High Hopes (Pink Floyd song)
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| "High Hopes" | ||
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| Song by Pink Floyd | ||
| from the album The Division Bell | ||
| Released | March 30, 1994 (UK) April 5, 1994 (US) |
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| Recorded | 1993 | |
| Genre | Progressive rock | |
| Length | ~8:30 | |
| Label | EMI (UK) Columbia Records (US) |
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| Writer(s) | David Gilmour Polly Samson |
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| Producer(s) | Bob Ezrin and David Gilmour | |
| The Division Bell track listing | ||
| Lost For Words (10) |
"High Hopes" (11) |
|
"High Hopes" que temazo bolóo is a song from the 1994 Pink Floyd album, The Division Bell, written by David Gilmour and Polly Samson. Its lyrics speak of the things one may have gained and lost in life and also an autobiographical flair to it for Gilmour. Douglas Adams, famous for writing The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, chose the album title from one of the lyrics in this song.
Pink Floyd manager, Steve O'Rourke, who lobbied to be included on one of the group's albums, appears at the end with Gilmour's step-son, Charlie, who hangs up a telephone on O'Rourke.
The beginning of "High Hopes" is reminiscent of another of his songs, "Fat Old Sun", from the Pink Floyd album Atom Heart Mother. Bells chime at the beginning of both pieces, for example.
The bird sounds and fly buzzing can also be traced back to "Grantchester Meadows", a song from the 1969 Pink Floyd album, Ummagumma, written by Roger Waters.
The video/backdrop film for this track, which featured an oversized bust of Syd Barrett, was featured on an episode of Beavis and Butthead. Beavis said that if you didn't know the name Pink Floyd or anything about the band and just saw this video, you might think this was wimp music. Butthead replied to him that this is wimp music.
The fact that this is the very last song that Pink Floyd (to date) has written lends itself to the interpretation that the song narrates the story of the band's career, from their beginnings to their grandiose success (with Dark Side Of The Moon and The Wall) to their breakup to their carrying on, ending with the very last line of the song "forever and ever."
It was included in the 2001 compilation, Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd in a slightly edited version.
[edit] Quote
| "High Hopes" was really the last one, it was written after all the other (songs) were sort of, in some form or another. I think I wrote it in July or something. It was very, very quick. It's one of those ones that works, quickly, but beautifully, almost immediately and, I came up with a tiny bit of music, just had it on a cassette, just a few bars of piano. And then I went off to get away to a small house somewhere with my girlfriend, Polly, and try and make some progress on the lyric writing. And she gave me a phrase about something about before time wears you down. And I took it from there, and...got stuck into a whole sort of thing about, I suppose, my, it's autobiographical really, I suppose I'd have to say on that one, it's about my life, Cambridge life, and my childhood, I suppose. Yeah, we came up with it very, very quickly, we wrote the words to it in, most of the words to it in a day. And then I went back to the studio, with no one else there, the minute I got back, and put a demo down of it. Did everything myself on it, and it was virtually complete in a day. |
David Gilmour talking about "High Hopes" from the US radio premiere of The Division Bell with Redbeard, March, 1994.
About the Lyrics:
" A bold step i took, to understand. Once there, I was overwhelmed by the depth. A world full of desires and ambition, indeed."
HIGH hopes, it takes a certain kind of experience to understand what Gil and Polly are saying.
[edit] Credits
- Music by David Gilmour
- Lyrics by David Gilmour and Polly Samson
- David Gilmour - lead and backing vocals, Chet Atkins model classical guitars, bass guitar, lap steel guitar
- Richard Wright - Kurzweil synthesizers
- Nick Mason - drums, percussion
- Jon Carin - piano
- Michael Kamen - orchestrations
- Edward Shearmur - orchestrations
Recorded January, 1993 to January 1994 at The Astoria, Britannia Row Studios and Abbey Road Studios in London.
[edit] Cover versions
- The song was covered by the Finnish band Nightwish for their 2005 compilation album Highest Hopes.
- The song was covered a second time by Nightwish on an official release. It was played live at their final concert of their Once Tour, which was recorded and released on their End of an Era DVD.
- The song was covered by Gregorian for their album Masters of Chant Chapter IV.
