Soundiscovery Issue #1: Pink Floyd's The Final Cut

For the time being, this is the new home of a little venture I'm calling Soundiscovery. It's an "e-zine" of sorts, you could say (okay, it's a blog), dedicated to the music I feel very strongly about.

To kick off the first issue, I'm opening with some thoughts on an underrated album by the best band known to Man, Pink Floyd. First, a little history about it. The title is very appropriate, The Final Cut: A Requiem for the Post-War Dream - by Roger Waters, performed by Pink Floyd, as it's the final album of the Roger Waters-era of the band. Roger had fired Richard Wright, Nick Mason was supposedly next, and David Gilmour was the only one left to stand up to him, as he was the only one who was still writing music that Waters could use in some diminished capacity. Basically, this is a Roger Waters solo album. If you listen to the succeeding solo albums, there's a definite theme: lyrics over music. The music takes a far backseat to the messages Waters tries to convey. They're all minimalistic, pretty much. And it all started with The Final Cut.

The impotus for the album was Waters's meditation on the circumstances that led to his father's death in WWII. Then it also examines how frivolously world leaders still throw away human lives when it comes to international conflicts, as if nothing was learned from the pain and loss of WWII, as if every war is just a game played by "overgrown infants". It's a powerful anti-war message that exposes the faults that are inherent with those in control. That being said, it's both an insightful look at the past and a prophecy of things to come, as long as the privileged are left to rule the world. The backdrop of the Falklands War is only a metaphor for the message Waters is telling us about human nature. Where The Wall takes a look at the self, The Final Cut takes a look at the world and the human race.

In terms of accessibility, The Final Cut throws up a wall of its own, isolating itself from most ears for the first few listens. It's not loud, it's not flashy, it's not catchy, it's just simply a reflection on humanity's darker side. Without all the bells, whistles, and theatricality of The Wall, this album is still a masterpiece. It's tough to concede to the indulgence of the man who broke up the greatest band in history, but his lyrics and sparing use of music created a great coda to an era, leaving us with an obscure masterpiece that will never gain the attention it deserves. Few people can reach this level of articulate and satirical songwriting, interpreting the world we live in with such original insight and brilliance. The Final Cut is, in conclusion, a modern classic comparable to the works of the great British satirists of the Enlightenment.