Sheep (Pink Floyd song)

"Sheep" (Originally titled "Raving and Drooling") is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on the 1977 album ''Animals''. It was written and sung by bassist Roger Waters and performed live from 1974 to 1977. Waters has since played the song on solo tours.

History

Waters' lyrics refer to the working class, who decide to rebel against the upper classes (referred to as "Dogs" and "Pigs" on ''Animals''). This was influenced by inner-city riots that he remembered happening in Notting Hill, and that he felt were going to occur again, such as in Brixton.

During their tours in 1974, Pink Floyd played three new songs in the first half of the shows, followed by ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' in its entirety. The three new songs were "You've Got to Be Crazy" (which later became "Dogs"), " Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Raving and Drooling" (which later became "Sheep").

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 randomly. This was Roger Waters' idea of a man "raving and drooling" (or being insane). The lyrics of the song at this point were different.

"Raving and Drooling" was originally a more jam-based song. While the basic motif was already in place—a held note from the vocalist (Waters) being crossfaded into the same note on a synthesizer, with various inhuman effects applied—Waters had yet to write anything for the sections repeating F♯7 and A7 (such as "You better watch out! There may be dogs about", and so on), and so these sections, while clearly part of the song structure, were rendered instrumentally. While Gilmour later stated that "Dogs" in its earlier incarnation as "You've Got to Be Crazy" simply had too many words for him to sing, "Raving and Drooling" appeared to suffer more from a lack thereof.

"You've Got to Be Crazy" and "Raving and Drooling" were originally planned to be on the album following the 1974 tours, ''Wish You Were Here'', but plans changed and they ended up in different forms on ''Animals''. In November 2011, versions of both tracks recorded at Wembley in 1974 were officially released as part of the Experience and Immersion versions of the ''Wish You Were Here'' album.

In live versions from 1977, backing guitarist Snowy White played bass guitar as Waters shared electric guitar duties with David Gilmour. The performance was almost identical to the album version except that had a slower ending with Richard Wright playing an organ solo.

Ian Peel, a musical columnist for ''The Guardian'', noted the resemblance of "Sheep" to the ''Doctor Who'' theme, due to its bassline and sound effects.

Recording

The song was recorded during April, May and July 1976 at the band's own Britannia Row Studios, Islington, London. On the 1974–75 tours, Waters played bass for the song, but during recording, he switched to rhythm guitar, while David Gilmour overdubbed the bass guitar part in a style similar to Waters. Richard Wright played the introduction on a Rhodes Piano, which was overdubbed with sheep noises in the background.

The middle section of the song features a narration processed through a vocoder and is a parody of Psalm 23. Live, the narration was performed by Nick Mason.

Personnel

*Roger Waters – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, tape and electronic effects,
*David Gilmour – lead guitar, bass guitar, echoed vocal (from "Dogs")
* Richard Wright – Fender Rhodes piano, EMS VCS 3, Minimoog, Solina String Ensemble, Hammond organ
*Nick Mason – drums, tape effects, vocoder

References

*
*

External links

{{Authority control

Pink Floyd songs
1977 songs
British hard rock songs
Protest songs
Songs written by Roger Waters
Song recordings produced by David Gilmour
Song recordings produced by Roger Waters
Song recordings produced by Richard Wright (musician)
Song recordings produced by Nick Mason
Songs about sheep
it:Animals#Sheep