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"Goodbye Blue Sky"
"Goodbye Blue Sky"
Song by Pink Floyd
from the album The Wall
Published	Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd
Released	30 November 1979 (UK); 8 December 1979 (US)
Recorded	April – November 1979
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	2:45
Label	Harvest (UK); Columbia (US)
Songwriter(s)	Roger Waters
Producer(s)	Bob Ezrin; David Gilmour; James Guthrie; Roger Waters;

"Goodbye Blue Sky" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd.^[1] It appears on their 1979 double album, The Wall.^[2]

Plot

In a brief prologue, a skylark is heard chirping. The sound of approaching bombers catches the attention of a child (voiced by a young Harry Waters),^[3] who states, "Look mummy, there's an aeroplane up in the sky".

The lyrics go on to describe the memory of the Blitz: Did you see the frightened ones? Did you hear the falling bombs? Did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter when the promise of a brave new world unfurled beneath a clear blue sky? ... The flames are all long gone, but the pain lingers on.

Film version

In the film version, this segment is animated by Gerald Scarfe. It begins in live-action with a cat trying to catch the white dove but then flies away. It transitions to animation with the dove flying peacefully up only to suddenly be gorily torn apart by a black Nazi eagle (Reichsadler). It glides over the countryside and swoops down to grasp the earth with its talons, ripping up a huge section leaving a sulfurous trail in its wake, giving way to a warlord that morphs into a metallic factory that releases warplanes. Next, naked, gas-masked people (the frightened ones) are seen running about on all fours and hiding from The Blitz. The warplanes turned into crosses just as the Union Jack fragments into a bleeding cross. The Nazi eagle crashes and shatters and the dove emerges from it while the dead soldiers are able to finally rest in peace. Finally, the blood from the cross runs down the hill and into a storm drain.

Unlike the album, this comes in after the reprise of "When the Tigers Broke Free" and before "The Happiest Days of Our Lives".

Live versions

For the 1990 large-scale concert The Wall – Live in Berlin, vocals for this song were provided by Joni Mitchell, with visuals largely reprised from the film version.

Roger Waters' 2010–13 tour The Wall Live uses the song to depict a metaphorical "cultural bombing". As bomber planes fly in from the distance, they drop not bombs, but dollar signs, euro signs, religious symbols, and corporate logos. This imagery ended up attracting controversy due to the juxtaposition of dollar signs and the Star of David, which was deemed antisemitic by the Anti-Defamation League; Waters later removed the offending iconography^[4] and wrote an open letter to The Independent clarifying that the Star was meant to critique the Israeli government.^[5]

Personnel

David Gilmour – lead and harmony vocals, acoustic guitars, bass guitar, Prophet-5 synthesiser
Roger Waters – EMS VCS 3 synthesiser
Richard Wright – Prophet-5 synthesiser

with:

Harry Waters – child's voice

Personnel per Fitch and Mahon.^[6]

Cover versions

On Ann Wilson's 2007 solo album, Hope & Glory, there is a version with her sister Nancy. The Wilson sisters' band, Heart, also released a live version of the song on Dreamboat Annie Live.
The song appears on Yonder Mountain String Band's 2002 live album Mountain Tracks: Volume 2 as a hidden track after "Follow Me Down to the Riverside".
The song has been covered by Yes and System of a Down.

Legacy

The song was used in the Rick and Morty episode A Rick in King Mortur's Mort.

References

^ Mabbett, Andy (1995). The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-4301-X.
^ Strong, Martin C. (2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 1177. ISBN 1-84195-551-5.
^ Greene, Andy (2023-11-29). "Roger Waters Fired His Son. He's Playing in a Pink Floyd Tribute Band". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
^ Andy Greene (7 October 2010). "Roger Waters Changes Controversial 'Wall' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
^ Harkov, Lahav (5 October 2010). "Roger Waters: I'm not anti-Semitic, I'm anti-occupation". The Jerusalem Post.
^ Fitch, Vernon and Mahon, Richard, Comfortably Numb — A History of The Wall 1978–1981, 2006, p.81.