If you didn't care what happened to me
And I didn't care for you
We would zig zag our way through the boredom and pain
Occasionally glancing up through the rain
Wondering which of the buggers to blame
And watching for pigs on the wing


Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by Mellow_Harsher, acirvin, DanVitaleRocks

Pigs on the Wing (Part 1) song meanings
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  • +9
    General Comment

    Here is my interpretation of this entire song set (POW- fun acronym, parts 1+2), as well as a rather lengthy rant of how this album is inspired, but not based on, George Orwell's Animal Farm:

    Pigs on the Wing are enemy fighters in a persons blindspot. So think about it. If you care about someone, what do you do, you hug them. If you do this, you see in one direction and the other person sees in the other direction. You have no blind spot, and so are therefore not vulnerable to pigs on the wing. However, if you don't care about anyone, you have to cover all directions at once, which can't be done efficiently, so you always have to look out for pigs on the wing.

    Not to start an argument, but there are multiple similarities between Animal Farm (my favorite book) and Animals (one of my top 4 albums, each of which I like the same for different reasons).

    The dogs in Animal Farm are not stupid, mindless killers. Orwell makes a note of the smarter animals on the farm, in which he directly mentions dogs and pigs.

    The sheep also draw a similarity between the two mediums. In both, they are the lower classes, underneath the thumb of the pigs.

    That said, Animals is not based on Animal Farm, it is inspired by it. They do not tell the same story, but they use the same metaphors for the same types of people.

    Pigs are corrupt leaders. In Animal Farm, they represented Stalin and his pawns, and were also generic totalitarians. In Animals, they are the capitalists, Margaret Thatcher (a far right winger), and Mary Whitehouse (of the Clean Up TV act).

    Dogs are those who look out only for themselves. In the book, the dogs are the secret police of Stalin (Napoleon). In animals, I've always seen them as the Big Oil CEO types under the thumb of the President and Vice president.

    Sheep are the masses, generally uneducated, though in Animals they have the sense to rise up, and in Animal Farm they truly are devout followers of Napoleon.

    Just as a side note, Mary Whitehouse was so unpopular that TV shows that got her seal of approval were worried that their ratings would take a hit, and deliberately tried to offend her. So Roger Waters was not alone in hating her.

    inpraiseoffollyon June 26, 2006   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning

    My interpretation of Pigs on the wing is that the song is a Union song. The pigs represent big corporate greed, the dogs being middle management and the sheep being the workers. THe workers need to stick together and care for each other or will simply continue to be abused by the large corporations.

    mps107on February 21, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    this album is amazing. i can't just listen to 1 song, i have to listen to the entire album. in my opinion, i believe that the song is reference to how simple life for animals must be, in the sense that they don't have the same emotions and thoughts as humans do. animals just do what comes naturally to them and they can't comprehend the complexities/problems of life that consume humans.

    THawk37on March 22, 2011   Link
  • +1
    My Opinion

    In my opinion, this song represents societal ignorance. Everybody constantly going about their own business, not acknowledging others as they walk by people in the streets. Getting through the minor challenges, "the boredom and pain". But then not knowing whats really going on at a higher level, and starting to develop a sense of curiosity, "wondering which of the buggers to blame", though afraid to brake the state of ignorance due to the fear of a regime. I can see the whole scene playing out when I hear this song. Brilliant

    ddubs2468on March 03, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    got the lyrics wrong....

    kalanbon August 24, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Good song, good album, its so deep and so awesome, i believe it to be the darkest CD Floyd has made, its got a good rift.

    ASDmlcon March 09, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    What exactly does this Cd come across as? I believe industry and communism?? Not sure, any ideas?

    goodtimesbadtimeson March 27, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I thinka line was left out of the lyrics; it should correctly read "...occaisonally glancing up through the rain/ and wondering which of the buggers..."

    dreamfish99on June 23, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    the lyrics are

    If you didn't care What happened to me And I didn't care For you We would zig-zag our way through the boredom and pain Occasionally glancing up through the rain Wondering which of the buggars to blame And watching for pigs on the wing

    i have no idea wtf it means, but I'll take a stab at it.

    People can go through life completely careless and apathetic. If they wanted to do this, the only things they would have to worry about are who to accuse as the source of their problems (buggers to blame), and worrying about threats to their lifestyle(pigs off of their wing, approaching or riding with them during their life)

    Iasonon June 08, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    yeah im im with iason here lol its cloudy waht exactly there trying to say, but basically hes saying you cant go through life without emotions and to care for the people you love, otherwise there is no "you". yourself is made up of memories and feelings about people you love, and how u interact with them

    Iamexpiriencedon June 14, 2004   Link

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