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The Final Cut
The Post War Dream
------------------
Bb C F Bb/F F Bb C Bb/F F
Bb/F F Bb
Tell me true, tell me why was Jesus crucified?
C C7 F
Is it for this that daddy died?
Bb/F F
Was it you? Was it me?
Bb
Did I watch too much T.V.?
C F Bb/F
Is that a hint of accusation in your eyes?
F
If it wasn't for the Nips
F7 Bb
Being so good at building ships,
C C9 F
The yards would still be open on the Clyde.
F7
And it can't be much fun for them
Bb
Beneath the rising sun
C C7 F
With all their kids committing suicide.
Bb F
What have we done, Maggie what have we done?
Bb
What have we done to England?
C F A
Should we shout, should we scream,
Bb Bbm F/C Dm7
"What happened to the post war dream?"
Gm7 C7
Oh, Maggie,
C7+ F C Bb F
Maggie what have we done?
Your Possible Pasts
-------------------
G Am
They flutter behind you your possible pasts,
C D G
Some brighteyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.
G Am
A warning to anyone still in command
C D G
Of their possible future, to take care.
G Am
In derelict sidings the poppies entwine
C D G
With cattle trucks lying in wait for the next time.
Em
Do you remember me, how we used to be,
D
Do you think we shoud be closer?
G Am
She stood in the doorway, the ghost of a smile
C D G
Haunting her face like a cheap hotel sign.
G Am
Her cold eyes imploring the men in their macs
C D G
For the gold in their bags or the knives in their backs.
G Am
Stepping up boldly one put out his hand.
C D G
He said, "I was just a child then, now I'm only a man."
Em
Do you remember me, how we used to be,
D
Do you think we should be closer?
Em C Em C Em D C D Cmaj9
G Am
By the cold and religious we were taken in hand
C D G
Shown how to feel good and told to feel bad.
G Am
Strung out behind us the banners and flags
C D G
Of our possible pasts lie in tatters and rags.
Em
Do you remember me, how we used to be,
D
Do you think we should be closer?
One Of The Few
--------------
N.C.
When you're one of the few to land on your feet,
What do you do to make ends meet?
Teach.
Make them mad, make them sad, make them add two and two.
Make them me, make them you, make them do what you want them to.
Make them laugh, make them cry, make them lie down and die.
The Hero's Return
-----------------
D
Jesus, Jesus, what's it all about?
Trying to clout these little ingrates into shape.
When I was their age all the lights went out.
There was no time to whine or mope about.
Cmaj7 D
And even now part of me flies over
Cmaj7
Dresden at angels one five.
D Cmaj7
Though they'll never fathom it behind my
D
Sarcasm desperate memories lie.
D
Sweetheart sweetheart are you fast asleep? Good.
'Cause that's the only time that I can really speak to you.
And there is something that I've locked away
A memory that is too painful
To withstand the light of day.
Cmaj7 D Cmaj7
When we came back from the war the banners and
D
Flags hung on everyone's door.
Cmaj7
We danced and we sang in the street and
D
The church bells rang.
G C
But burning in my heart,
G C
My memory smoulders on
G C Em add9
Of the gunners dying words on the intercom.
The Gunner's Dream
------------------
G G+ Em C G D Em
G G+
Floating down through the clouds
Em/G C
Memories come rushing up to meet me now.
G
In the space between the heavens
D C
And in the corner of some foreign field,
G Em C
I had a dream,
G
I had a dream.
G G+
Goodbye Max, goodbye Ma.
Em/G C
After the service when you're walking slowly to the car
G D
And the silver in her hair shines in the cold November air,
Em Cmaj7 D/C C
You hear the tolling bell, and touch the silk in your lapel,
G D Em
And as the tear drops rise to meet the comfort of the band,
C D
You take her frail hand and hold on to the dream.
G G+ Em C D G D Em D C D/C G D C G Em C Em
G G+
A place to stay, enough to eat,
Em C
Somewhere old heroes shuffle safely down the street.
G D
Where you can speak out loud about your doubts and fears,
Em
And what's more no-one ever disappears,
Cmaj7
You never hear their standard issue kicking in your door.
G D
You can relax on both sides of the tracks,
Em C D7/C
And maniacs don't blow holes in bandsmen by remote control,
G D
And everyone has recourse to the law,
C G Em
And no-one kills the children anymore.
C G
No-one kills the children anymore.
C D G D Em D
Night after night, going round and round my brain,
C D G
His dream is driving me insane___________________.
G
In the corner of some foreign field,
D
The gunner sleeps tonight.
Em C D/C
What's done is done.
G D
We cannot just write off his final scene.
C G Em
Take heed of his dream,
C Em
Take heed.
Paranoid Eyes
-------------
G C G
Button your lip and don't let the shield slip.
C G
Take a fresh grip on your bullet proof mask.
C G D C
And if they try to break down your disguise with their questions
G D C G/B Am D Am
You can hide, hide, hide,
G
Behind paranoid eyes.
G C G
You put on our brave face and slip over the road for a jar,
C G
Fixing your grin as you casually lean on the bar.
C
Laughing too loud at the rest of the world
G D C
With the boys in the crowd.
G D C Am D Am
You hide, hide, hide,
G
Behind petrified eyes.
C G C G C G Em D Am G
G C G
You believed in their stories of fame, fortune and glory.
C G
Now you're lost in a haze of alchohol soft middle age.
C G D C
The pie in the sky turned out to be miles too high.
G D C Am D Am
And you hide, hide, hide,
Behind brown and mild eyes.
Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert
-----------------------------------
G C D G
G
Brezhnev took Afghanistan.
C
Begin took Beirut.
D G
Galtieri took the Union Jack.
G
And Maggie, over lunch one day,
C
Took a cruiser with all hands
D G
Apparently to make him give it back.
C G
Mm________.
The Fletcher Memorial Home
--------------------------
G C G/B Am
Take all your overgrown infants away, somewhere,
D Bb+ Bm A/C#
And build them a home, a little place of their own.
D Em C D Em7 D/F# G C
The Fletcher Memorial Home for incurable tyrants and kings.
G C G/B Am
And they can appear to themselves every day,
D Bb+ Bm A/B Bm
On closed circuit T.V. to make sure they're still real.
C D Em
It's the only connection they feel.
Cmaj7
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Reagan and Haig,
D
Mr. Begin and friend, Mrs. Thatcher and Paisley,
Cmaj7
Mr. Brezhnev and party, the ghost of McCarthy,
D
The memories of Nixon. And now adding colour,
G D/F# C
A group of anonymous Latin-American meat packing glitterati."
Em D
Did they expect us to treat them with any respect?
G D/F# C
They can polish their medals and sharpen their smiles,
G D/F# C
And amuse themselves playing games for a while.
G D/F# C Em add9
Boom boom, bang bang, lie down you're dead.
G D/F# Em D/F# G D/F# Em D Cmaj7 D
G D/F# C D G D/F# Cmaj7 D G D/F# Cmaj7 Em add9
G C G/B Am
Safe in the permanent gaze of a cold glass eye,
D Bb+ Bm
With their favorite toys, they'll be good girls and boys.
A/C# D Em C D Em7 D/F# G
In the Fletcher Memorial Home for colonial wasters of life and limb.
D/F# C G D/F# C add9
Is everone in? Are you having a nice time?
D/F# C Em add9
Now the final solution can be applied.
Southampton Dock
----------------
F
They disembarked in 45,
Bb
And no-one spoke and no-one smiled
C F
There were to many spaces in the line.
Gathered at the cenotaph
Bb
All agreed with the hand on heart,
C F
To sheath the sacrificial knives.
F
But now she stands upon Southampton dock
Bb
With her handkerchief
C
And her summer frock clings
F
To her wet body in the rain.
In quiet desperation knuckles
Bb
White upon the slippery reins
C F
She bravely waves the boys goodbye again.
Bb Bbm F
Mm______.
Bb
And still the dark stain spreads between
F
His shoulder blades.
Bb F F7 Gm7
A mute reminder of the poppy fields and graves.
F7 Bb C Dm7 C7/E
And when the fight was over
F Am7 Dm
We spent what they had made.
Gm7
But in the bottom of our hearts
F
We felt the final cut.
The Final Cut
-------------
F F/C C
Through the fish-eyed lens of tear stained eyes____
Bb add9 F
I can barely define the shape of this moment in time.
F F/C C
And far from flying high in clear blue skies___,
Bb add9 F
I'm spiralling down to the hole in the ground where I hide.
Bb F
If you negotiate the minefield in the drive,
Bb F
And beat the dogs and cheat the cold electronic eyes,
Bb C Dm
And if you make it past the shotgun in the hall,
Gm7
Dial the combination, open the priesthole
/C F
And if I'm in I'll tell you what's behind the wall.
Am F
There's a kid who had a big hallucination
Am C
Making love to girls in magazines.
Bb Dm
He wonders if you're sleeping with your new found faith.
Gm7
Could anybody love him
/C F F/C C Bb add9 F
Or is it just a crazy dream___?
F C
And if I show you my dark side
Bb F
Will you still hold me tonight?
F C
And if I open my heart to you
Bb
And show you my weak side,
F
What would you do?
Bb F
Would you sell your story to Rolling Stone?
Bb
Would you take the children away
F
And leave me alone?
Bb C
And smile in reassurance
Dm
As you whisper down the phone,
Gm7
Would you send me packing,
/C F
Or would you take me home?
Am F Am C Bb Dm Gm7 /C F
Am F
Thought I oughta bare my naked feelings,
Am C
Thought I oughta tear the curtain down.
Bb
I held the blade in trembling hands,
Dm Gm7
Prepared to make it but just then the phone rang,
G C Bb add9 F
I never had the nerve to make the final cut.
Not Now John
------------
G D Em
Fuck all that we've got to get on with these
G D Em
Gotta compete with the wily Japanese.
G D
There's too many home fires burning
Em
And not enough trees,
G
So fuck all that
D Em
We've got to get on with these.
Can't stop Lose job Mind gone Silicon
What bomb Get away Pay day Make hay
Break down Need fix Big six
G D Em
Clickity click Hold on Oh no Brrrrrrrrrring bingo!
C/E Em D/E Em
Make 'em laugh. Make 'em cry. Make 'em dance in the aisles.
C/E Em D/E Em
Make 'em pay. Make 'em stay. Make'em feel ok.
G
Not nah John
D Em G
We've got to get on with the film show.
D Em
Hollywood waits at the end of the rainbow.
G D
Who cares what it's about
Em
As long as the kids go.
G
Not now John
D Asus
Got to get on with the show.
G D Em
Hang on John we've got to get on with this.
G
I don't know what it is
D Em
But it fits on here like.....
G D
Come at the end of the shift,
Em
We'll go and get pissed.
G
But now now John
D
I've got to get on with this.
C/E
Hold on John
Em
I think there's something good on.
D/E Em
I used to read books but.....
C/E
It could be the news,
Em
Or some other abuse,
D/E Em
Or it could be reusable shows.
G D Em
Fuck all that we've got to get on with these
G D Em
Got to compete with the wily Japanese.
G D Em
No need to worry about the Vietnamese.
G D Em
Got to bring the Russian bear to his knees.
G D
Well, maybe not the Russian bear,
Em
Maybe the Swedes.
G
We showed Argentina
D Em
Now let's go and show these.
G
Make us feel tough
D Em
And wouldn't Maggie be pleased?
G D Em
Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah!
Two Suns In The Sunset
----------------------
D A G A D
D G A
In my rear view mirror the sun is going down,
D G A D
Sinking behind bridges in the road
G A
And I think of all the good things
D A G
That we have left undone
D/F# Em
And I suffer premonitions,
Bm
Confirm suspicions,
Em A D A G A
Of the holocaust to come.
D
The wire that holds the cork
G A
That keeps the anger in,
D
Gives way
G A D
And suddenly it's day again.
G A
The sun is in the east
D A G D/F#
Even though the day is done.
Em
Two suns in the sunset
Bm
Hmmmmmmmmmm
Em A
Could be the human race is run.
A D A G A D A G A D
Bm A
Like the moment when the brakes lock
Bm
And you slide towards the big truck
G A D
You stretch the frozen moments with your fear.
Bm A
And you'll never hear their voices,
Bm
And you'll never see their faces,
G A D A
You have no recourse to the law anymore.
G A D A G A D
D
And as the windshield melts
G A
My tears eveaporate,
D G A D
Leaving only charcoal to defend.
G A D A G D/F#
Finally I understand the feelings of the few.
Em
Ashes and diamonds,
Bm
Foe and friend,
Em A
We were all equal in the end.
D A G A D A G A
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Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
|
No Picture
Randy Lead Player |
#1 by Randy Lott at Aug 14, 1970 at 11:35 AM EST |
| this song is referring to the man who sold the world | |
|
No Picture
brian Average |
#2 by brian haun at Jun 23, 1973 at 9:54 AM EST |
| Aside from this being a great song, there is a great deal of meaning in the last section "thought I oughta.." I'd be interested to know what the "held the blade in trembling hands... didn't have the nerve to make the final cut" means... He only went half way in his confession there... Judging from the words, I would think he is talking to his wife. But you can't take out of context that he knew he was going to disappoint a lot of fans, and perhaps even knew he was throwing away his Pink Floyd career. For her? Probably. For himself? Maybe. For me? I'd like to believe so. It must be difficult to find emotion 3 years after writing an album like "The Wall", and its metaphysical consequences... But Roger beat the odds, and found it here. The cost was losing his LSD fans, and his "Sunshine", but he gained a fan in me. | |
|
No Picture
patrick Average |
#3 by patrick chamberland at Jun 6, 1978 at 3:06 PM EST |
| I finally found out why a gunshot replaces the "the wall" in this line: "dial the combination, open the priesthole, and if I'm in I'll tell you what's behind the wall". The reason is that the song was originally written for The Wall album. But was removed from the final cut. When they used it for this album they covered over any references to The Wall to sepearate it from that album. | |
|
No Picture
FrEAk!!! Wanna Be |
#4 by FrEAk!!! Matis at Jul 15, 1985 at 7:47 AM EST |
| Has any one seen the video for this song? What does that mean? It has a load of clips in it from some sort of 1930's-40s beauty pagent like Miss World or something. It also has clips of Roger Waters, with his face blacked out, singing the song to someone who seems to be a pyschiatrist. What's a beauty pagent go to do with the song? Why is Roger's face blacked out? Does anyone know? | |
|
No Picture
Trevor Average |
#5 by Trevor fun with drugs at Jan 24, 1986 at 6:02 PM EST |
| Oh, one more thing! The lyrics say "dial the combination, open the priesthole, and if I'm in I'll tell you what's behind the wall". But I can't hear anyone saying that. It just cuts off this line at "I'll tell you.." with a gunshot. Maybe I have a dodgy version! Although, a lot of my Final Cut tracks seem to be missing posted lyrics. | |
|
No Picture
Mauricio Wanna Be |
#6 by Mauricio Tonon at Mar 11, 1986 at 12:08 AM EST |
| i don't care about which album this Song should be included to. It is especial song for me and i don't make attempts to combine It in my consciousness with any other song or to draw a parallel with some sentiments in the Roger Waters's works. It cuts off all of me except one very hidden and very tender part. i'm now typing this comment with only the hope one person to read it one day after listening the Song and to understand me. cos' i'm not a poet and i can not do something like the Song. but Roger Waters do. and he helps me to extract that part of me outside. | |
|
No Picture
little Average |
#7 by little emo at May 24, 1986 at 7:31 AM EST |
| awesome summary, ballzofsno! it seems that the character in this song feels that there is something wrong with him. paranoia means having the facts, which indicates to me that he has had someone close to him leave him or ignore him. perhaps this has led to the conclusion that his personality was intimidating or unstable. therefore, he has become distant and protective of his emotions so as not to let the mistake happen again. it seems that he wants to open up to his lover, but he is afraid that she would leave him as well | |
|
No Picture
Phillip Wanna Be |
#8 by Phillip Doucette at Apr 19, 1995 at 1:30 AM EST |
| this song is about me :( | |
|
No Picture
joel Average |
#9 by joel christman at Feb 14, 1996 at 6:51 PM EST |
| God I hate making spelling mistakes on sites like these. It typifies the stereotype that teenagers are stupid, lazy, and unable to write properly (and don't check their work ever). | |
|
No Picture
Nic Rhythm Player |
#10 by Nic F at May 6, 1998 at 12:58 PM EST |
| I always saw it as Roger on the verge of suicide, reflecting on his life. Since he and Caroline went their seperate ways, that's probably what it means by "would you sell your story to rolling stone" and the other lies. Even though he's no longer with her, he still cries out for her. Anyways, that's my interpratation. | |
|
No Picture
†grave† Lead Player |
#11 by †grave† f at May 17, 2000 at 2:31 AM EST |
| The video seems to focus on women that made the difference throughout history. You see women helping the war effort, women nursing, playing sports, Marylin Munroe etc. Since this song refers to Waters break up with his wife Caroline the video could emphasis the fact that for all the 'crappy' women out there are twice as many who will be remembered for the right things. | |
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