The division bell de Pink Floyd
Álbum de Pink Floyd
- Fecha de lanzamiento: 28 de Marzo de 1994
- Sello Discográfico: EMI United Kingdom
- Compositores: David Gilmour, Richard Wright, Polly Samson, Nick Laird-Clowes
- Productores: Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour
The division bell es un álbum de Pink Floyd, publicado en 1994 por EMI United Kingdom. El disco incluye 11 canciones, entre ellas «Cluster one», «What Do You Want from Me», «Poles apart» y «Marooned».
Lanzado en 1994, The Division Bell es el decimocuarto álbum de estudio de Pink Floyd y el segundo sin Roger Waters. A diferencia de su predecesor, este álbum fue un esfuerzo mucho más colaborativo, con una participación significativa del teclista Richard Wright, quien fue reinstaurado como miembro de pleno derecho de la banda. El resultado es un álbum que suena mucho más a un trabajo de banda, con un sonido más orgánico, cálido y atmosférico. Temáticamente, el álbum es una obra conceptual que gira en torno a la idea de la comunicación, o la falta de ella, un tema que muchos interpretaron como una reflexión sobre la conflictiva historia de la propia banda, especialmente con Waters.
El origen del álbum
Tras la masiva gira de "A Momentary Lapse of Reason", la formación de Gilmour, Mason y Wright se había consolidado. Para este álbum, la banda buscó un proceso de composición más orgánico. Se reunieron en los Britannia Row Studios y en el Astoria de David Gilmour para una serie de sesiones de improvisación. De estas "jams" surgieron la mayoría de las ideas musicales del álbum. Richard Wright, en particular, tuvo un papel creativo mucho más importante, coescribiendo cinco de las canciones y cantando como voz principal en una de ellas, "Wearing the Inside Out".
Líricamente, Gilmour colaboró estrechamente con su futura esposa, la periodista y novelista Polly Samson, quien coescribió muchas de las letras, aportando una nueva profundidad poética a los temas del álbum.
El estilo musical
El sonido de "The Division Bell" es un regreso al rock progresivo y ambiental de los años 70, pero con una producción moderna y pulida. El álbum tiene un tono predominantemente melancólico y reflexivo. La interacción entre la guitarra de Gilmour y los teclados de Wright es el corazón del sonido del disco, recordando la química entre los miembros de Pink Floyd en álbumes como Wish You Were Here. A diferencia de su predecesor, hay un menor uso de cajas de ritmos y un sonido de batería más natural por parte de Nick Mason.
Las canciones del álbum
El álbum contiene algunas de las composiciones más aclamadas de la era post-Waters. La instrumental de apertura, "Cluster One", establece el tono atmosférico. "What Do You Want from Me" es un blues-rock lento y potente. "Poles Apart" es una de las canciones que más directamente parece referirse al pasado de la banda, con estrofas que muchos interpretan como dirigidas a Syd Barrett y Roger Waters.
"Marooned", una evocadora pieza instrumental de guitarra, ganó el premio Grammy a la Mejor Interpretación de Rock Instrumental. El sencillo "Take It Back" es un tema de rock de estadio más convencional. La obra cumbre del álbum es la canción de cierre, "High Hopes". Es una épica de rock progresivo que reflexiona sobre los inicios de la banda en Cambridge, con una letra nostálgica y un majestuoso solo de guitarra slide que se ha convertido en uno de los más icónicos de Gilmour.
El diseño de la portada
La portada, de nuevo diseñada por Storm Thorgerson, es otra imagen icónica. Muestra dos enormes cabezas metálicas de perfil, una frente a la otra en un campo, que pueden ser vistas como una sola cara frontal. La imagen representa el tema de la comunicación y la dualidad, y las esculturas reales fueron construidas y fotografiadas para la sesión.
Cómo le fue en listas
El álbum fue un éxito comercial masivo, debutando en el número 1 en el Reino Unido y Estados Unidos, y en muchos otros países. La gira que lo acompañó, "The Division Bell Tour", fue la más taquillera de 1994.
- UK Albums Chart: 1
- USA Billboard 200: 1
- Alemania (GfK Entertainment): 1
- Francia (SNEP): 1
- España (PROMUSICAE): 1
Juicio de la crítica
La crítica fue mucho más favorable que con su predecesor. Fue elogiado por su cohesión, su madurez y su sonido más orgánico. Se vio como una reivindicación del Pink Floyd liderado por Gilmour. "The Division Bell" fue, durante 20 años, considerado el canto del cisne de la banda, un cierre digno y melancólico a una de las carreras más extraordinarias de la música.
Listado de Canciones
- Cluster one
Letra
Instrumental - What Do You Want from Me
Letra
As you look around this room tonight Settle in your seat and dim the lights Do you want my blood do you want my tears What do you want What do you want from me Should I sing until I can't sing any more Play these strings until my fingers are raw You're so hard to please What do you want from me Do you think I know something you don't know What do you want from me If I don't promise you the answers would you go What do you want from me Should I stand out in the rain Do you want me to make a daisy chain for you I'm not the one you need What do you want from me You can have anything you want You can drift, you can dream, even walk on water Anything you want You can own everything you see Sell your soul for complete control Is that really what you need You can lose yourself this night See inside there is nothing to hide Turn and face the light What do you want from me - Poles apart
Letra
Did you know, it was all going to go so wrong for you And did you see it was all going to be so right for me Why did we tell you then You were always the golden boy then And that you'd never lose that light in your eyes Hey you, did you ever realize what you'd become And did you see that it wasn't only me you were running from Did you know all the time but it never bothered you anyway Leading the blind while I stared out the steel in your eyes The rain fell slow, down on all the roofs of uncertainty I thought of you and the years and all the sadness fell away from me And did you know I never thought that you'd lose that light in your eyes - Marooned
Instrumental - A great day for freedom
Letra
On the day the wall came down They threw the locks onto the ground And with glasses as 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 - Waring the inside out
Letra
From morning to night I stayed out of sight Didn't recognize what I'd become No more than alive I'd barely survive In a word, overrun Won't hear a sound From my mouth I've spent too long On the inside out My skin is cold To the human touch This bleeding heart's Not beating much I murmured a vow of silence and now I don't even hear when I think aloud Extinguished by light I turn on the night Wear its darkness with an empty smile I'm creeping back to life My nervous system all away I'm wearing the inside out Look at him now He's paler somehow But he's coming round He's starting to choke It's been so long since he spoke Well he can have the words right from my mouth And with these words I can see Clear through the clouds that covered me Just give it time then speak my name Now we can hear ourselves again I'm holding out For the day When all the clouds Have blown away I'm with you now Can speak your name Now we can hear Ourselves again He's curled into the corner But still the screen is flickering With an endless stream of garbage to Curse the place In a sea of random images The self-destructing animal Waiting for the waves to break He's standing on the threshold Caught in fiery anger And hurled into the furnace he'll Curse the place He's torn in all directions And the screen is still flickering Waiting for the flames to break - Take it back
Her love rains down on me easy as the breeze I listen to her breathing it sounds like the waves on the sea I was thinking all about her, burning with rage and desire We were spinning into darkness; the earth was on fire She could take it back, she might take it back someday So I spy on her, I lie to her, I make promises I cannot keep Then I hear her laughter rising, rising from the deep And I make her prove her love for me, I take all that I can take And I push her to the limit to see if she will break She might take it back, she could take it back some day Now I have seen the warnings, screaming from all sides It's easy to ignore them and G-d knows I've tried All this temptation, it turned my faith to lies Until I couldn't see the danger or hear the rising tide She can take it back, she will take it back some day She can take it back, she will take it back some day She can take it back, she will take it back some day - Coming back to life
Letra
Where were you when I was burned and broken While the days slipped by from my window watching And where were you when I was hurt and I was helpless Because the things you say and the things you do surround me While you were hanging yourself on someone else's words Dying to believe in what you heard I was staring straight into the shining sun Lost in thought and lost in time While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted Outside the rain fell dark and slow While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime I took a heavenly ride through our silence I knew the moment had arrived For killing the past and coming back to life I took a heavenly ride through our silence I knew the waiting had begun And headed straight into the shining sun - Keep talking
Letra
For millions of years mankind lived just like the animals Then something happenend which unleashed the power of our imagination We learned to talk There's a silence surrounding me I can't seem to think straight I'll sit in the corner No one can bother me I think I should speak now Why won't you talk to me I can't seem to speak now You never talk to me My words won't come out right What are you thinking I feel like I'm drowning What are you feeling I'm feeling weak now You never talk to me But I can't show my weakness What are you thinking I sometimes wonder What are you feeling Where do we go from here It doesn't have to be like this All we need to do is make sure we keep talking Why won't you talk to me I feel like I'm drowning You never talk to me You know I can't breathe now What are you thinking We're going nowhere What are you feeling We're going nowhere Why won't you talk to me You never talk to me What are you thinking Where do we go from here It doesn't have to be like this All we need to do is make sure we keep talking - Lost for words
Letra
I was spending my time in the doldrums I was caught in a cauldron of hate I felt persecuted and paralyzed I thought that everything else would just wait While you are wasting your time on your enemies Engulfed in a fever of spite Beyond your tunnel vision reality fades Like shadows into the night To martyr yourself to caution Is not going to help at all Because there'll be no safety in numbers When the right one walks out of the door Can you see your days blighted by darkness? Is it true you beat your fists on the floor? Stuck in a world of isolation While the ivy grows over the door So I open my door to my enemies And I ask could we wipe the slate clean But they tell me to please go fuck myself You know you just can't win - High hopes
Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young In a world of magnets and miracles Our thoughts strayed constantly and without boundary The ringing of the division bell had begun Along the Long Road and on down the Causeway Do they still meet there by the Cut There was a ragged band that followed in our footsteps Running before times took our dreams away Leaving the myriad small creatures trying to tie us to the ground To a life consumed by slow decay The grass was greener The light was brighter When friends surrounded The nights of wonder Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us To a glimpse of how green it was on the other side Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again Dragged by the force of some inner tide At a higher altitude with flag unfurled We reached the dizzy heights of that dreamed of world Encumbered forever by desire and ambition There's a hunger still unsatisfied Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon Though down this road we've been so many times The grass was greener The light was brighter The taste was sweeter The nights of wonder With friends surrounded The dawn mist glowing The water flowing The endless river Forever and ever