Media Diary - Week 4- Conor Walker

The Text That "Changed" My Life

For this task I have chosen to talk about the "The Wall" which is a 1979 concept album by British progressive rock band Pink Floyd. The album follows "Pink", a fictional character who Roger Waters, the lyricist of the band, modelled after himself and former band member Syd Barrett. It explores the themes of abandonment and person isolation from society. This album was later adapted into a film by the same name in 1982.

The album tells the story of Pink's life from the loss of his father at war, through to the abuse he suffered from his school teachers, to his overprotective mother and the breakdown of his marriage. This all eventually lead to him forming the metaphorical "wall" which he built in order to isolate himself from society. 

Pink Floyd's signature progressive sound is showcased throughout this album as sound effects help to tell the story with the sounds of babies crying and fighter planes to outline key points in the protagonists life. Each song also "bleeds" into each other to help the story flow and to show that all the events are linked as they all contribute to Pinks eventual formation of the wall. However, at the end of side one after the song " Goodbye Cruel World" the music comes to a sudden abrupt end which signifies Pink putting the last "brick in the wall." This sudden cutting off helps to evoke emotions for the audience as it symbolises the size and immensity of the wall implying that the wall silences all that is behind it which really helps highlight the isolation Pink is feeling.

This media text in particular had such an impact on me initially as it was very different to the way I viewed music. While I was younger I would usually listen to the music that was in the charts which were usually stereotypical pop songs with no real underlying message with the purpose of sounding good. When I first listened to this album it opened my eyes to an entire other genre of music that conveyed such emotions and explored such personal themes, this made me seek out other similar texts that had a similar purpose and entirely changed the way I listen to music and what music I choose to listen to.

The album is so personal and real that it really evokes emotions as you feel sorry for the protagonist because of all the problems he has had to face throughout his life. In order for Pink to feel the need to completely isolate himself from society, his experiences must of been really shocking which the audience understands and is why it manipulates emotions as much as it does. I have not personally encountered the same problems that Pink does but I can imagine for someone who has faced this problems this album would really resonate with these people and they would feel even stronger emotions towards it because of their cultural experiences.