The Division Bell
1994
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME"
(Gilmour/Samson)
As you look around this room tonight
Settle in your seat and dim the lights
Do you want my blood, do you want my tears
What do you want
What do you want from me
Should I sing until I can’t sing any more
Play these strings until my fingers are raw
You’re so hard to please
What do you want from me
Do you think I know something you don’t know
What do you want from me
If I don’t promise you the answers would you go
What do you want from me
Should I stand out in the rain
Do you want me to make a daisy chain for you
I’m not the one you need
What do you want from me
You can have anything you want
You can drift, you can dream, even walk on water
Anything you want
You can own everything you see
Sell your soul for complete control
Is that really what you need
You can lose yourself this night
See inside there is nothing to hide
Turn and face the light
What do you want from me
"POLES APART"
(Gilmour, Samson, Laird-Clowes)
Did you know...it was all going to go so wrong for you
And did you see it was all going to be so right for me
Why did we tell you then
You were always the golden boy then
And that you’d never lose that light in your eyes
Hey you...did you ever realise what you’d become
And did you see that it wasn’t only me you were running from
Did you know all the time but it never bothered you anyway
Leading the blind while I stared out the steel in your eyes
The rain fell slow, down on all the roofs of uncertainty
I thought of you and the years and all the sadness fell away from me
And did you know...
I never thought that you’d lose that light in your eyes
"A GREAT DAY FOR FREEDOM"
(Gilmour, Samson)
On the day the wall came down
They threw the locks onto the ground
And with glasses high we raised a cry for freedom had arrived
On the day the wall cane down
The Ship of Fools had finally run aground
Promises lit up the night like paper doves in flight
I dreamed you had left my side
No warmth, not even pride remained
And even though you needed me
It was clear that I could not do a thing for you
Now life devalues day by day
As friends and neighbours turn away
And there’s a change that, even with regret, cannot be undone
Now frontiers shift like desert sands
While nations wash their bloodied hands
Of loyalty, of history, in shades of gray
I woke to the sound of drums
The music played, the morning sun streamed in
I turned and I looked at you
And all but the bitted residue slipped away...slipped away
"WEARING THE INSIDE OUT"
(Moore)
From morning to night I stayed out of sight
Didn’t recognise what I’d become
No more than alive I’d barely survive
In a word...overrun
Won’t hear a sound
From my mouth
I’ve spent too long
On the inside out
My skin is cold
To the human touch
This bleeding heart’s
Not beating much
I murmured a vow of silence and now
I don’t even hear when I think aloud
Extinguished by light I turn on the night
Wear its darkness with an empty smile
I’m creeping back to life
My nervous system all away
I’m wearing the inside out
Look at him now
He’s paler somehow
But he’s coming round
He’s starting to choke
It’s been so long since he spoke
Well he can have the words right from my mouth
And with these words I can see
Clear through the clouds that covered me
Just give it time then speak my name
Now we can hear ourselves again
I’m holding out
For the day
When all the clouds
Have blown away
I’m with you now
Can speak your name
Now we can hear
Ourselves again
He’s curled into the corner
But still the screen is flickering
With an endless stream of garbage to
...curse the place
In a sea of random images
The self-destructing animal
Waiting for the waves to break
He’s standing on the threshold
Caught in fiery anger
And hurled into the furnace he’ll
...curse the place
He’s torn in all directions
And the screen is still flickering
Waiting for the flames to break
"TAKE IT BACK"
(Gilmour, Samson, Laird-Clowes)
Her love rains down on me easy as the breeze
I listen to her breathing it sounds like the waves on the sea
I was thinking all about her, burning with rage and desire
We were spinning into darkness; the earth was on fire
She could take it back, she might take it back some day
So I spy on her, I lie to her, I make promises I cannot keep
Then I hear her laughter rising, rising from the deep
And I make her prove her love to me, I take all that I can take
And I push her to the limit to see if she will break
She might take it back, she could take it back some day
Now I have seen the warnings, screaming from all sides
It’s easy to ignore and G-d knows I’ve tried
All of this temptation, it turned my faith to lies
Until I couldn’t see the danger or hear the rising tide
She can take it back, she will take it back some day
She can take it back, she will take it back some day
She will take it back, she will take it back some day
"COMING BACK TO LIFE"
(Gilmour)
Where were you when I was burned and broken
While the days slipped by from my window watching
And where were you when I was hurt and I was helpless
Because the things you say and the things you do surround me
While you were hanging yourself on someone else’s words
Dying to believe in what you heard
I was staring straight into the shining sun
Lost in thought and lost in time
While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted
Outside the rain fell dark and slow
While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime
I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the moment had arrived
For killing the past and coming back to life
I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the waiting had begun
And headed straight into the shining sun