The Final Cut (song)

Hey (my first message)

I am making a project at school in music about the Pink Floyd song The Final Cut and thought that this would be the right place to see how other fans analyses(sp?) the song. Hope you will answer some of the following questions:

What do you think of the song the final cut?
What do YOU think the lyrics mean?
Do you know any places (fx a website) with analyses(sp?) of the final cut? (both of the music and of the text together or of one of them)
Anything else interesresting about the song?

PS: Sorry for my bad english, I am from Denamark

Crap
Don't know, don't care
No
No, nothing



Hi Druen, welcome to APFFN!

Your getting so cockey that you can't even help someone out with their school work. Maybe we should make a thread dedicated to your greatness as a person!

Anyway, in answer to your questions Druen:

I think The Final Cut is an expressive song with a powerful apmosphere coming from it. I.E -

'If I show you my dark side,
Would you still hold me, tonight'

I think it is about a soldier in the second world war who wanted to kill himself. Not that the lyrics say this but I think the title - 'Final Cut' is saying it's the last Pink Floyd cut (or so Roger thought!)

It proves that the use of such simple chords can make a brilliant song.

Indeed.

It's nice and sad and atmospheric, but then there's that bit about the kid masturbating and the awful phoned-in guitar solo, but the rest of it's okay.

But the guitar solo is very good I think!

Hey Druen, dont worry-your English is just fine. Certainly better than my Danish!!! Anyway, mabey I can shed some light..... You must first realize that Waters uses many metaphors and analogies in his lyrics. Indeed, The Wall is full of them. If you have seen the film you will notice that he compares the charging soldiers with "charging" fans, the chambermaid trying to enter his hotel room with "fans" trying to enter the venue, both a "disturbance" to him. In the animated sequences his mothers protective arms turning into "walls" which isolate him from the outside world etc etc.... As regards The Final Cut, I believe that after spending most of the album emphasizing with what his father and other soldiers went through during WWII, he is now taking stock of his lot in life and again making comparisons with his fathers experiences with those of his own...."The minefield in the drive" is the driveway leading to his house. The "Dogs" "Cold electronic eye" "The shotgun in the hall" are all references to his rocky marriage with his then wife Caroline. Basically he sees his marriage as a "Battlefield" The phrase ".....to the hole in the ground where I hide" is a reference to the refuge his father took while hiding from the enemy. This can be directly linked to the word "Priest-hole" which was a small room or place in English houses designed to hide Roman Catholic Priests during the reformation from religious pursecutors. A place he obviously took "refuge" from the "pursecution" of his wife. Later in the song he relates the innocence of his Fathers youth to those of his own "...... Making love to girls in magazines" The War taking away his Fathers, his wife taking away his own. "Fish eye lens" (at the begining of the song) refers to a camera, "Final cut" (at the end of the song refers to the last scene filmed in a movie before it goes off to production. So perhaps he is connecting the filming of WWII for the masses, with the media speculation surrounding his marriage ,career, personal life etc... and connecting the word "Cut" as a metaphor for sucide as was contempalted by both the soldier and the man before the "phone rang"....
Hope this is of some help!

Good to see you, Wildman.

Greetings and welcome; we need some new London blood round here to even out the numbers against the Aussie horde (no offense meant, I love 'em really).

Regarding fish-eyed lenses, yes his lyrics identify a link with cameras but also the strange distortion of one's vision while weeping...dunno why I added that, but there it is.



Flipping Floydian,
Byron

And pay no attention to Dr Cheese. Good to have you here and if you have a look about, you'll find a multitude of opinions and perceptions regarding both this song and parent album.

Cheers.

Story of my life!

Hey Guys or Gals, Thanks for the nice welcome!!!! It seems like a really cool community and I'm very happy to be part of it. I've only been here a few days and already I've learned a great deal-I'm sure I can contribute a great deal as well!!! Thanks Again........

Np Matey

Thank you, especially Wildman. Tomorrow I post my view at the song (have to think some more).

By the way, there is some/a voiece after the song have ended with machine guns in the background, does anybody know what they say? (can be tricky sometimes to hear I think, especially that one on the wall where you have to hear it backwards and line 4 vers 2 in this song)

No probs Buddy.......

As far as the background noises go I have tried to work that one out for years to no avail......Anybody Else?????

The backwards Wall message reads as follows......

"Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the Funny Farm, Chalfont.

Good Luck,

Jeff

Those would be "the Gunner's dying words on the intercom"... no one seems to know what they are (except Roger and Co.), which is unfortunate as they are a pretty key plot point.