The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
On the day the wall came down
They threw the locks onto the ground
And with glasses high we raised a cry
For freedom had arrived
On the day the wall came down
The Ship of Fools had finally run aground
Promises lit up the night like paper doves in flight
I dreamed you had left my side
No warmth not even pride remained
And even though you needed me
It was clear that I could not do a thing for you
Now life devalues day by day
As friends and neighbours turn away
And there's a change that, even with regret
Cannot be undone
Now frontiers shift like desert sands
While nations wash their bloodied hands
Of loyalty, of history, in shades of gray
I woke to the sound of drums
The music played, the morning sun streamed in
I turned and I looked at you
And all but the bitted residue slipped away
Slipped away
They threw the locks onto the ground
And with glasses high we raised a cry
For freedom had arrived
On the day the wall came down
The Ship of Fools had finally run aground
Promises lit up the night like paper doves in flight
I dreamed you had left my side
No warmth not even pride remained
And even though you needed me
It was clear that I could not do a thing for you
Now life devalues day by day
As friends and neighbours turn away
And there's a change that, even with regret
Cannot be undone
Now frontiers shift like desert sands
While nations wash their bloodied hands
Of loyalty, of history, in shades of gray
I woke to the sound of drums
The music played, the morning sun streamed in
I turned and I looked at you
And all but the bitted residue slipped away
Slipped away
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Great Day for Freedom Lyrics as written by Polly Samson Dave Gilmour
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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I often listen to lyric content and try to parse it; I haven't done that with this. The first part sounds a little overwrought, probably written about the Berlin wall, maybe about the juggernaut Pink Floyd had become after recording "The Wall," whatever.
But the guitar solo at the end is indescribably beautiful. This, after "Marooned," feels to my ears like, imagine it's evening in the summer and a storm is brewing on the horizon. The breeze is wafting through the trees and the climate feels fantastic, despite the coming rain. The music to these two tracks does to the ears what that type of sensation does to the body.
The Division Bell is roughly a concept album about levels of comunication, so this is a tad more obvious if you go in knowing that. Eh...But I'll let you all figure it out yourselves.
holy crap. i do believe that is Mr Gilmour replying. I'm only about 20 years late to researching this album...and 10 years late to seeing his reply.<br /> <br /> I'm pretty sure the album is simply about how important communication is in relationships. Even (and especially) his own relationships at home as he was transitioning out of one relationship...dealing with those feelings and...transitioning into another relationship.<br /> <br /> I'm currently a 46 year old going through a separation with my wife of 23 years. This album speaks heavily to me.<br /> <br /> Thank you, Mr. Gilmour.
PEOPLE we must understand this song is about the MAN who sold the world the third anti christ that discovers music in the third person is HIS life and the government has written music for HIM HE will discover he cant be killed by walking around a park and making prank sexual phone calls to a city thats why when you are face to face with Him you cant kill Him although music is HIS life you can see the trends in such bands as the eagles the police and especially david bowie thats why there is jesus doesnt want me for a sunbeam before it on nirvanas unplugged thats why its the man who sold the world he sells out all the bands especially pink floyd with THE WALL ten years before the berlin wall ironic no govt we are all bricks in the wall not to mention the flesh and bone by the phone also found in personal jesus by johnny cash you can see it in discographies as well in radiohead nirvana and audioslave as well as the stones let it bleed and the beatles let it be if you are a music buff you can understand and see HAIL TO THE THIEF THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD
@Govtwriteslyrics depeche mode wrote personal jesus not jonny cash
Interviewer: The album could easily be interpreted as an allegory about the split with Roger.
David Gilmour: I don't think that it is. There are a couple of hinted mentions that could or could not have something to do with him. But all that I read from people working out what they think it's about has been either fairly or wildly inaccurate. I enjoy that. I'm quite happy for people to interpret it any way they like. But maybe a note of caution should be sounded because you can read too much into it. 'A Great Day for Freedom,' for example, has got nothing to do with Roger or his 'wall.' It just doesn't. What else can I say?"
...you people do realize that it could actually be about BOTH walls, the one in Berlin and the one inside your head, going down and... gasp this could actually be comparing/reflecting the world situation with the personal situation?
Oh, but that's just too far-fetched. Continue arguing.
Umm... I think you guys are looking a little too deep. Not every song on this album is about the band. It fits with the theme of isolation and seperation ("division", gasp). I'm pretty sure that it has more to do with the Berlin Wall falling, and how everyone celebrated the event. However, the line "And there's a change that, even with regret, cannot be undone" shows how there are permanent damages that we can't just apologize away.
I think there's probably more to this song than just this. The Berlin Wall is the main focus, but there are probably other inspirations that went into this song.
i disagree, high hopes' lyrics are profound, so are these ones
This whole album is so much more than what people think. Instead of just 4 or 5 songs about the band, I think that's what every song on this album is about. This song inparticularly is, i think, about after The Wall album, and the success that came with it. "The Ship of Fools That Runs aground" is the band and everyone associated with them that never matched the success of the wall.
This is talking about the freedom the band had after Roger Waters left. When they say the wall came down, they mean when he took off because Roger Waters wrote all of The Wall and made a lot of the music. The rest is saying how they're free to do what they want because by the time they released The Final Cut, Waters was doing everything. The album jacket even says "An album by Roger Waters and performed by Pink Floyd." This whole album talks about Waters leaving.
I think this album is, more particularly, about the entire history of the band. The title "The Division Bell" is like saying "Hey, we're done." This song isn't just about the freedom, though. It's also about how when Roger Waters left, first he felt insecure, there was a certain feeling of "What do we do now?"