Pigs on the Wing

"Pigs on the Wing" is a two-part song by English rock band Pink Floyd from their 1977 concept album Animals, opening and closing the album.[1] According to various interviews, it was written by Roger Waters as a declaration of love to his new wife Carolyne Christie. The song is significantly different from the other three songs on the album, "Dogs," "Pigs" and "Sheep," in that the other songs are dark, whereas this one is lighter-themed, as well as also being much shorter in duration, with each part at under a minute and a half while the others are all at least 10 minutes in length.[1]

"Pigs on the Wing"
Promotional French single, "Pigs on the Wing" backed with an edit of "Sheep"
Song by Pink Floyd
from the album Animals
PublishedPink Floyd Music Publishers
Released
  • 23 January 1977 (1977-01-23) (UK)
  • 2 February 1977 (1977-02-02) (US)
RecordedNovember 1976
GenreFolk rock
Length
  • 2:48 (combined)
  • 1:24 (individually)
  • 3:26 (8-track version)
Label
Songwriter(s)Roger Waters
Producer(s)Pink Floyd

The title comes from an expression used by British pilots during World War II to describe enemy fighters in a plane's blindspot.[2]

Composition

The song is divided into two parts, which are the first and last tracks of the album.[1] Both are in stark contrast to the album's middle three songs. Without the inclusion of this track on Animals, Waters thought the album "would have just been a kind of scream of rage."[3]

According to Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, and confirmed by Waters, it is a love song directed towards Waters' new wife at the time, Carolyne. She was really the only one of Waters' friends Mason had ever met who could hold her own in an argument with Waters. According to Mason, someone had to be very good with semantics to win an argument against Waters. Waters wrote the song because that is what he had been looking for all along: someone who could stand up to him, an equal.[4]

The songs are constructed simply and feature no instrumentation besides a strummed acoustic guitar played by Waters.[1]

A special version of the song was made for the 8-track cartridge release. This version of the song links Part 1 and Part 2 with a guitar solo,[5] performed by Snowy White, who would later play the guitar solo in live performances on the 1977 In the Flesh Tour.[1] The complete version of the song, including the instrumental bridge, was re-released on White's Goldtop compilation album in 1995.[1]

Reception

In a review for Animals, Brice Ezell of Consequence of Sound described "Pigs on the Wing (Part One)" as "a brief acoustic framing device. Its major key signature is a clear contrast to the frequently sinister riffs that form the landscape of 'Dogs,' 'Pigs (Three Different Ones)' and 'Sheep.'"[6] He described "Part Two" as "a reminder that humans find ways to stick together even amidst the turmoil of a cravenly capitalist world."[6]

Personnel

References

Footnotes
  1. Mabbett 2010
  2. "Pigs on the Wing by Pink Floyd". Songfacts. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  3. Schaffner 2005, p. 217
  4. Schaffner 2005, p. 219
  5. Schaffner 2005, p. 216
  6. Ezell, Brice (29 May 2017). "Pink Floyd's Animals Pulls No Political Punches 40 Years Later". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 27 July 2017.

Bibliography
  • Mabbett, Andy (2010). Pink Floyd – The Music and the Mystery. London: Omnibus. ISBN 9781849383707.
  • Schaffner, Nicholas (2005). "Pigs on the Wing". Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey (New ed.). London: Helter Skelter. ISBN 1-905139-09-8.
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