Is There Anybody Out There?

This song is the hardest one to analyze. (sarcasm) Containing only one lyric, "Is There Anybody Out There?" is a plea from the imprisoned Pink, calling for the attention of anyone beyond his wall. In the movie, Pink continually slams against the wall, trying to bust through, but as "Hey You" said, "It was only fantasy/ The wall was too high as you can see./ No matter how he tried he could not break free...". After the haunting voices end there plaguing problematic petition, the acoustic guitar leads in. In my opinion, this is one of the greatest pieces on "The Wall" and it is one of the greatest acoustic pieces in recorded history. What Pink is constructing in his hotel room is still a mystery. In an interview, Roger Waters stated that "Is There Anybody Out There?" is no more than a little sphere-piece, meant to create an atmosphere of isolation, also a main theme in "Hey, You" and "Nobody Home". (Thanks Maikel Aarts). Many people responded that they think Pink is building a replica of army barracks with battle bunkers and runways. However, the explanation I tend to agree with was sent in by Gogul Leviathon. He states: "Concerning the thing Pink was constructing in "Is There Anybody Out There?", I believe that it wasn't anything or shape in particular, but rather something to show his need to live an ordered and organized (up to the point of mania) life. I'm sure you recall the absolute chaos of his apartment at the start of "Don't Leave Me Now". For Pink to transform this into a painfully accurate design shows the fragile and tenuous state he was in. Moving a Coke can a few centimeters, replacing the guitar neck he knocked, seems silly to anyone else, but to Pink, it was not only necessary but essential to have it perfect." Bill Romanelli (Newboy) stated that "constructing the 'bunker' or whatever it is, from the debris in the room is the final expression of his creativity and individuality, and even his sanity, before he surrenders and disappears behind the wall into madness. I think what he builds is a monument to the creativity and inspiring beauty of his human spirit.

When you become schizophrenic or manic you start to see beauty in everything. This happened to John Lennon, Hendrix and even Roger Waters....I recall a time when I was doing a lot of acid I began to hear voices when the acid would change into a downward spiral of despair....I used to sit in my basement and build things out of whatever was around...to me it was art, but insanity was definitely part of it. I think this song symbolizes the closing of the wall, and the point where he is completely mad....also a symptom of schizo or manic, which is something I always experienced, is that you constantly feel dirty, especially where your hair is which is maybe why he shaved his chest and eyebrows in the movie. (Roger Waters wanted him to shave his head and Bob responded "no fucking way!"

i can completely relate to this song. once you build your walls around yourself, you only leave holes for certian people like your best friend or maybe your mom. like when he talks about that person outside the wall breaking bottles in the hall asking him to help him. he's a stranger, so pink definitally wouldn't go up to him and start talking to him, but hopes desparately for someone to talk to him instead. there is a frustrating separation between him and other people making it impossible for him to meet anyone new except for the people he has alredy met, and may even be pushing them away with his walls. but he wishes so much they could be gone, so in the movie he pounds them as a desparate attempt to fight them. oh i love that classical guitar work at the end of that song. i'm so glad my accoustic is a classical i'm gonna learn that this summer definitally along with blood on the rooftops by genesis.

this soing is a cry for help from pink as hes sliping further and further into the wall. this is just one more brick in the wall

I dont know if anybody has said this but this song is about Syd in his hotel room shaving off all his hair and stuck in a hotel room with the Walls all aroudn him.

In the optional commentary in the movie The Wall, Roger Waters notes during this song that Syd Barrett once did something very similar to what Pink is doing in the movie. But I guess that was noted above.

I love this song.

This is probably the best song on The Wall, but not the best by Pink Floyd. The problem with The Wall (which is part of why it is not my favorite PF album) is that the movie leaves very little open to interpretation.

On that note, I will ignore the movie's interpretation of this song and skip straight to my interpretation.

This song is about a person who is lost inside his head, and is wondering if anyone in the outside world will help him. (Oh wait, doesn't that sound a bit like The Wall interpretation. Case closed.

Also, has anyone else noticed the whale song section in this song, much the same as what was in Echoes (the best song ever).

That case was closed without having to say a word, though.

Acid!? Shrooms!? WTF! Come on guys, not EVERY song has a drug reference. Jesus christ, how could you put that together with only one line of lyric? My God, man...

There is a version of Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2 that has the whale song from this combined with it. It's my favorite version (though I think it is a fake).

Anybody notice the whale sounds from echoes?