The Bleak Meaning Behind “Hey You” by Pink Floyd

“Hey You” appears on Pink Floyd’s epic 1979 double album, The Wall. The concept record follows a young rock star named Pink as he withdraws from the world, building a figurative wall through self-isolation. “Hey You” is the track where Pink questions his choices and attempts, futilely, to reconnect with society. Pink becomes overwhelmed by desperation and madness.

The character of Pink is a fusion between Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters and another of the band’s co-founders, Floyd’s original leader, Syd Barrett.

Waters wrote “Hey You” as a result of his failing marriage. His reality of being a rock star on tour who is adored by millions of fans, yet is still alone and longing for connection as his marriage disintegrates, plays out in the despair of “Hey You.”

Originally released as a B-side to Floyd monolith “Comfortably Numb,” “Hey You” received a lot of airplay on classic rock and album-oriented rock radio stations.

Pink is a rock ’n’ roll cousin of Winston Smith, the protagonist from George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984. Where Smith’s captivity is a result of totalitarianism and mass surveillance, Pink’s captivity results from self-imposed exile. The Wall alludes to fascism and uses imagery from World War II to tell Pink’s story.

“Hey You” opens the second album of The Wall. It fades out on an echo of Roger Waters singing, Together we stand, divided we fall. It segues into “Is There Anybody Out There?” Unfortunately for Pink, there won’t be an answer.

The Meaning Behind the Song

A young rock star named Pink has isolated himself from society. He soon realizes he’s stuck behind the wall he’s constructed for himself and cannot reconnect with the world. Pink’s pleas become desperate as he realizes there is no escape from behind the wall.

Hey you, out there in the cold
Getting lonely, getting old
Can you feel me?
Hey you, standing in the aisles
With itchy feet and fading smiles
Can you feel me?

In “Hey You,” Pink is heard pleading to anyone who will listen. But no one hears him and he remains alone.

But it was only fantasy
The wall was too high as you can see
No matter how he tried
He could not break free
And the worms ate into his brain

Pink’s desperation grows with each lack of response to his calls: Can you feel me? in the first verse; Would you touch me? in the second verse; and Can you help me? in the final verse.

[RELATED: Scientists Reconstruct Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” Using Brain Waves]

The Writer

Roger Waters, Pink Floyd’s co-founder, co-singer, bassist, and band leader at the time of The Wall‘s release, wrote “Hey You.” Waters has said the song was his attempt to reconnect with people he’d neglected as his marriage was ending. He was hoping to ease the pain from his divorce.

The acoustic guitar intro employs an altered tuning that had guitarist and singer David Gilmour replace the low E string with a high E two octaves above. The A, D, and G strings are then strung one octave higher, as well. This tuning intensifies the cosmic sound of the chords, emphasizing Pink’s isolation as a man alone in a universe of his own making. Gilmour’s voice sounds calm, but the listener can anticipate the coming storm.

As the chords sound more and more ominous, the listener gets the feeling that all of this isn’t going to end well for Pink. Then Gilmour plays a brighter major chord and sings, Hey you, don’t help them to bury the light. A bit of hope seems to have returned, but it’s fleeting.

Gilmour’s line, Don’t give in without a fight, sounds more like a resignation than a call to arms. An arpeggio arrives to carry on at this point; it feels like a circular path heading for a black hole where there’ll be no sound or light. Pink is doomed.

Absent from the Film

The song was left out of the film Pink Floyd–The Wall, although a rough edit was added to the 25th anniversary release. The deleted scene follows Pink as he tries crawling out from behind the newly built wall. Pink ultimately gives up on finding a way out, and he appears in the final scene hopelessly clawing at the imposing wall. There’s no way out for him, and he quits in solitude.

Hey you, out there on the road
Always doing what you’re told
Can you help me?
Hey you, out there beyond the wall
Breaking bottles in the hall
Can you help me?

Having an Impact

The Wall topped the U.S. album charts for 15 weeks. It’s the best-selling double album in history and one of the best-selling albums of all time. Although “Hey You” wasn’t released as a single, it did receive airplay and has become a fan favorite. Many songs on The Wall fade in and out of each other, morphing and blending into sometimes continuous tracks, whereas “Hey You” sits as a standalone song, opening the second album.

Colin Larkin, the editor in chief of Encyclopedia of Popular Music, lists The Wall at No. 30 in his book All Time Top 1000 Albums. It has sold over 30 million copies around the world.

Conclusion

“Hey You” speaks to the need for human connection. The song is a cry for help to escape isolation and loneliness. Its relevance today is significant in the internet age, where people now use apps to communicate with each other.

But can digital communities replace the real thing? Is the app just a new version of Pink’s wall? In an effort to use technology to communicate better, have we instead ended up self-isolated, in echo chambers, with people feeling alone and detached from the real world and from each other?

Hey you, don’t tell me there’s no hope at all
Together we stand, divided we fall

Photo by Rob Verhorst/Redferns