Waiting For The Worms Stop The Trial Outside The Wall Pink Floyd

Waiting for the Worms Album: The Wall (1979)
Stop Album: The Wall (1979)
The Trial Album: The Wall (1979)
Outside the Wall Album: The Wall (1979)
by Pink Floyd

The last four listed tracks of Pink Floyd's The Wall album.

Waiting for the Worms is one of the more disturbing songs on the concept album The Wall. It takes place near the end of the story, following "Run Like Hell," where the main character, a rock-star turned despot named Pink, leads his followers on a rampage, targeting minorities. In "Waiting For The Worms" they're even more dangerous, taking over the government and looking to exterminate any opposition or anyone who isn't "pure." It's a clear parallel to the Nazis and The Holocaust, meant to show the dangers in following a charismatic leader over the edge.

The beginning of Waiting for the Worms starts with sweet harmony vocals with a chorus that includes Toni Tennille of the Captain & Tennille and Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys. The original plan was to have all members of the Beach Boys harmonize on this song and "The Show Must Go On," but they could only get Johnston. These dreamy vocals lend a stark contrast to what's to come in the song.

The Wall is the creation of Roger Waters, a founding member of Pink Floyd. He enlisted producer Bob Ezrin to help see his vision through, and Ezrin delivered, helping plan out the story musically and segue the songs together seamlessly.

The album was expanded into a stage show the band performed in 1980 and 1981 where an actual wall was build on stage (a big one... like 35-feet high). It was also made into a movie in 1982 starring Bob Geldof as Pink.

On the next song on the album, "Stop," Pink finally comes to his senses and puts an end to his terror. That's followed by "The Trial," where he tries to understand why he did these horrible things and what the consequences should be.

Stop is just 30 seconds long, but it's a critical piece of The Wall, Pink Floyd's ambitious concept album. By this point, the main character, Pink, has transformed from a rock star to a dictator. He was shot up with drugs in "Comfortably Numb" and led his followers in a riot on "Run Like Hell." In "Waiting For the Worms," he's a full-bore Nazi-like leader, ready to exterminate minorities and his enemies. In "Stop" he finally gets some clarity and realizes what he's done. In the next song, "The Trial," he faces the consequences.

In the 1982 movie version of The Wall, Pink is played by Bob Geldof, the guy who spearheaded Live Aid. "Stop" is part of a stark sequence where he finally calls off his Skinhead followers.

The Trial comes near the end of Pink Floyd's concept album The Wall, where the character Pink has completed his downfall into insanity and his putting himself on trial for his actions - he became a Hitler-like dictator. He finally cracks under the pressure and "the wall" he has created falls.

Because this all takes place in Pink's head, we're not sure what really happens to him. Did he fade out of reality and lead a life where everybody forgot about what he used to be and just melt away? Did he commit suicide or die in some way? Did a happy ending appear where he gave up his fascist ideas, reconciled with his wife, and continued his music career? Or maybe he found religion and realized the error of his ways?

The album The Final Cut does provide some allusions to what might have happened to Pink, as well as the last song on the album, "Outside The Wall," but there is no definite answer to this question.

"The Trial" is the grand finale of The Wall, ending with the wall being torn down. "Outside The Wall" serves as a coda, signifying some redemption among the ruin.

Pink Floyd took the unusual step of focusing their subsequent tour entirely on the album, with striking visuals to accompany the songs. At these shows (there were only 31), a giant wall was erected in front of the stage, and at the end of "The Trial," it comes crashing down. The band then emerges to send off the audience with "Outside The Wall."

The most famous wall that was eventually torn down was the Berlin Wall, which fell in 1989. Roger Waters, the main architect of The Wall, left Pink Floyd in 1985 but staged a performance of the album in 1990 where the Berlin Wall once stood. The performance took on new significance, especially at the end of "The Trial" when the crowd chanted along, "tear down the wall," as it came down.

This is the last song on Pink Floyd's epic concept album The Wall. The album deals with isolation - the emotional walls we build to protect ourselves - but "Outside The Wall" closes the album with the theme of redemption.

Pink Floyd bass player Roger Waters, who wrote Outside the Wall and developed the concept, explained to Rolling Stone, "We are redeemed when we tear our walls down and expose our weaknesses to our fellow man... sit around the fire and talk."
"Outside The Wall" is an acoustic song with none of the band members on the instruments. Session musicians played a mandolin, clarinet, and an accordion-like instrument called a concertina. There's also a children's choir, but it's not the same one from "Another Brick In The Wall (Part II)," the most famous song from the album.

The Wall centers on a character named Pink. This song is told in either his voice or the voice of his loved ones summarizing what he learned from the ordeal:

Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy
Banging your heart against some mad bugger's wall

Pink Floyd took The Wall on the road with an elaborate stage show where a wall was built in front of the performers and then torn down. For "Outside The Wall," the band walked over the rubble to perform, getting much closer to the audience.

On the tour, Waters played clarinet on this track, keyboard player Richard Wright played accordion, and drummer Nick Mason acoustic guitar.

The album makes a complete loop. "Outside The Wall" ends with a sentence that's abruptly cut off:

Isn't this where...

The first track, "In The Flesh?," completes the sentence:

"...we came in?"

Waters embarked on a whole tour for The Wall in 2010.