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Free Four Lyrics
The memories of a man in his old age
Are the deeds of a man in his prime.
You shuffle in gloom of the sickroom
And talk to yourself as you die.
Life is a short, warm moment
And death is a long cold rest.
You get your chance to try in the twinkling of an eye:
Eighty years, with luck, or even less.
So all aboard for the American tour,
And maybe you'll make it to the top.
And mind how you go, and I can tell you, 'cause I know
You may find it hard to get off.
You are the angel of death
And I am the dead man's son.
And he was buried like a mole in a fox hole.
And everyone is still on the run.
And who is the master of fox hounds?
And who says the hunt has begun?
And who calls the tune in the courtroom?
And who beats the funeral drum?
The memories of a man in his old age
Are the deeds of a man in his prime.
You shuffle in gloom in the sickroom
And talk to yourself till you die.
Are the deeds of a man in his prime.
You shuffle in gloom of the sickroom
And talk to yourself as you die.
And death is a long cold rest.
You get your chance to try in the twinkling of an eye:
Eighty years, with luck, or even less.
And maybe you'll make it to the top.
And mind how you go, and I can tell you, 'cause I know
You may find it hard to get off.
And I am the dead man's son.
And he was buried like a mole in a fox hole.
And everyone is still on the run.
And who says the hunt has begun?
And who calls the tune in the courtroom?
And who beats the funeral drum?
Are the deeds of a man in his prime.
You shuffle in gloom in the sickroom
And talk to yourself till you die.
Song Info
Copyright
Lyrics © T.r.o. Inc.
Writer
Roger Waters
Duration
04:16
Producer
Pink Floyd
Release date
Jun 2, 1972
Sentiment
Negative
Submitted by
demau Senae On Apr 01, 2001
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
This song almost has the quality of the happy song sung at the end of Monty Python's Life of Brian where the singers are being crucified.
The lyrics are amazingly bleak, but the music is so upbeat. Delicious.
It's actually "One, two, FREE FOUR!" But of course it stands for "Three, four!" It's just a pun
Both More and Obscured by Clouds took me a long time to get into, and I still don't think that I fully appreciate them. However, off of Obscured, this song is my favorite. I avoided for a long time because I don't generally like catchy songs. That is probably all that keeps this song from being five stars. Of course, I also don't like Metal/Heavy Metal/whatever the Nile Song is, yet I enjoy the Nile Song (though it is a bit grating). I don't generally enjoy blues, but I enjoy Seamus. Pink Floyd has found ways to take genres that aren't my favorite and make me enjoy their interpretations.
By the way, this song is about death. Possibly the best concept anyone ever had for a song. (except for the concept of Echoes, whatever that might be)
I find it really funny that this song sounds almost IDENTICALLY to "Spirit In the Sky" by "Norman Greenbaum".
I've read somewhere that Roger had written this as a respond to everyone who asked him about how he felt about his dead father. "I'm a dead man's son"
It seems to me that the first three verses are about the music industry and how he felt about his career. I think the last three are referring to King George VI, first calling him the angel of death and then singing about how his father died "like a mole in a fox hole" but that "everyone was still in the run" (this verse could mean all of the leaders in government that were controlling the war). The next verse is what makes me pretty sure it was about George VI, (And who is the master of fox hounds? And who says the hunt has begun? And who calls the tune in the courtroom? And who beats the funeral drum?).
Please let me know if there's anything wrong with what I wrote or if you see more than me.
Roger ironic acid touch in this music...like he will put in many music after this. Soon he began showing his bitterness view of life: a madcap laugh all the way to the grave. Perfect music, love it.
[Edit: incorrect word]
The weirc thing about this is that the tune's all happy and has clapping and stuff, but it's really Rog's first "I hate myself and the world" song. Odd.
Exactly, kinda like Corporal Clegg is jovial, but makes me sad
When the Classic Rock Experience plays the song I always think it's David Gilmour singing. It sounds just like him. I think the song would go well if you were riding a horse.I see the credit above goes to Pink Floyd and not Gilmour. I learn more about Pink Floyd each day. Great song played on CRE,....quite often.
Cody