Sheep
From Pink Floyd
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Song Name: Sheep
Artist: Pink Floyd
Album: Animals, A Collection Of Great Dance Songs, Shine On
Run Time: 10:21
Year: 1977
Track Number: 4
Sung By: Roger Waters
Written By: Roger Waters
Info:
- During their 1974 tour, Pink Floyd played 5 new songs in the show's first half, followed by The Dark Side Of The Moon in its entirety. Those 5 new songs were "You Gotta Be Crazy" (which became "Dogs"), "Shine On You Crazy Diamond Pts. 1-5", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond Pts. 6-9", "Have A Cigar", and "Raving And Drooling".
- During performances of Raving And Drooling, a recording of a BBC Radio DJ called Sir Jimmy Young was played after being reassembled to sound completely nonsensical. This was Roger's idea of a man "raving and drooling" (or being insane). The lyrics of the song were quite different from the ones heard on Animals.
- The original plans were to have "You Gotta Be Crazy" and "Raving And Drooling" on the album after the tour (Wish You Were Here), but that was changed and they ended up in different forms on Animals.
- In concerts from 1977, backing guitarist Snowy White played bass as Roger Waters shared electric guitar duties with David Gilmour. The performance was almost identical to the album version except after the ending it would give way to a slower ending with Richard Wright playing an organ solo.
- Sheep in Animals are not so different from the ones in George Orwell's 1945 novel Animal Farm. The sheep represent society's lowest class. They're oblivious and exploited, "only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air". In the first verse they're described to be grazing peacefully - unaware that they're going to be brought to a slaughterhouse soon. They're warned of the dogs' presence, the iron-handed guardians of the system. It's also described in the first few lines that the artist had "looked over Jordan and I have seen / Things are not what they seem," which is a reference to 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot', and has become an idiom for having an ecstatic vision, especially one involving death, particularly one's own.
- In the second verse the awful truth suddenly dawns on them and with "terminal shock in (their) eyes" they realize that they're being led into the "valley of steel", which is metaphorical, because it also represents the high-rise buildings (hence the steel framework), the home of the corporations and the slaughterhouse. The song continues into a mock biblical verse in which the sheep describe their dedicated belief in their master with "great power and great hunger." But in a humorous turnabout the sheep, "through quiet reflection and great dedication", master karate and rebel against the dogs.
- The third verse describes the sheep's revolt, as they fall "on his neck with a scream." They might have had enough but they're still undereducated and uncivilised as they're described as "demented avengers." The song is completed with a cheerful announcement: "Have you heard the news? / The dogs are dead!" The sheep, due to their strength in numbers, overpower and kill the dogs, a possible reference to the Russian October Revolution as represented in Animal Farm.
- Starting at 6:27 and ending at 7:08, a parody of Psalm 23 ("The Lord is my shepherd...") is spoken in the background by a vocoder, with the words changed to suit the subject of the song.
- Originally (during concerts), it was performed by Nick Mason, but this was done on the album by an anonymous roadie.
- The lyrics spoken in the background are:
- "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He lays me down to die. Through pastures green, He leadeth me the silent waters by. With bright knives, He releaseth my soul. He maketh me to hang on hooks in high places. He converteth me to lamb cutlets. For lo, He hath great power, and great hunger. When cometh the day we lowly ones, Through quiet reflection, and great dedication. Master the art of karate. Lo, we shall rise up. And then we'll make the bugger's eyes water."
- This section caused controversy for Pink Floyd who were attacked by the PMRC for being "Satanic" due to the parody.
- During the breakdown, between the 2nd chorus and the synth solo, various sound effects used in the middle section of "Dogs" are used once again in this section, including the repeated "Stone" line that was sung by David Gilmour and echoed to produce a dog like sound.
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