Hey You

"Hey You" is a song by Pink Floyd. It appears on The Wall album (1979). It starts the second disc of the double album. This song, along with The Show Must Go On, was edited out of the film for fear on the part of the filmmakers that the film was running too long; however, a rough version is available as an extra on the 25th Anniversary Edition DVD.

This is one of the most mysterious songs on The Wall. It seems to be about the longing for human interaction. The phrase "Hey You" implies calling out to someone (for example, "Hey you over there"). Following that phrase in every verse is a person in some sort of desperate or pathetic scenario. Most of these scenarios are pretty general but some are specific, for example, "You out beyond the wall breaking bottles in the hall," which gives the impression of a rebellious teenager, or "You standing in the road always doing what you're told," which gives the impression of someone who is very timid and indecisive. Following these scenarios in every verse is a question asking for human interaction, and as the song goes on these questions become more desperate in every verse: "Can you feel me?" "Would you touch me?" Can you help me?" In scheme of the album as a whole the song is about how although people put up their "Wall" to keep people out, they desperately but hopelessly long for real human interaction.

The Wall is a rock opera that explores abandonment and isolation, symbolized by a metaphorical wall. The songs create an approximate storyline of events in the life of the protagonist, Pink, a character based on Waters, whose father was killed during the Second World War. Pink is oppressed by his overprotective mother, and tormented at school by tyrannical, abusive teachers. Each of these traumas becomes metaphorical "bricks in the wall". The protagonist eventually becomes a rock star, his relationships marred by infidelity, drug use, and outbursts of violence. As his marriage crumbles, he finishes building his wall, completing his isolation from human contact.

Hidden behind his wall, Pink's crisis escalates, culminating in an hallucinatory on-stage performance where he believes that he is a fascist dictator performing at concerts similar to Neo-Nazi rallies, at which he sets men on fans he considers unworthy.[20] Tormented with guilt, he places himself on trial, his inner judge ordering him to "tear down the wall", opening Pink to the outside world. The album turns full circle with its closing words "Isn't this where...", the first words of the phrase that begins the album, "...we came in?", with a continuation of the melody of the last song hinting at the cyclical nature of Waters' theme.

Pink Floyd is an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. The band originally consisted of students Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Richard Wright, and Syd Barrett. Founded in 1965, the band first became popular playing in London's underground music scene in the late 1960s. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd is one of the most commercially successful and influential rock music groups of all time. They have sold over 230 million albums worldwide, including 74.5 million certified units in the United States. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Since then they have continued to enjoy worldwide success.

 

Roger Waters explained this song to Mojo magazine December 2009: "It's about the break-up of my first marriage, all that misery and pain and being out on the road when the woman declares over the phone that she's fallen in love with somebody else. It's a complete disaster, especially if you're someone like I was. I was flotsam on the turgid seas of women's power (laughs). Hopeless, really, I could do nothing but go fetal and weep. But the song is also partly an attempt to make connections with other people, to say that maybe if we act in consort, some of the bad feelings will go away. In community, there is comfort. The line, 'Hey you, out there beyond the wall/ Breaking bottles in the hall'- that is an exhortation to come closer where I live, so we can help each other."

Like most other songs on the album, "Hey You" is told from the point of view of the protagonist, Pink. Pink realises the mistake he made completely shunning society, and attempts to regain contact with the outside world. However, he cannot see or hear beyond the wall. Pink's call becomes more and more desperate as he begins to realise there is no escape.

sources: Wikipedia, SongFacts

And what have Lisa Brune to do with this?

It's one of the songs she sung last Sunday. It made me curious and I wanted to know more about the song and the lyrics. Thank you, Lisa.  

Hey You lyrics

Artist: Pink Floyd. Writer: Waters, Roger

Hey you out there in the cold

Getting lonely getting old

Can you feel me?

Hey you standing in the aisles

With itchy feet and fading smiles

Can you feel me?

Hey you don't help them to bury the light

Don't give in without a fight.

Hey you out there on your own

Sitting naked by the phone

Would you touch me?

Hey you with you ear against the wall

Waiting for someone to call out

Would you touch me?

Hey you, would you help me to carry the stone?

Open your heart, I'm coming home.

But it was only fantasy.

The wall was too high,

As you can see.

No matter how he tried,

He could not break free.

And the worms ate into his brain.

Hey you, out there on the road

Always doing what you're told,

Can you help me?

Hey you, out there beyond the wall,

Breaking bottles in the hall,

Can you help me?

Hey you, don't tell me there's no hope at all

Together we stand, divided we fall.