The Hero's Return/The Gunner's Dream

Here are some songs that have had a major influence on my life. Note that these are not necessarily the BEST songs in my opinion, just ones that have a deeply personal meaning for whatever reason, sometimes a different reason than the artist intended. Understand these songs and you will know more about me.

The Hero's Return/The Gunner's Dream by Pink Floyd
Technically these are two different songs from the massively underrated The Final Cut album, but they run together and I look at them as two stanzas of the same piece. The Final Cut itself is basically an extrapolation of characters and events from The Wall. The main character of the album is the cruel Teacher character from The Wall. Here we learn his true motivations, rather than just his abuse of the children in the earlier album.

The teacher is a Bomber Command RAF veteran of the Second World War, haunted by the horrors he saw and participated in. His inability to come to terms with and communicate about his war experience, particularly the death of a gunner aboard his bomber during a mission, is the root of his cruelty to the children. This turns a simple villain from the earlier album into a sympathetic character, tracing the cruelty of war and its effects from generation to the proceeding generation, even impacting those born before the war itself due to the psychological damaged caused to those educating and raising the next generation.

On a personal level, I think these two songs are some of the best war poetry ever written, right up there with some of the masterpieces of Great War writers like Wilfred Owen.

The Hero's Return

Jesus, Jesus
What's it all about?
Trying to clout these little ingrates into shape
When I was their age all the lights went out
There was no time to whine and mope about
And even now part of me flies
Over dresden at angels one five
Though they'll never fathom it behind my
Sarcasm desperate memories lie
Sweetheart, sweetheart
Are you fast asleep?
Good
That's the only time that I can really speak to you
And there is something that I've locked away
A memory that is too painful
To withstand the light of day
When we came back from the war
The banners and flags hung on everyone's door
We danced and we sang in the street
And the church bells rang
But the burning in my heart
My memory smoulders on
Of the gunner's dying words
On the intercom
(intercom chatter between pilot and gunner...explosion, bomber being damaged by antiaircraft fire)

The Gunner's Dream

Floating down
Through the clouds
Memories come rushing up to meet me now
But in the space between the heavens
And in the corner of some foreign field
I had a dream
I had a dream

Goodbye Max
Goodbye Ma
After the service
When you're walking slowly to the car
And the silver in her hair shines in the cold november air
You hear the tolling bell
And touch the silk in your lapel
And as the tear drops rise to meet the comfort of the band
You take her frail hand
And hold on to the dream

A place to stay
[Bloke:] "Oi! A real one..."
Enough to eat
Somewhere old heroes shuffle safely down the street
Where you can speak out loud
About your doubts and fears
And what's more
No-one ever disappears
You never hear their standard issue
Kicking in your door
You can relax on both sides of the tracks
And maniacs don't blow holes in bandsmen by remote control
And everyone has recourse to the law
And no-one kills the children anymore
No-one kills the children anymore

Night after night
Going round and round my brain
His dream is driving me insane
In the corner of some foreign field
The gunner sleeps tonight
What's done is done
We cannot just write off his final scene
Take heed of the dream
Take heed