Sheep

"Sheep" is a song by the English band Pink Floyd. It was released on the album Animals in 1977. It was originally titled "Raving and Drooling".

History

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. 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 randomly. 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]. "Raving and Drooling" was originally a more jam based song, containing fewer lyrics.

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.

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

Meaning

Sheep in Animals are not so different from the ones in George Orwell's 1945 novel Animal Farm. The sheep represent the lowest class of the social system, the proletariat, who are largely oblivious to their status, and are exploited. In the first verse they are described to be peacefully grazing, unaware that they are soon to be brought to a slaughterhouse. They are warned about their masters, the dogs, even though the album as a whole identifies the pigs as the real enemy. The first few lines make reference to the spiritual, "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", making use of its vision of one's own death; and to the Book of Exodus, in which the Israelites must cross the river Jordan to get to the Promised Land after their escape from Egyptian Slavery.

In the second verse the awful truth suddenly dawns on them, and they realize that they are being led into "the valley of steel" representing the high-rise steel framework buildings of the corporate world, as well as the slaughterhouse. The song continues into a mock biblical verse in which the sheep describe their dedicated belief in their master who has "great power and great hunger". But in a humorous turnabout the sheep master the art of karate and rebel against the dogs.

The third verse imagines the sheep's revolt, and even though they apparently kill the dogs, they are still too frightened to leave their homes (either due to other dangers or the very chaos they have produced), possibly indicating the revolt was only a fantasy, as the pigs are still at the top of the system.

The song is unlikely to be a reference to the Russian October Revolution as represented in Animal Farm, because the album is specifically a critique of western capitalism.

Psalm 23

Starting at 6:27 and ending at 7:08, a parody of Psalm 23 ("The Lord is my shepherd...") is spoken in the background by means of a vocoder, with the words changed to suit the subject of the song.

Originally (during live shows) this was performed by Nick Mason, but on the album this was done by an anonymous roadie.

The lyrics spoken in the background are:

"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 and lyrics - Roger Waters

• Roger Waters - vocal, rhythm guitar, tape and electronic effects, vocoder
• David Gilmour - lead guitar, bass, ARP Quadra synthesizer
• Richard Wright - Fender-Rhodes piano, Hammond organ, ARP String Synthesizer, Minimoog Synthesizers
• Nick Mason - drums, tape effects

Recorded April, May and July 1976 at the band's own Britannia Row Studios, Islington, London.

Reference: Fitch, Vernon. The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia (3rd edition), 2005. ISBN 1-894959-24-8

Trivia

During the breakdown section, in-between the 2nd chorus and the synthesizer solo, various sound effects used in the middle section of "Dogs" are once again utilized in this section, including the repeated "Stone" line that was sung by David Gilmour and echoed to produce a dog like sound.

Quotes

David Gilmour, 1998, to Karl Coryat, "Bass Player"

Cover versions

• Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade's covers the entire Animals album on their Live Frogs Set 2 release.

References