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Pink Floyd’s "The Wall" Was Never About Berlin, But It Was About The Fall
- Andrew Munnik
- Apr 17
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 24
Pink Floyd’s creation of The Wall during a time of incredible international distrust has led to many fans misconstruing the band’s original intention over the years. The sound of the album and themes that the band explored with its creation also led to further misappropriation of meaning. The true story of the album might surprise fans in the end, but the effects of the music, intentional or not, cannot be ignored.
International Distrust And An Abundance Of Walls
At the time of The Wall’s recording and release, the world was contending with the effects of a century of era-defining warfare.
From the terrifying grip of the First and Second World Wars to the nail-biting tension that permeated The Cold War, it was clear that culture seemed to be in a state of spasm. One cultural symbol that came to represent this spasmic state, particularly the sociopolitical tensions of the Cold War, is The Berlin Wall.
Of course, the Berlin Wall is now synonymous with ideals of revolution, freedom, rebellion against fascism and the persistence of love. When it was built, however, it was the exact opposite.
Tearing West Berlin apart from East Berlin, the wall sought to contain ideologies. Authorities claimed it was raised to prevent the spread of dangerous communist ideals and fascism, but in practice, the wall split families apart. It forced the city into a state of oppression and went on to become one of the most iconic symbols of fascism to follow the Second World War– which is really saying something.
The Wall’s Recording And Release
At the time of The Wall’s recording, Pink Floyd was quickly rising to a point of stardom that seemed alienating and at times frightening. The age of the rock star sent fans into a frenzied stupor, and though The Beatles are often the group people look to for mania-induced fans, Pink Floyd was not far behind them. This meant that while the group enjoyed the heights of success, they found the mountaintop to be uninviting and lonely, with this feeding into the sound of the album.
One would be ignorant to suggest that the events surrounding The Berlin Wall had no impact on Pink Floyd "The Wall" bearing the same title, but its impact is most certainly more indirect than fans imagined at the time. Songs like “Another Brick in the Wall” (most especially Part 2), “Goodbye Blue Sky,” with its obvious themes connected to warfare, and “Bring the Boys Back Home” suggest a deep connection to politics.
Anybody who knows anything about the band’s history, however, will know that The Wall is all about Pink Floyd.
Pink Floyd’s The Wall is about… Pink Floyd
The Wall is largely considered one of the most iconic concept albums ever released. Perhaps as a means to push against their meteoric rise to fame, the group used the album to tell the story of a fictional rock star, Pink Floyd.
From beginning to end, it details his childhood, growing up with a deeply controlling mother, and the eventual rise of his character to become exactly what he despised.
The metaphors intersperse with one another, making for an experience that could do with a few re-listens, but one stands clearly above the rest, and that’s the idea of The wall.
Though the Berlin Wall was very much physical, Pink’s wall is mental. Each turmoil the character endures becomes another brick in the surely growing wall between him and his humanity.
An education system that treats him as a cog, a government that sees him as a pawn, an absent father and a domineering mother, it all adds up.
And by the end, Pink Floyd has lost his humanity. In his attempts to keep the world away, he finds himself bombing and attacking everyone, becoming the very fascist oligarch that led him down this path.
It’s a story echoed in the album’s shape, with the end looping right back toward the beginning. This is one of the album’s hidden secrets, and while there is another, this one speaks directly to the nature of the album itself.
It enforces the idea that violence is a cycle, urging its listeners to learn from the mistakes Pink made.
Physical Walls, Mental Walls and Breaking Down Both
While the album did not seek to comment directly on The Berlin Wall or specific historic moments, the parallels between Pink’s story and the events surrounding its release cannot be ignored.
His descent into a mad, tyrannical dictator as a means to escape the oppression placed upon him mimics Berlin’s attempt to fight fascism, only to become the symbol of it in the end.
The bricks in Pink’s wall and the Berlin Wall might have been different, but in the end, they stood for the same thing. The public received this message of revolution- of turning against that which they had been told was right, when they clearly believed it was wrong- and ran with it.
Of course, it would be foolish to suggest Pink Floyd alone was responsible for the sentiment that would lead to the fall of The Berlin Wall, but it did form part of the swathe of art that rose to challenge it. Art, once given to the people, is up to the individual to interpret.
While the creators have an unquestionable say, it is the subjective response that evokes change.
In an almost jarring twist away from this intense seriousness, a backmasked message in Pink Floyd’s The Wall quite simply reads, “Congratulations, you have found the secret message.” One can imagine this is one last push from the band’s side, almost poking fun at the fans who are so obsessed as to seek through each little detail and find its secrets.
In the end, whether Pink Floyd’s The Wall was about Berlin or not does not matter. Its themes carried through in the hearts of the people.
Just as the fictional tale of Gilgamesh drove the Akkadian warriors to greatness, so too did the story of Pink Floyd inspire a generation to tear down their walls.
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