Momentarily in the present, Pink has discovered his wife is cheating on him and becomes sullen (although this outcome is not a total shock when seeing that Pink hardly ever paid attention to his wife). In this song, Pink asks his wife, in his mind, what they shall do now. The most important line in the short song is the last one: "How should I complete the wall?" This shows us that Pink's wall is on the verge of being finished, and once it is complete, Pink will be totally separated from the real world.
The empty spaces referred to in the song are not only the space between he and his wife but also the few remaining holes in Pink's wall yet to be filled in. Originally, "Empty Spaces" was supposed to appear before "Another Brick In The Wall part III". In this position, "Spaces"'s meaning is reinforced because Pink is asking what he should use to fill the remaining gaps, and then ABITW3 kicks in, answering Pink's question. The answer is that everyone can be used: "All in all it was all just bricks in the wall/ All in all you were all just bricks in the wall."
If you play "Empty Spaces" backwards, you're in for a surprise. You will here Roger Waters say "Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message. Send your answer to Old Pink in care of the funny farm." And then a second person says: "Roger, Carolyn is on the phone." A little Waters humor or more symbolism? You guessed it, more symbolism. "Empty Spaces" is a transitional song. It marks one of the times in which Pink loses touch with reality and his sanity. According to the backwards message, Old Pink is now at an insane asylum (within his mind) which means that the new Pink is taking over. The Carolyn that is mentioned in the background is Roger's wife. Roger has often said that if it had not been for Carolyn, he would have ended up insane like Pink.
pukahon June 20, 2002 Link
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