Girish Mahajan (Editor)

High Hopes (Pink Floyd song)

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Released
  
17 October 1994

Genre
  
Art rock

Format
  
7", 12", CD, CD (Maxi)

A-side
  
"High Hopes" "Keep Talking"

B-side
  
2-track "Marooned" 3-track "One of These Days (Live)"

Recorded
  
January–December 1993 at Astoria (London, England) 17 August 1994, Niedersachsenstadion, Hanover, Germany

"High Hopes" is the eleventh and final track from the 1994 Pink Floyd album The Division Bell, composed by David Gilmour with lyrics by Gilmour and Polly Samson. Its lyrics speak of the things one may have gained and lost in life, written from Gilmour's autobiographic perspective. Gilmour has said that the song is more about his early days, and leaving his hometown behind, than about the seeds of division supposedly planted in Pink Floyd's early days. Douglas Adams, a friend of Gilmour, chose the album title from one verse in this song. Live versions are featured on Pulse, Remember That Night and Live in Gdańsk. On Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd, a somewhat shortened version of the song segues into Syd Barrett's "Bike". The segue is accomplished by cutting from the church bell at the end of "High Hopes" to a new bicycle bell sound effect before "Bike" begins. A 7-inch vinyl version of the single was released on a transparent record.

Contents

The final couplet from the song ("The endless river/Forever and ever") recalls a line from the band's second single, "See Emily Play", from 1967, ("Float on a river/Forever and ever") and inspired the name of their final studio album, The Endless River, released in 2014.

Composition

The song is mostly in the key of C minor, and features the sound of a church bell chiming a 'C' throughout, except for a short section in the middle where the song briefly modulates into E minor for a guitar solo. Shortly after the song ends and the chimes fade out, a phone call between Pink Floyd manager Steve O'Rourke and Gilmour's son is briefly sampled, concluding the album, The Division Bell. The lyrics refer to the band's early days in Cambridge, specifically before they started making music and it also references ex-bandmate Syd Barrett.

Track listings

CD single
  1. "High Hopes" – 7:57
  2. "Marooned" – 5:31
CD maxi
  1. "High Hopes" (radio edit) – 5:16
  2. "Keep Talking" (radio edit) – 4:55
  3. "One of These Days" (live) – 6:57

Personnel

The Division Bell
  • David Gilmour – lead and backing vocals, classical guitar, bass, and lap steel guitars
  • Richard Wright – Kurzweil synthesisers
  • Nick Mason – drums, church bell, tambourine

    • with:

  • Jon Carin – piano
  • Michael Kamen – orchestrations
  • Edward Shearmur – orchestrations
  • Charlie Gilmour – vocals
  • Steve O'Rourke – vocals
    • Pulse
  • David Gilmour – lead vocals, classical guitar and lap steel guitars
  • Richard Wright – Kurzweil synthesisers, Hammond Organ
  • Nick Mason – drums, gong

    • with:

  • Jon Carin – piano, keyboards, backing vocals
  • Guy Pratt – bass, backing vocals
  • Tim Renwick – acoustic guitar
  • Gary Wallis – percussion, church bell, drum kit
  • Sam Brown – backing vocals
  • Claudia Fontaine – backing vocals
  • Durga McBroom – backing vocals

    • Cover versions

  • The song was covered by Shark 'n the Smoke on 2003 tribute album A Fair Forgery of Pink Floyd.
  • The song was covered by Nightwish who released two different live versions; one on the compilation album Highest Hopes: The Best of Nightwish and another one on the DVD End of an Era.
  • The song was covered by Gregorian for their album Masters of Chant Chapter IV.
  • The song was covered by the German band Sylvan in 2000 for the album Signs of Life – A Tribute to Pink Floyd.
  • The song was covered by the French power metal band Karelia in 2005 for the album Raise.
  • The song was covered by the German Metalcore band Caliban in 2012 for the deluxe version of I Am Nemesis.
  • The song was covered by the Scottish vocalist Ray Wilson in 2016 for his acoustic album Song for a Friend.

    • References

    High Hopes (Pink Floyd song) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA