Sheep (song)
Sheep is a song by the band Pink Floyd. It was released on the album Animals in 1977.
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2 Meaning 3 Psalm 23 4 Credits 5 External Links |
History
During their tour in 1974 Pink Floyd played three new songs in the first half of the shows, followed by the whole of the Dark Side of the Moon album. Those three new songs were You Gotta Be Crazy (which would later become Dogs), Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Raving And Drooling.
During performances of Raving And Drooling a recording of a DJ at BBC Radio called Jimmy Young was played after being cut up and reassembled in random order. This was Waters' idea of a man "raving and drooling" (or being insane). The lyrics of the song at this point were quite different from the ones that were to become Sheep [1].
Both You Gotta Be Crazy and Raving And Drooling were originally planned to be on the album following the tour (Wish You Were Here), but the plans were changed and they both ended up in different forms on Animals.
Meaning
Sheep can be seen as a kind of mini-Animal Farm of sorts.
The sheep themselves of course represent the exploited masses, who in the first verse are peacefully grazing - unaware that they are soon to be brought to a slaughterhouse.
In the second verse the afwul truth suddenly dawns on them and with "terminal shock in their eyes" they realise that they're being led into the "valley of steel".
In the final verse they revolt against the dogs and because of their strength in numbers overpower and kill them.
Psalm 23
In the middle of the song the 23rd psalm is parodied. Originally (during live shows) this was performed by Nick Mason, but on the album this was done by an anonymous roadie. This was probably due to fears of upsetting Christian Fundamentalists in the United States. The fact that the speech was put through a Vocoder to make it almost unintelligible is further proof of this.
The parody goes as follows:
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
He makes me down to lie
Through pastures green He leadeth me the silent waters by.
With bright knives He releaseth my soul.
He maketh me to hang on hooks in high places.
He converteth me to lamb cutlets,
For lo, He hath great power, and great hunger.
When cometh the day we lowly ones,
Through quiet reflection, and great dedication
Master the art of karate,
Lo, we shall rise up,
And then we'll make the bugger's eyes water.
Credits
Music - Roger Waters, David Gilmour
Lyrics - Roger Waters
- Roger Waters - bass, vocal
- David Gilmour - guitar
- Richard Wright - Fender-Rhodes piano, Hammond organ
- Nick Mason - drums