |||
| Recorded | 1 June 1972 – 9 January 1973 | |||
| Studio | EMI, London | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:15 (single edit) 7:49 (album version) 7:51 (”Echoes” version) | |||
| Label | Harvest | |||
| Composer | ||||
| Lyricist | Roger Waters | |||
| Producer | Pink Floyd | |||
| Pink Floyd singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Us and Them" is a song by the Englishrock bandPink Floyd, from their 1973 albumThe Dark Side of the Moon. The music was written byRichard Wright with lyrics byRoger Waters. It is sung byDavid Gilmour withharmonies by Wright. The song is 7 minutes and 49 seconds, making it the longest track on the album.
"Us and Them" was released as the second single fromThe Dark Side of the Moon in the United States, peaking at No. 72 on theCash Box Top 100 Singles chart in March 1974.[3] The single peaked at No. 85 in the Canadian chart.[4]
Richard Wright introduces the song with harmonies onHammond organ and put a piano chordal backing and short piano solo afterwards on the arrangement. The tune was originally written on the piano by Wright for the filmZabriskie Point in 1969 and was titled "The Violent Sequence".[5] In its original demo form the song was instrumental, featuring only piano and bass. DirectorMichelangelo Antonioni rejected it on the grounds that it was too unlike material such as "Careful with That Axe, Eugene", which was the style of music he wanted to use. As Roger Waters recalls it in impersonation, Antonioni's response was: "It's beautiful but is a too sad, you know? It makes me think ofchurch".[6] The song was then shelved until the making ofThe Dark Side of the Moon.
The lyrics of the song were written by Waters. They describe the senseless nature ofwar and the ignorance of modern-day humans who have been taken over byconsumerism andmaterialism. In an interview, Waters shared the significance of each verse:
The first verse is about going to war, how on the front line we don't get much chance to communicate with one another because someone else has decided that we shouldn't. The second verse is aboutcivil liberties,racism andcolour prejudice. The last verse is about passing a tramp in the street and not helping.[7]
The verses have a unique, jazz-influencedchord progression: Dsus2, D6add9 (or Esus2/D), D minor major 7, and G/D. The tonic of D, alternating with the dominant, A, is sustained on bass guitar as apedal point throughout the verses. The D6 with an added 9th is not unlike an Esus2 with a D in the bass but because the bass line also provides thefifth, it is more accurately described as a kind of D chord. TheD minor chord with a major seventh is a rarity in 1970s rock music. There is also a secondary sequence, louder with thick vocal harmonies, with a progression of B minor, A major, G major seventhsuspended second, commonly written as "Gmaj7sus2" (enharmonic to theslash chord D/G), and C major. This progression is played twice between each verse and is not unlike achorus, except that the lyrics are different with each repeat.[8]
In the middle, there is a break during whichroadie Roger "The Hat" Manifold speaks.[9]
It was re-released on the 2001 best of album,Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd, where it's the seventh track of the second disc. The ending of the song was edited in this version with the vocals from the last bar treated with heavydelay and the music track muted entirely to avoid the seamless transition to "Any Colour You Like" that occurs onThe Dark Side of the Moon.[10]
The following dialogue by the band's roadie, Roger "The Hat" Manifold, one of his two spoken segments on the album, is heard before the second saxophone solo (5:04), describing an altercation he had with a driver a few days prior:
I mean, he's gonna kill ya, so like, if you give 'em a quick sh ...short, sharp shock, he'll never do it again. Dig it? I mean 'e got off light, 'cause I coulda given 'im a thrashin' but I only do it once. It's only a difference of right and wrong, innit? I mean, good manners don't cost nothin', do they, eh?[11]
Cash Box called it a "hypnotizing ballad" that is "as pretty as it is commercial."[12]Record World called it an "ethereal number."[13]Billboard andLouder Sound ranked the song number three and number eight, respectively, on their lists of the 50 greatest Pink Floyd songs.[14][15]
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[16] | Gold | 15,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[17] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
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