“Us and Them” is the seventh track on Pink Floyd’s iconic studio album ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ (1973). The music of the song was written by keyboardist Richard Wright and the lyrics – like all lyrics on the album – were written by the band’s main lyricist Roger Waters. In this article, we will dive into the story behind Pink Floyd’s “Us and Them”.
The Story Behind the Song
Richard Wright, the composer of the song, wrote “Us and Them” 4 years before the release of The Dark Side of the Moon. Back then, the instrumental was titled “The Violent Sequence” and written for the movie Zabriskie Point. However, the movie’s director Michelangelo Antonioni rejected the instrumental, claiming it was ‘too sad’. As a result, Richard Wright shelved the song.
When Pink Floyd started working on The Dark Side of the Moon in 1971, the track resurfaced. “I played it for them; they liked it,” Wright told Rolling Stone in 1987. “Roger went into another room and started working on the lyrics.”
The idea behind The Dark Side of the Moon was to write an album about the pressures of life (especially that of a musician), and how those pressures can drive an individual towards madness. Over time, the concept evolved into being about the human experience in general. The lyrics of “Us and Them” delve into the theme of conflict.
“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,” Roger Waters said about “Us and Them”. “The second verse is about civil liberties, racism, and colour prejudice. The last verse is about passing a tramp in the street and not helping.”
Pink Floyd recorded “Us and Them” between May 1972 and February 1973. Guitarist David Gilmour sings lead vocal on the song, backed with harmonies by Richard Wright. For the song, Pink Floyd employed David Gilmour’s friend Dick Parry, who plays the song’s vital saxophone parts. Dick Parry also plays the saxophone solo on “Money”.
The Legacy of Us and Them
Despite being the longest song on The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd decided to release “Us and Them” as the album’s second single (although the single version was cut short). The single did not reach to US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at 101. In Canada, the song reached number 85.
Despite its poor commercial performance, “Us and Them” grew out to be one of Pink Floyd’s most celebrated songs. On our ranking of The 10 Best Pink Floyd Songs, we ranked the song number 2.
Roger Waters and Richard Wright admitted the song ranked among their personal favorites. “Of the songs that Roger and I have written together I would say that [‘Us and Them’] is my favourite,” Richard Wright stated in the music documentary The Making of the Dark Side of the Moon.
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