Pink Floyd - The Gunner's Dream (Waters)
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.
Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
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Joonas Wanna Be |
#1 by Joonas Luukkainen at Apr 17, 1974 at 8:05 AM EST |
| Now that the low hanging fruit has been explained. lets get to where Roger describes the perfect society: A place to stay Enough to eat Somewhere where old heros shuffle safely down the street" " read John Lennon The Bandsmen line is also about gun control. "The Dream" is MLK's dream. Roger refers to that in a Scandanavian interview | |
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Alex Wanna Be |
#2 by Alex Jurek at Aug 22, 1975 at 6:35 AM EST |
| visit http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=50221024718722920&q=pink+floyd for a video made to scenes of band of brothers. kinda sad song, if ya ask me. . . . | |
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Dan Lead Player |
#3 by Dan archy at Dec 29, 1977 at 6:33 AM EST |
| I do know that the part about "maniacs don't blow holes in bandsmen by remote control" refers to what happened in 1982. The Royal Green Jackets band was giving a concert in a park, when a bomb under the stage was et off by the Irish Republican Army, killing 6 and injuring 28, most of them bandsmen. | |
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Steven Average |
#4 by Steven Daniel at Aug 30, 1982 at 2:22 PM EST |
| I think the repetition of Nobody kills children anymore has to do with war in general. These guys are only 18 they still are pretty much Kids. So does nobody really kill the children anymore? An entire generation was lost in the first world war according to Hemingway. Even if they arent physically killed and ripped from this earth their innocence is, thus the child inside them is also killed. | |
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Murders in the Average |
#5 by Murders in the Rue Morgue at Nov 27, 1987 at 9:37 AM EST |
| Here's what I think: The previous song, "The Hero's Return," ends with "the gunner's dying words on the intercom" as he and the narrator were flying "over Dresden at angels one-five." The way I see it, the gunner was forced out of the bomber somehow after it was hit by enemy fire. The Gunner's Dream picks up from there, following the gunner as he floats or falls to the ground over hostile territory (I'm not sure if he has a working parachute or not - he says he's "floating down through the clouds," implying a parachute, but the next line, "memories come rushing up to meet me now" could be implying that the ground is also rushing up to meet him, which it would do if he were falling without a parachute). In any case, for the next few minutes he is falling through "the space between the heavens and the corner of some foreign field" with nothing to do but reflect on his situation and dream about an ideal society where war would be unnecessary and no one would have to suffer. He starts by imagining his parents at his funeral, saying goodbye to them, and hoping they'll remember his dream. He then goes on to describe this society - fairly self-explanatory, but something else happens in the background as the verse begins: some shouting, and an explosion. I think these are Germans on the ground shouting as the bombing continues, which implies two things: the gunner is getting close to the ground, and he's in for a hostile reception when he lands. One thing worth noting: the line, "no one kills the children anymore," could apply to both sides in the war, including the gunner himself. He knows that many innocent children probably died in the bombing of Dresden in which he had just participated, so his repetition of this line is probably expressing remorse as well as desperate hope for the future. The final verse, beginning with, "Night after night..." switches to another perspective, probably that of the man who narrated the previous song ("his dream is driving me insane" - this fits with what was said in "The Hero's Return"). He finishes relating his memory of the gunner with the last few lines. "In the corner of some foreign field, the gunner sleeps tonight," means that the gunner is lying dead somewhere in a foreign land, either killed on impact because he had no parachute, or killed shortly after landing by German soldiers or an Allied bomb. "What's done is done," meaning it's too late to help the gunner or any of the other casualties of the war, but if we "take heed of the dream," we might be able to prevent such things from happening in the future. A chilling song, but at the same time beautiful; both depressing, and hopeful against all evidence. My favorite on the album, though several others come close. | |
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hamadi Wanna Be |
#6 by hamadi alameddine at Aug 8, 1990 at 6:44 PM EST |
| Almost brings a tear to my eye | |
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Andrew Rhythm Player |
#7 by Andrew Clayton at Aug 19, 1990 at 11:30 AM EST |
| I havent listened to it much yet... But the part 2 mins in, where the sax picks up from the last singing note is incredible. | |
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h4c|< Average |
#8 by h4c|< ☺ at Nov 21, 1996 at 1:07 PM EST |
| *manners, not matters But the real reason I'm here: There was some earlier confusion about floating down, yet memories coming rushing up. I think Waters is trying to show that when you know you will die (as this gunner is free-falling to his death), it seems to take forever, as if you have hours to agonize over all your guilt and such. Even though this is the case, memories (as in your life flashing before your eyes) still seem to rush past. Hope that helps. | |
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ScumFucBondage Average |
#9 by ScumFucBondage bumsex at Dec 1, 1996 at 8:35 PM EST |
| I can't listen to anything other than this album these days, thinking about he Iraq war and all that. | |
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chris Average |
#10 by chris ovari at Apr 19, 2002 at 8:20 PM EST |
| I just noticed this, but I think it's kinda funny, when Waters is describing the dream, he says, "a place to stay..." and in the background, someone yells, "a real one." #3 PF song on my list, for now at least. | |
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albert Rhythm Player |
#11 by albert casualtie at Feb 16, 2006 at 7:12 PM EST |
| to me its like this soldier who dies in battle "in the corner of some foreign field" and as he's rising to heaven he's dreaming of what its gonna be like when he gets to heaven or wherever | |
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Jake Wanna Be |
#12 by Jake Stewart at Sep 29, 2007 at 6:59 AM EST |
| Tombuzz, that's exactly right, but Kurt Vonnegut had the idea first, with his book "The Children's Crusade: a Duty Dance with Death" ("Slaughterhouse-5). Kurt Vonnegut is my favorite author and Pink Floyd is my favorite band, in large part because they covered much of the same material in completely different matters. | |
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ryan Lead Player |
#13 by ryan harney at Sep 30, 2007 at 2:02 PM EST |
| One of the best off the final cut. this is why im inlove with roger waters. the music is beautiful and it takes a few listens to get to the words. Love it!!!!!!!!!!! | |
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Shotgun Average |
#14 by Shotgun Joe at Sep 30, 2007 at 3:19 PM EST |
| In a WW2 bomber, gunners rode in a pod like structure in the back of the plane, to fight of enemy fighters engaging from the rear. Unfortunately there was no way to eject from the gunner's pod. You could only get out once the plane was on the ground. If the plane was shot down and the gunner survived, he would be left with nothing but his thoughts as his crippled plane crashed to the ground. In the first verse the teacher remembers hearing the transmission where the plane was shot down and the gunner's dying words on the intercom. Goodbye Max (his dog maybe?) Goodbye Ma. He remembers these words while he is at a memorial service with his wife. In the second verse the teacher is commenting on how everything has gone to hell. The post war dream is over. There's war, fighting, IRA bombs blowing up innocent civilians. The freedoms they fought and died for are being squandered. This one gunner represents everyone who made the ultimate sacrifice in WW2 and the teacher's memory of his final words haunts him to this day. | |
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cody Average |
#15 by cody jay at Oct 1, 2007 at 12:38 PM EST |
| I think there are two voices in this song. The first, the gunner's, a man who has bailed out and his parachute hasn't opened. As he's falling to the ground, he says goodbye to his parents (Max and Mum) and imagines them at his funeral. His last wish is that they believe in what he died for. Which the second voice, maybe the gunner from beyond the grave, explains. Of course, what we see is the mind of the cynic, one who still believes and hopes, in spite of the world which merely gives evidence to the contrary of the dream. | |
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HammerOffFreak Professional |
#16 by HammerOffFreak at Oct 2, 2007 at 12:51 AM EST |
| Star Captain, good job. That's all that really needs to be said. | |
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Dylan Average |
#17 by Dylan Ruiz at Oct 2, 2007 at 11:53 PM EST |
| the way this song is sung and the music, its awesome but i think its a sad song, but i love Roger Waters, hes my hero | |
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slapslappopslap Badass |
#18 by slapslappopslap at Oct 7, 2007 at 6:12 AM EST |
| after my first time listening to the final cut i thought it should have been called "the wall 2" anyhow, yeah there are a lot of links between the wall and the final cut, it should be noted that at the end of the first verse waters holds the note long, and his voice syncs up perfectly with a saxophone, unless your using pretty high quality audio its almost impossible to determine where one stops and the other takes over, | |
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Jay Dizzle Wanna Be |
#19 by Jay Dizzle holden at Oct 8, 2007 at 3:25 PM EST |
| I noticed he uses the line from the soldier by Rupert Brooke "and in the corner of some foreign field" | |
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Hey Retard Wanna Be |
#20 by Hey Retard at Oct 9, 2007 at 3:33 PM EST |
| And one last thing: wow, this song is simply amazing my new favorite off this album | |
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michiel Wanna Be |
#21 by michiel adams at Oct 10, 2007 at 6:47 AM EST |
| all of you are correct in your own ways... i love all your meanings and i have nothing much to add to your comments of what this songs about.. cause youve totally hit it right on.... the 2nd best song on The Final Cut... the best is The Final Cut... hehe... ironic... | |
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jga Average |
#22 by jga qup at Oct 10, 2007 at 4:07 PM EST |
| the man in this song is constantly tormented by the memory of somebody who is close to him. he remembers this persons ambition to change the world for the better, and the character realizes, that it has not happened yet, in fact, the condition of our lives may be worse. | |
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Nick Average |
#23 by Nick Vanderstelt at Oct 15, 2007 at 12:41 AM EST |
| As a point of interest, the man who is remembering his fallen comrade is the teacher from 'The Wall'. This is supported by the video of 'The Gunner's Dream' - available at www.pinkfloyd.co.uk - in which the same actor plays him. I suppose this explains the teacher's negative attitude towards children who, from his point of view, have it easy. | |
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Aaron Wanna Be |
#24 by Aaron Howe at Oct 16, 2007 at 11:59 PM EST |
| I do know that the part about "maniacs don't blow holes in bandsmen by remote control" refers to what happened in 1982. The Royal Green Jackets band was giving a concert in a park, when a bomb under the stage was et off by the Irish Republican Army, killing 6 and injuring 28, most of them bandsmen. | |
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Harvey Rhythm Player |
#25 by Harvey Puentes at Oct 18, 2007 at 11:38 AM EST |
| "after the service when you're walking slowly to the car" Oh yeah. This signifies that he dies, and people go to his funeral. | |
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