"Coming Back to Life" is a song from Pink Floyd's

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

album ''

The Division Bell ''The Division Bell'' is the fourteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 March 1994 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and on 4 April by Columbia Records in the United States. The second Pink Flo ...

'', and is the only track from the album to be credited solely to David Gilmour.

Composition

Gilmour has said (as can be heard on the ''

David Gilmour in Concert ''David Gilmour in Concert'' is a DVD of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour's solo concert that took place at the Royal Festival Hall, London in June 2001, as part of the Robert Wyatt-curated Meltdown festival. It also features footage filmed d ...

'' DVD) that the song was written about his wife,

Polly Samson Polly Samson (born 29 April 1962) is an English novelist, lyricist, and journalist. She is married to the musician David Gilmour and has written the lyrics to many of Gilmour's works, both as a solo artist and with the group Pink Floyd. Life an ...

. The song is in the key of C Major.

Personnel

* David Gilmour – vocals, guitars * Richard Wright – Kurzweil synthesisers, Hammond organ * Nick Mason – drums Additional musicians: * Guy Pratt – bass guitar *

Gary Wallis Gary Wallis is a British drummer, percussionist, drum programmer, producer and musical director. He has worked with a wide range of artists and bands, including Nik Kershaw, Pink Floyd, 10cc, Il Divo, Westlife, Girls Aloud, Atomic Kitten, Pau ...

– percussion

Live performances

The song has been a staple in Gilmour's performances from 1994 to 2016. It was one of the songs performed on rotation during the 1994 Division Bell Tour, at every one of Gilmour's semi-acoustic shows in 2001 and 2002, at Gilmour's performance at the Fender Stratocaster 50th anniversary concert in London in 2004, and was played at most shows during his solo 2006 On an Island Tour. It became a staple of shows during the 2015-16

Rattle That Lock Tour The Rattle That Lock Tour was a concert tour by English singer and musician David Gilmour to support his fourth solo studio album, ''Rattle That Lock''. The tour became a commercial success, grossing $47 million and selling 288,997 tickets in 16 ...

Live personnel

Pink Floyd, 1994 tour David Gilmour – electric guitar, lead vocals
Richard Wright – organ
Nick Mason – drums with:
Guy Pratt – bass

Tim Renwick Timothy John Pearson Renwick (born 7 August 1949) is an English guitarist. He is best known for his association with Al Stewart in his early career and for his long-standing role as lead guitarist for the Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. His single ...

– acoustic guitar

Jon Carin Jon Carin (born October 21, 1964) is a musician, singer, songwriter and producer who has been a longtime collaborator with the bands Pink Floyd and The Who, and the solo careers of David Gilmour and Roger Waters, Pete Townshend, Eddie Vedder, ...

– synthesiser

– percussion
Sam Brown – backing vocals
Claudia Fontaine – backing vocals
Durga McBroom – backing vocals David Gilmour, 2006 and 2015-16 tours David Gilmour – electric guitar, lead vocals
Richard Wright – organ (2006 only)

Phil Manzanera Phillip Geoffrey Targett-Adams (born 31 January 1951), known professionally as Phil Manzanera, is an English guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music, and was the lead guitarist with 801, and Quiet Su ...

– electric guitar (except 2016 second leg)
Guy Pratt – bass

– synthesiser (except 2016 second leg)
Steve DiStanislao – drums
Kevin McAlea – organ (2015-16 only)
Bryan Chambers – backing vocals (2015-16 only)
Lucita Jules – backing vocals (2015-16 only)
Louise Clare Marshall – backing vocals (2015-16 only)

Chester Kamen Chester Kamen (born in Hackney, London) is an English session guitarist, whose work has included performing with Paul McCartney, Bryan Ferry, Bob Geldof, Madonna, Duran Duran, Robbie Williams, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Seal, Massive Attack, Ki ...

– electric guitar (2016 second leg only)
Chuck Leavell – organ (2016 second leg only)

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, singer-songwriter, and musical director based in Los Angeles, California. A prolific session musician, Phillinganes has contributed the role of keyboards to numerous alb ...

– synthesiser (2016 second leg only)

Live releases

The song appears on the following live albums, DVDs or Blu-rays: *''

Pulse In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the n ...

'' (album) (Pink Floyd, 1995) *''

'' (VHS/DVD) (Pink Floyd, 1995 HS 2003 VD *''

'' (DVD) (David Gilmour, 2002) *'' Remember That Night'' (DVD/Blu-ray) (David Gilmour, 2007) *'' Live in Gdańsk'' (album, deluxe edition bonus CD) (David Gilmour, 2008) * ''

Live at Pompeii ''Live at Pompeii'' is a live album and film by David Gilmour, the guitarist of Pink Floyd. It was recorded at the Amphitheatre of Pompeii. It documents his 2015–16 world tour to promote his album, ''Rattle That Lock'' (2015). The conce ...

'' (album, DVD/BD) (David Gilmour, 2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coming Back To Life 1994 songs 1990s ballads Pink Floyd songs Rock ballads Songs written by David Gilmour Song recordings produced by Bob Ezrin Song recordings produced by David Gilmour