Us and Them (6:56)
2,275,182 plays (378,713 listeners)
Us and Them is a song from English psychedelic / progressive rock band Pink Floyd’s 1973 album, Dark Side of the Moon. It was written by Richard Wright and Roger Waters and sung by David Gilmour (harmonies by Wright). It is 7 minutes, 51 seconds in length, making it the longest song on the album.
It deals with ethnocentrism, conflict and the belief that a person’s self is “always in the right”
It is rather quiet in tone and dynamics and it has two saxophone solos in it, played by Dick Parry, one at the beginning and another towards the end of the song.
The tune began life in 1969 when Rick Wright, who along with the rest of the band, were frustrated by Michelangelo Antonioni’s directions to the band while scoring his 1970 film Zabriskie Point, came up with the basic chord sequence on the piano.
Nearly 30 years later, on the DVD commentary track for American Beauty, Director Sam Mendes revealed that the final scene in the film was originally going to be set to “Us And Them”, lip-synched by the main characters. It references an earlier scene in the movie where Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) says he had Dark Side on 8-track.
It deals with ethnocentrism, conflict and the belief that a person’s self is “always in the right”
It is rather quiet in tone and dynamics and it has two saxophone solos in it, played by Dick Parry, one at the beginning and another towards the end of the song.
The tune began life in 1969 when Rick Wright, who along with the rest of the band, were frustrated by Michelangelo Antonioni’s directions to the band while scoring his 1970 film Zabriskie Point, came up with the basic chord sequence on the piano.
Nearly 30 years later, on the DVD commentary track for American Beauty, Director Sam Mendes revealed that the final scene in the film was originally going to be set to “Us And Them”, lip-synched by the main characters. It references an earlier scene in the movie where Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) says he had Dark Side on 8-track.
Video
Added by rrempel
Pink Floyd Video
Share Video
See 12 more
Related Tracks
-
Any Colour You Like (3:19)
Pink Floyd -
Brain Damage (3:45)
Pink Floyd -
On an Island (6:47)
David Gilmour -
Dazed and Confused (6:27)
Led Zeppelin -
Smile (4:04)
David Gilmour -
No Quarter (6:58)
Led Zeppelin
Albums featuring this track
-
The Dark Side of the Moon
Pink FloydBuy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
-
Echoes
Pink FloydBuy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
-
Pulse (disc 2)
Pink FloydBuy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
-
Pulse
Pink FloydBuy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital $16.99
- iTunes $16.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
Shouts
-
FuckinEchoes wrote:
Me, and you... god only knows, its not what we would choose to do...
-
SigurRens wrote:
Du hast völlig recht! :-)
-
Hippy-Rock-Chic wrote:
Puahhh! Dieses Lied ist so unbeschreiblich geil. Alles in diesem Stück Musikgeschichte ist überwältigend, die Sängerinnen im Hintergrund, die Saxophon-Parts, die Melodie... Als ich "Us and Them" zum ersten Mal gehört habe, wollte ich Saxophon-spielen lernen, weil ich die Saxophon-Parts so geil fand (was ich immer noch tue). Ich kann mir einfach nicht vorstellen, wie die heutige Jugend Lieber "Gangsta-Rap" als Pink Floyd hört. Was für eine Schnde!!! Ich bin gerade mal 15 Jahre alt und schwimme gegen den Strom, was mir übrigens nichts ausmacht. Ich wünsche mir, ich hätte in den 60ern und 70ern gelebt. Da gab es die beste Musik. Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin.... *träum*
-
OprisOvidiu wrote:
Thank you Rick!
-
devilfury wrote:
nothing better than David+Rick Voices togheter....
-
niQboy wrote:
I don't think there is any other word that could describe this song better than "timeless". It's been around for 37 years now and still it's still one of the best songs of all time and I can imagine it still touches people like it did all those years ago :)
-
richysig7 wrote:
just so Great can,t put it to words .
-
alexreer wrote:
AND AFTER ALL WE'RE ONLY ORDINARY MAN
-
mgpixlab wrote:
RIP Richard Wright.
-
Giba-G wrote:
одним словом - гениально!
-
Almogzy wrote:
the most divine song in the whole world man
-
danilofloydiano wrote:
linda. *.*
-
mariana_ wrote:
Pink Floyd has so many masterpieces, and this song is definetly one of them [4]
-
magpie_1862 wrote:
What an amazing song. And it's 37 years old.
-
Empty_Skies wrote:
Gotta love that sax-a-ma-fone.
-
SirAlecHendrix wrote:
8/10, love it.
-
Zealant wrote:
Some of the smoothest, most soothing, sliding rhythm and music ever. Amazing saxophone. Aussie Floyd played it live and blew me and the rest of the crowd away.
-
robslater90 wrote:
oh my god this is so good. wish i was the age i am now when this was released i would die to see this live
-
Lefty87 wrote:
I absolutely love this song.
-
Cloudy-Now wrote:
Politic.. But Good..
Listeners
-
Brandon-Seroyer
Listening now
-
peksuuu
Listening now
-
faciunt
Listening now
-
XerxesK
Top Listener
-
czmaja
Top Listener
-
FuckinEchoes
Top Listener
Recent Activity
-
Till999, FIL89, Haterabbit and 3 other people loved Pink Floyd – Us and Them. 1 hour ago
-
mzmzmzmzmzmzmzm added Us and Them to mzmzmzmzmzmzmzm’s library. 12 hours ago
-
mzmzmzmzmzmzmzm added Us and Them to the playlist My Playlist #189. 12 hours ago
-
HelloDecepticon, jorgecoo, Seanosaurus and 2 other people loved Pink Floyd – Us and Them. 13 hours ago
-
micongr added Us and Them to micongr’s library. yesterday evening
-
micongr added Us and Them to the playlist Rock 8/2/2010. yesterday evening
-
kemming added Us and Them to the playlist Progressive Rock 1. yesterday evening
-
mustainefangirl, RobertJ123, Darkened_Hearts and 5 other people loved Pink Floyd – Us and Them. yesterday evening
-
trisrammmar added Us and Them to trisrammmar’s library. yesterday evening
-
ivedal, reez_cw, seabird93 and 1 other person loved Pink Floyd – Us and Them. yesterday evening
Related Journals
-
Australijscy Floydzi we Wrocławiu
by Teoef |
29 Jan 2010 | 8 comments
-
the greatest albums of the 70s
by SirAlecHendrix |
18 Jan 2010 | 1 comment
-
Stuff that noone cares
by CrashRHCP |
15 Jan 2010 | Add comment
