Jessica Kendall

            During the 1977 “Animals” tour, Roger Waters of Pink Floyd had finally had enough. After the release of their album “Dark Side of the Moon” in 1973, Floyd rocketed to stardom. Despite Art Rock’s intentions of creating complex, intellectual experiences, the atmosphere of these concerts was often chaotic at best. The behavior of the masses ultimately led to a climactic incident that forced Waters to acknowledge the barrier that had been erected between him and those with which he was trying to connect. He took this idea of a physical barrier and developed it further, creating the concept album “The Wall.” In “The Wall”, Waters tells an autobiographical story of a troubled and insulated rock star, Pink. Throughout the album, Pink builds a wall out of events and memories that close him off from society, his loved ones, and the art that he creates. However, what on the surface seems to be merely a statement about the rock culture of the time proves to be a larger commentary on the state of Postwar Britain. Waters, a direct product of the devastation of World War II, expresses past and present distaste for his lifestyle and socio-cultural situation through the work. By way of the lyrics, music, and imagery in the album, concert, and film, “The Wall” creates a caricature of the effects of postwar Britain. This caricature, similar to the way that Waters depicts Pink, shows Postwar Britain as a repressive, abusive distortion of its pre-war glory.