It’s the loudest and angriest of the three “Brick” songs and was rerecorded even louder and angrier for The Wall movie.

“Another Brick In The Wall, Part 3” is the third and final of the three “Bricks” tracks. The song goes back to Roger’s original Bricks In The Wall demo. Throughout production, the song evolved as it got several new titles. Lyrics were changed and the overall sound and tone of the music became darker and angrier. Fortunately, these changes are well-documented on The Wall: Immersion — perhaps more so than nearly any other track on the album.

It’s the loudest and angriest of the three “Brick” songs and the entire track was rerecorded even louder and angrier for Pink Floyd The Wall movie. Nothing was cut from the track and there are no extended versions available.

Another Brick In The Wall Part 5?

Going back to Waters’ original notes for The Wall, it was originally the fifth verse of a single, long “Another Brick In The Wall”. By the time Roger had recorded his original demo, the single song had been rewritten, edited and split into the three parts which appear on the album. Waters’ original lyrics were on display at the 2017 exhibit “Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains” at the V & A Museum in London, England.

“Another Brick In The Wall” original lyrics. Roger Waters’ original, handwritten lyrics, on display at 2017’s Their Mortal Remains exhibit in London. Photo courtesy V & A Museum.

Originally called “Brick 3: Drugs” on the original demo, its title evolved throughout production. On the early band production demos, it was called “Another Brick In The Wall (aka Drugs)” and “Another Brick In The Wall: Drugs”. By the band’s third and final production demo, the song had its release title, “Another Brick In The Wall, Part 3”. At least three demo versions were recorded for the song (the band’s second demo version may have been used as a placeholder in the third band demo until the final version was recorded). These three appear on the Work In Progress discs of the Immersion edition.

Like the early recordings of “Another Brick In The Wall, Parts 1 and 2”, the early band recording of Part 3 differed significantly in sound and tone. Musically, it started very soft and mellow and lacked the anger that the song eventually acquired. The verses were sung quietly over a soft guitar and spare percussion music bed, sounding similar in sound and mood to “Another Brick In The Wall, Part 1”.

In the first band demo in particular, you can hear the contributions from all four band members, including some subtle yet classic-Floyd-sounding keyboard from Rick Wright. It is far from the versions that were actually released.

The basic structure of the song was in the lyrics from the beginning, but was tweaked and rearranged which heightened the song’s impact.

Another Brick In The Wall (aka Drugs) – First Band Demo (1:26)

Music and Lyrics by Roger Waters

I don’t need no drugs to calm me down, down, down
And I don’t need your hands to hold me down, down, down
I don’t need your tongue to cut me down, down, down
I don’t think that I need you at all
I don’t think that I need you at all

All in all it’s just another brick in the wall
All in all you’re just another brick in the wall

Prior to release, “Empty Spaces” was sequenced before the track. It was moved up in the track sequence when the longer “What Shall We Do Now?” was cut from the side to shave off some time. In its place, a new segue was created which features the iconic smashing TVs transition. If the band production demos were any indication, the original segue would have been smooth but less satisfying. The smashing TV transition is a much better illustration of Pink’s breaking point and the last brick in the wall.

Depending on the master, the album version is about 1m 14s long before it fades out and segues into “Goodbye Cruel World”. The tempo is 102 beats per minute (BPM) – – same as “Goodbye Cruel World” making for a smooth segue as the closing bass notes of “Brick, Part 3” seamlessly fade into the opening of “Goodbye”.

The live version released on Is There Anybody Out There? has a faster tempo at 109 beats per minute (BPM). It segues into “The Last Few Bricks”, an instrumental track that was written exclusively for the live shows to give the stage crew a few extra minutes if needed to complete the huge wall on stage.

The movie version of “Another Brick In The Wall, Part 3”

“Another Brick In The Wall, Part 3” was completely rerecorded for the Pink Floyd The Wall movie. Willie Wilson, who had previously performed as part of The Surrogate Band on The Wall live tours, was brought in to play drums for this recording. With a tempo of 112 BPM it was even faster and more angrier. Because of the tempo difference, “Brick, Part 3” ends with a cold fade and the bass notes do not segue into “Goodbye Cruel World”. The movie version runs about 1m 15s or so but the last 10 seconds are a looped synth sequencer that bridges the two tracks.

Alternate Versions

Pink Floyd The Wall – Work In Progress from Pink Floyd The Wall: Immersion edition. An early, rough, bare version from pre-release production demo tapes made by the band. There are three early versions of the track on the Work In Progress discs, including a fairly long snippet from Roger’s original demo and two complete band production demos providing and excellent overview of how this song changed from conception to final release.

Pink Floyd The Wall movie (1982). Remixed or rerecorded versions of many songs from the original album masters, including this one. Completely rerecorded for the movie, where it was faster, louder, and angrier than any other version recorded by the band. A soundtrack of the film has never been released. A very-good quality recording of the track can be found on the DVD of the film. The recording has a lot of compression making it sound even louder and there are sound effects from the film scattered throughout the track, but they are mostly unobtrusive.

Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81. A little faster in tempo, but otherwise plays the same as the album version. It’s not extended or different, but here the song segues into “The Last Few Bricks”, an instrumental track in the live shows that adds a few minutes before “Goodbye Cruel World” and the end of the first half.

Last update: September 17, 2017