"Your Possible Pasts" (mislabeled as "Your Impossible Pasts" on a radio promo single) is a song from

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

album '' The Final Cut''. This song was one of several to be considered for the band's "best of" album, '' Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd''.

Background

The song, like many others on ''The Final Cut'', is a rewritten version of a song rejected for ''

The Wall ''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/ CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-i ...

'', originally to be used in ''Spare Bricks'' (an early version of ''The Final Cut'' that was an extension of ''The Wall''.) Guitarist David Gilmour objected to the use of these previously rejected tracks, as he believed that they weren't good enough for release: Despite not appearing on ''The Wall'' album, the lyrics of the chorus did appear in the film for said album, ''

Pink Floyd – The Wall ''Pink Floyd – The Wall'' is a 1982 British live-action/animated psychological musical drama film directed by Alan Parker, based on Pink Floyd's 1979 album of the same name. The screenplay was written by Pink Floyd vocalist and bassist Roge ...

'', where the lyrics were read by the main character, Pink, in-between the songs " Waiting for the Worms" and " Stop". "Your Possible Pasts" also appeared on a 12-inch promotional single entitled ''Selections from The Final Cut'', with " The Final Cut" on the B-side. However, despite not being released as a commercial single, the song did receive significant radio play, resulting in the song hitting number 8 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart in America.

Lyrics

The first verse describes poppies entwining with "cattle trucks lying in wait for the next time", an allusion to the railway vehicles used in

The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. The line "Do you remember me, how we used to be?" originally appeared in the song "Incarceration of a Flower Child", written by Waters in 1968. Neither Pink Floyd nor Waters recorded the song; however, it was recorded by

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...

in 1999 for her album '' Vagabond Ways''.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

'' critic Stewart Mason said of the song: Chris Ott of ''Pitchfork Media'' described the song as:

Personnel

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...

– bass guitar, acoustic guitar, tape effects, sound effects, and vocals * David Gilmour – electric guitars *

Nick Mason Nicholas Berkeley Mason, (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He is the only member to feature on every Pink Floyd album, and the only constant member since its formation in ...

– drums with: *

Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, and session musician. Biography Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born ...

– electric piano and orchestrations *

Andy Bown Andrew Steven Bown (born 27 March 1946) is an English musician, who has specialised in keyboards and bass guitar. He is a member of the rock band Status Quo. Career Bown's first major band was The Herd, along with Peter Frampton. After The ...

–

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs ...

Ray Cooper Raymond Cooper (born 19 September 1947) is an English musician who has worked as a session and road-tour percussionist. During his career, Cooper has worked and toured with numerous musically diverse bands and artists including Elton John (as ...

– percussion

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control 1983 songs Pink Floyd songs Anti-war songs Songs written by Roger Waters Song recordings produced by Roger Waters