Recorded April – November 1979 Length 0:48 | Genre Progressive rock | |
Published Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd Released 30 November 1979 (UK)
8 December 1979 (US) Label Harvest (UK)
Columbia (US) | ||
"Goodbye Cruel World" is a song by Pink Floyd. It appears on their 1979 double album, The Wall.
Contents
Composition
A quiet song, the Prophet-5 analog synthesizer provides the D major chord sequence: D, G, D, A, D, while the bass guitar plays the root notes and their octaves. A similar bass riff was used in the earlier Pink Floyd songs "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" and the fade-out of "See Emily Play". Notably, the final instance of the word "goodbye" is spoken as the music is cut, causing the final "goodbye" to appear somewhat despairing, as well as identifying the listener with Pink as he cuts all ties to the outside world.
Plot
As with all tracks on The Wall, "Goodbye Cruel World" relates to the listener a segment of Pink's (the album's protagonist) story. More specifically, this song expresses Pink's recognition of the completion of his mental wall, and acknowledgement of his thorough isolation from society.
Live versions
In all performances of The Wall, both by Pink Floyd and in Roger Waters' solo career, the song represents the end of the first half of the show. The wall is built, apart from one brick. Waters appears in this small gap and as he sings the final word, "goodbye", the last brick is put into place, ending the first half of the show.