“The Wall” by Pink Floyd became (and still is) my favorite album in 7th grade. I went through 2 vinyl copies and a Japanese vinyl pressing (for special listening occasions). I’ve often wondered why I didn’t grow up to become a thoroughly depressed person.
Thanks to a mention of Alfred E. Neuman in a friends Facebook post this morning, I finally realized what kept me in balance during those early years, and what also gave me some schooling in sarcasm: MAD magazine.
I posted this on Facebook, and a got some great replies. One of which was from Bonnie Boryana who gave a great perspective:
“The Wall exposes in brutal sincerity wide range of human feelings, including some dark ones… But as the artist clearly shows that letting these emotions rule will lead to inevitable self destruction, the message is actually positive. In the end, we are told that we can find freedom and return to innocence if we tear down the walls… And the bleeding hearts, and the artists will help us – that is what the PF music has done for many people.”
Another friend asked me what qualified as a “special occasion” to play the Japanese pressing. I answered;
“When I had friends over and we wanted to a loud-hi-fi-don’t-even-think-about-talking kind of listening. I was and still am a geek like that sometimes”
There was a time when kids would sit down an listen to whole albums in their entirety. It was a ritual of sorts, especially after spending hours at the local record shop trying to figure out what albums we could buy with our allowance money. Those were good times.
Another Blecch In The Wall (Part 2)