I'll never get over how brilliant this song is. It's perfect. Beautiful beyond words. Perfectly composed, arranged and orquestrated. A true masterpiece.
@@apollomemories7399 so were The Final Cut and The Wall not true Pink Floyd recordings as it involved Michael Kamen (for orchestral compositions) & Bob Ezrin (for music on The Trial)?!?!
@@EchoesDaBear Wrong context that has nothing to do with the content of the songs. How could you possibly hope to replicate Waters narrative with Gilmour's wife? You must be joking.
FYI, the division bell literally is a bell that is rung in Parliament to let members know that it is time to vote on some matter before them. For this album, the idea of the division bell seems to be used metaphorically to refer to a time to make important life decisions.
And it is called the division bell because the MP's are divided according to their decision "Ayes to the right, Noes to the left", as we all get divided according to our differing choices.
To me, the main theme of the album, from the name, to the cover art, to song lyrics is communication, and the breakdowns of it pitting ourselves against each other. Stephen Hawking (or his voice module anyway) tells us how to get through those times. All we need to do… is make sure… we keep… talking.
@@sdownin72 Tell that to the left-wing cancel culture brigade who immediately shut down anyone and everything they don't agree with. Their revision of history is the least of it. In 30 years, Cambridge will be a West Indian / Islamic theme park.
@@apollomemories7399 What a ridiculous thing to say. Why wouldn't it be right? Similarly, it's not right for Waters to call in Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck to write guitar solos for him, but he seems to have no problems doing it. Seems to me that complaining about Polly Samson is some sort of weird gotcha Waters and his fans like to point to, as if it has any sort of relevance.
@@CristiNeagu If you need it explaining then there's really no helping you. It's an horrendous idea having someone's wife take over writing the content of songs under the name of Pink Floyd. It's a shockingly bad idea. And don't think for a second that Waters would not have fully explained to Clapton and Beck exactly what he wanted. You do know that he makes his own demos with friends playing other instruments before he ever goes near a proper studio? But you most probably would not. You know absolutely NOTHING about Pink Floyd and how these people used to work. Polly Samson's presence has EVERY relevance to why Pink Floyd became nothing more than a light show for people that liked Mike +The Mechanics and that sort of soft-pop-rock nonsense. And you're so obviously one of them.
@@apollomemories7399 As predicted, you're a Waters fanboy that has abandoned all reason. You just hate Pink Floyd because Waters was too full of himself and destroyed their relationship. Go complain to him about how stuck up he was if you feel so strongly about it.
@@apollomemories7399 I couldn't disagree more. They were forced to come up with a different solution after RW left. Similar to what happened to Genesis. Closed-minded fanatics argue and argue and argue.... listen to what you like and leave what you don't. Others may well appreciate different eras for what they are. I am one of those.
This entire album is nothing short of amazing. A bit different than most of their other albums with Waters for sure, but it still has the magic by Rick Wright and David Gilmour.
@@melaniezette886 I read an interview with David Gilmour when he released the solo album "On an Island". He said he didn't want the album to sound like Pink Floyd. However if you listen to the album it still sounds a lot like Pink Floyd. You're right about the musical identity and I don't think he was able to truly break away from that identity.
I am really surprised that you missed what they were doing with the acoustic guitar solo. The song does function as a metaphor for their career, and the first solo is a huge expression of that. "At a higher altitude, with flag unfurled, we reached the dizzying heights of that dreamed of world": Kick into a guitar solo that is variations of the main melodic theme from The Wall, including a key change to the same first three pitches heard when "In the Flesh?" fully kicks in. The dizzying heights are a metaphor for the huge success of The Wall.
Brilliant in your observation! I am not on your or Doug's level of knowing what key the music is in, but all I know is this song brings back a flood of memories from many years ago. Had the pleasure of sitting 3rd row at Cleveland Stadium for 2 nights of this tour. Still get chills waiting for Dave to flip the acoustic behind his back and hit that lap steel!
Excellent observation. Haven’t recognized this, hard to notice with one being distorted electric guitar and the other clean acoustic, but after listening to In The Flesh?, I hear it. Not a musician, but to my ear, In the Flesh is a descending pitch motif while High Hopes is ascending. Might say this is a dig at Roger Waters who writes dark themed music (The Wall) while High Hopes is thematically melancholic melodic optimism. There was certainly deep rooted stylistic differences that set a rift within the band that eventually tore it apart. Another observation: The bell on the offbeats out of phase with the Richard Wrights piano chords symbolizes the band out of sync with Roger Waters.
@@skateebee Well, the main melodic theme from The Wall actually goes back even further to Welcome to the Machine on Wish You Were Here. The Wall itself is a sequel concept to Wish You Were Here, as both albums follow the story of Pink.
For me, this song is about youthful idealism and enthusiasm, believing that anything is possible. Eventually, life beats most of us into "practical submission", and we shelve our dreams in favor of survival.
Whenever I am out and about and (regularly) see kids throwing tantrums in public, I am always tempted to tell them if they think life is bad for them now, they should wait till they get to my age and see how bad it is. Because, as Pink Floyd once said: And then one day you find, ten years have got behind you. No one told you when to run. You missed the starting gun.
The lap steel guitar solo always makes my eyes water. Another song from the the Division Bell album is Wearing The Inside Out. It’s a Richard Wright composition. Always seems to be underrated to me.
In 1994 I graduated from college. This album was the sound track of that time. To cap it off, I saw them in concert the evening after graduation. The bittersweet nature of this song in particular still reduces me to tears…
The later Floyd will never match the classic but The Division Bell is much stronger than the previous album. This is one of top Floyd tracks, regardless of era. The lap steel solo is insane. There is a lovely, more stripped back version on the David Gilmour Live DVD, filmed when he curated Meltdown. The late Michael Kamen played piano on this gig, a rare sideman gig for a monster composer / arranger.
Momentary Lapse of Reason had its flaws...but on Delicate Sound of Thunder (live album), songs like Sorrow, Yet Another Movie and On the Turning Away just sound so amazing live. Gilmour's guitar solos on those songs are just pure feelings.
I'd actually argue that The Division Bell is their best album. Sure DSotM and The Wall are absolute classics with no filler, but I feel The Division Bell fits that category too. However, what sets Division Bell ahead of the others is that you can pick any individual song of the album and it still makes sense.
I was fortunate enough to have seen Pink Floyd in concert at Patriot's Stadium in MA in May of 1994. The Pulse tour. They played all of the songs on the Division Bell album and more. I correct myself, it wasn't a concert....It was an experience! Trust me. they pulled out all of the stops. Video, Laser, Quardophonic Stereo and more. To say the least, I was Comfortably Numb throughout the show.
Douglas Adams, author of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, was a friend of David Gilmour. Gilmour promised him that if he could come up with a title for their new album then he could play onstage with Floyd at Earl’s Court for his 42nd birthday. Adam’s studied all the lyrics for the album and suggested Division Bell. Gilmour accepted and Adam’s got his wish to play onstage with Pink Floyd. The song also supplied the title, Endless River, for the final album.
This is such a 'reflective' song - which includes reminiscence, regret, good times & bad. This album was around the time I was just getting into Pink Floyd (I was in early high school - and my music knowledge was rapidly expanding) - got into Dark Side, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall, etc., then this was released new - and I LOVED it! I introduced my mom to the beauty of Floyd - and she fell in love with Shine On and this track. She passed in 2018. I had both those songs on her visitation 'playlist'. The song hits harder since, and I find it's hard to keep a dry eye with it - especially when Gilmour hits the lap steel guitar solo! The emotion is visceral. RIP mom.
I saw them in concert on this Stadium Tour! I was at work, radio announced extra tickets, waited in line, finally my turn... I asked for 3 tickets, she said there's only 2 left. Of course I took them! The very last two tix for Tempe, AZ show. An incredible, just awesome show!
Doug, your interpretation of the lyrics is very much on-point. I just wanted to add... for me, there's also the aspect of being unable to appreciate what you have while you have it, only realizing it after it's gone. As humans we often seem to be too focused on the future and what we can get out of it, so much so that we miss all the good things we already have. Only once you move on do you realize it, but then it's too late -- time has moved on and you can't go back (i.e. looking back through the embers of the burned bridge and seeing how good it was on the other side). There's a certain... cynicism and regret that comes from the realization that you can't seem to be satisfied with the present; no matter what you have, you always will want more (forever encumbered by desire and ambition, there's a hunger still unsatisfied. Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon, though down this road we've been so many times). The high hopes of the past certainly hit differently when viewed through the lens of memory and nostalgia. Human nature is absolutely messy and and full of contradictions; even if we have the self awareness to see it in ourselves, it doesn't change our desires. As a cancer patient with an uncertain future, this song hits especially hard for me. I very much appreciate your reaction to this piece. Thank you.
Everyone needs to listen to ‘High Hopes’ from Gdańsk; there’s a beautiful acoustic guitar outro I believe was only played for that series of shows. HIGHLY recommended.
I miss believing that our world is slowly getting better, it seems all the good that is fought for is easily knocked away by those who don't or can't care. Too easily.
A brilliant piece of songwriting - lyrically, harmonically, wonderful drama and beautiful orchestrations...and then a guitar solo that literally takes your knees out from under you - that's Pink Floyd. Great reaction vid as always.
A beautiful song and funny that it should surface in your playlist man, as I literally just bought this album from a charity shop the week before.. As a road trip song that's definitely one for heading into a cool evening headwind after a warm setting sun.
You surprised me by spotting (you said bee) I think it's a fly... and if you go way back to 1969 and the album Umma Gumma and listen to the song Grantchester Meadows you'll hear that same fly at the end of that song meet his demise. But then he's back at the beginning of High Hopes. Good reaction!
I absolutely adore this song. That concert tour changed me. We all walked out of the stadium in stunned silence and drove home from Tampa to Orlando dropping off one person at a time to their house and no one said a word. No one said goodbye. We just parted ways one by one and I laid in my bed completely flabbergasted.
This album (and specifically this song) always has a place in my heart. I'd always been a prog nerd even when I was a kid, cutting my teeth on 70's Genesis, Rush, Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, etc, while I was in middle-high school. In '94 when this came out, was my 1st/2nd year of college, so my like-minded prog nerd friends and I got tickets to both the Giants Stadium and Yankee Stadium dates, the latter of which I believe was the first time they played the entirety of Dark Side of the Moon live in over 20 years. As an 18 year old kid, this was obviously mind-blowing. Even more mind-blowing than seeing the older couple in the row in front of us smoking, what is still to this day, one of the largest spliffs I've ever witnessed.
I really prefer the 1994 live concert version of this song. David’s performance on the peddle steel guitar is absolutely incredible. The raw emotion and spectacle of this is unforgettable. I was initially mesmerized with Comfortably Numb and Sorrow from this concert. They are both incredible…..but this song stands alone in its emotional impact. You cannot hear it….and not harken back to your own days gone by. It is a masterpiece.
This one is my favorite from Pink Floyd. In the summer of 94 right after this came out, a close friend had a family cabin on a lake. We partied there almost every weekend. At the end of the night, the host and myself put this song on as loud as we could. All the passed out party goers had no choice but to wake up and listen. We might see each other every couple of years now, everytime we do, that's the opener, "The Grass Was Greener". We just saw each other a month ago at a wedding. We smiled, hugged, and said "The Grass Was Greener".
This is the song that will be played at my funeral. I love this song that much. To me, High Hopes is about coming home...but you never really can go home, can you? Only the memory of home.
This is one of the most beautiful songs ever, in my opinion. The melody, the lyrics, the harmony are all amazing and then that guitar solo at the end is just absolutely perfect. I love it so much! As a fellow musician it's just inspiring to hear stuff like this.
The Division Bell tour was my very first concert at age 14. I'll never forget the sound, the lasers, the giant mirror ball, the pigs, and Nick Mason swinging his arms on "Time". Still my favorite concert I've attended.
I have recently fallen in love with the David Gilmour - High Hopes (Live At Pompeii) version. I'm not saying it's better, no way, but it is brilliant in its own right...especially the slide guitar solo and the classical guitar at the end.
The perfect final track, on their final studio album. Yes, there was a later album. consisting of instrumental material (written mostly by Richard Wright), with a single new song (the only one with lyrics). Fittingly titled "The Endless River", and a posthumous tribute to Richard, much like this one was for Syd.
This song is such a masterpiece that evokes so much emotion. It's so beautiful that it brings tears to my eyes. The song isn't complex (and, of course, it doesn't need to be), but it gives me a similar feeling that I have when I listen to a full orchestra play a beautiful classical piece. :)
This is a aimless wondering in a vehicle Album ..and this is a contemplative capstone song that makes you reconsider all the things you had just breezed past. Such a wonderful song!
The live versions of High Hopes from David Gilmour's "Remember That Night" and "Live in Gdansk" DVD releases are even better than the studio version, because they include a beautiful acoustic guitar outro.
When you listen to all the Pink Floyd albums in order and you get to this song, the last song on the last all original material album, it's heart breaking. The later The Endless River works like exit music after the show, since it's outtakes from The Division Bell that Richard Wright wanted released. I actually enjoy the album being it's like early Pink Floyd and their many instrumentals, but I can see why many have a hard time with it.
You really need to see the 2005 version of this song by Nightwish - it's not a cover but a tribute, an homage to the original if you will. David Gilmour apparently loves it!
Pink Floyd high hopes as a roadtripsong.. never thought of it like that.. When my father died, my sis and brother had an argument over which music to be played at his funeral sermon. the parson did't want hard rock in the church, brother , sis and me told him Pink floyd isn't hard rock.. well the parson wasn't sure...".it is all guitars and such!! " he said. We told him, we pay rent for the service, and it was HIS last wish, this music, or we will find another church, but this one was dad's church.. Eventually the day came and he went on his final road trip out of church, with Pink Floyd, High hopes. It was amazing,, been a while since I heard the song
one of my personal favorites of pink floyd; I love how many references it includes to their past catalogue. The bee buzzing and other birds/insects chittering come from their song "Grantchester Meadows" off of Ummagumma. The bells at the beginning are a reference to "Fat Old Sun." The acoustic guitar solo is similar in structure to the guitar in "Welcome to the Machine" (after they sing the first refrain), while the drums in that part are quite similar to the ones in "Bring The Boys Back Home" off of The Wall. Also lyrically, probably the most well known reference it makes is in the "The Endless river - Forever and ever" line, a reference to See Emily Play. Also, though not really as mind blowing - and not even really a reference - the tolling bell heard in this song can be heard for the first time in the song Poles Apart, earlier in the album.
Doug, Gilmour's solo is a masterclass of using a slide to create the E major scale into C# minor pent highlighting F-F♯, C♯, G-G♯, D♯ as accents and desending via A, G# F# as a motif. The Pompeii live version is something else with an acoustic outro that's so beautiful you might think it's the Angel Gabriel playing it. David at his finest. It's all so nuanced and so beautifully phrased. One of The Master's Apex moments.
I see you have Marillion’s Misplaced Childhood there in the background. I would love for you to experience Clutching at Straws. A very under-appreciated Marillion album, but it is absolutely amazing!
High hopes I always believed was/is a excellent roads end masterpiece. We are so blessed to have Decades of pink Floyd in our lives. ❤ Slide guitar 🎸 Truly speaks to The mind bringing out our true everything.
This one always hits me. But if you're talking the perfect Floyd album to roadtrip to, you could hardly do better than Animals. It's a must for me anytime I drive or take the train for long trips.
A month after your first reaction to this one of my best friends died after a long battle and this was played at his funeral. It just hits so different now, thanks for this..❤
The vid of Nightwish doing High Hopes was filmed the day they gave the letter to Tarja letting her know that she was being fired. Everytime I see the Nightwish version, I think of that.
And Polly takes a lot of shit for her association with Gilmour, especially from the Waters acolytes. As a lyricist myself, what she manages to convey here is just what the song needed and she deserves credit for that. Lyrically, she did a bloody good job. And this was the track that signed off the band's career. What a way to sign off an illustrious career. And to think that was all recorded on a houseboat. Mindblowing.
The Astoria! Gosh, I admire Roger for his talents, but for him to carry on like he did during the In the Flesh Tour 1977 and beyond is sad. Like most, the drugs, booze, ego and money can lead to unfortunate endings.
You're a complete tool, either that or a newbie. Nobody, absolutely nobody who had been listening to the Floyd for all these years previously would ever say what you have. Waters IS Pink Floyd. And IF you were any kind of accomplished "lyricist" as you describe yourself, then you wouldn't question Waters' works. How can you compare this with songs on Animals or Wish You Were Here? Are you a simpleton, or something? And quite rightly she gets a lot of shit, too, it's wet, limp-wristed, a completely lacks gravitas. This wasn't their sign off as they have released two further songs with lyrics since 1994. The houseboat is a very professional recording studio and somewhat more than the basic barge you perhaps imagine.
The Division Bell has been my ultimate driving album for a long time. My mom and I would listen to it from start to finish taking my dad three hours away to the airport when he’d fly out of town for work.
David Gilmour's lap steel guitar solo is truly epic and I can't but help turn it up when it comes in..that high note that then falls is truly orgasmic... It is an absolute classic track and what final track of to the last Pink Floyd album. Watch the live Pulse footage of this track..even more epic
Thank you again Doug for a great reaction to High Hopes you are so right it is very melancholic and make you think of the past, I was welling up listening this morning and I've heard this song dozens of times before!! It's probably been mentioned to you that the last line is 'The Endless River' which was the name of the last album album released of mainly material from the Division Bell sessions. It features quite a lot of Rick Wright posthumously. For a great Rick track listen to Wearing the Inside Out from Division, it's lovely....
You should react to the Nightwish cover of this song. It’s incredibly beautiful and has a darker, more somber feel. Marco sings it, and he does an amazing job.
One of my favourite songs, it reminds me of university life even though it was after my Uni time it just leaves me emotional for that optimism and learning and the sadness of missing that time and people in my life in the way it was back then.
many easter eggs in this song, harking back to other songs on other albums , only pink floyd people would understand this. many from older albums, many newer albums such as momentary lapse of reason
You did a great job of deciphering the meaning behind the song lyrics. Well done. Pink Floyd was always causing listeners to be introspective and thoughtful. Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and The Beatles were truly my three favorite writers of songs. The Who is right up there and Jethro Tull too.
I was also in high school when this came out. I knew of the standard-issue stuff off Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall which were all over classic rock radio, but I didn't think much of them until the Pulse concert was broadcast on TV. I'm thinking it was on ABC In Concert on Friday night over a couple of weeks. Anyhow, I promptly went out and bought the Pulse CD set as my first Pink Floyd purchase. It seems like the older I get, the more meaning this music has to me....
The lyric that always gets me is: "Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us - to a glimpse of how green it was on the other side." All those bridges that we burn as we're seeking the next great thing - only to realize when it's far too late to go back how good we had it. I don't know that another song captures the regrets of aging as well as this one for me.
It is a muci video, i saw in my youth. And i will never forget it. It just blew me away, all those pictures in this clip, with this perfect music.... one of the songs who brought me away from hearing Eurodance to "real" music.
The car featured was a Morris Traveller. 1,098 cc A-series inline-four, 48 bhp (36 kW) at 5,100 rpm. An estate car with a wooden frame (the Traveller) from October 1953 and panel van and pick-up truck variants from May 1953. It was the first British car to sell over a million units, typifying "Englishness".
I have been hiking the White Mountains of New Hampshire since 1993. This song sure has the nostalgia of the first few years of hiking there. Years go by, more hiking each year......then hiking with the melancholy of a departed hiking buddy......And I am still hiking there, going up the same trails and to the same summits for 30 years.....and I still have goals to reach in those mountains. Hence the lyrics snap everything into focus: "Encumbered forever by desire and ambition There's a hunger still unsatisfied Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon Though down this road we've been so many times"
Never thought of this as a 'road song' but.... (I'm sure someone will have pointed this out before)... There's some extra content here for those that know Cambridge (and you're right, there's a lot of Cambridge in this song). The lyric is printed as "along the Long Road", not "long road". There is a road in Cambridge called "Long Road". It's long, I've cycled along it. There's also a road called "Fen Causeway" which is in the lyrics as "the Causeway". I'm not so sure about "the Cut". I don't think that's a road, I suspect it's a particular favourite place on the banks of the river Cam. Probably not far from "Grantchester Meadows".
I'll never get over how brilliant this song is. It's perfect. Beautiful beyond words. Perfectly composed, arranged and orquestrated. A true masterpiece.
David Gilmore said this may be his favorite song
@@MrKennyanders Didn't know that. Interesting.
??? It was co-written by Gilmour with his wife! This is not a true Pink Floyd recording.
@@apollomemories7399 so were The Final Cut and The Wall not true Pink Floyd recordings as it involved Michael Kamen (for orchestral compositions) & Bob Ezrin (for music on The Trial)?!?!
@@EchoesDaBear Wrong context that has nothing to do with the content of the songs. How could you possibly hope to replicate Waters narrative with Gilmour's wife? You must be joking.
FYI, the division bell literally is a bell that is rung in Parliament to let members know that it is time to vote on some matter before them. For this album, the idea of the division bell seems to be used metaphorically to refer to a time to make important life decisions.
That's very insightful.
It's more about making choices. Not by any measure are all choices made anything of importance or life changing.
And it is called the division bell because the MP's are divided according to their decision "Ayes to the right, Noes to the left", as we all get divided according to our differing choices.
To me, the main theme of the album, from the name, to the cover art, to song lyrics is communication, and the breakdowns of it pitting ourselves against each other.
Stephen Hawking (or his voice module anyway) tells us how to get through those times.
All we need to do… is make sure… we keep… talking.
@@sdownin72 Tell that to the left-wing cancel culture brigade who immediately shut down anyone and everything they don't agree with. Their revision of history is the least of it. In 30 years, Cambridge will be a West Indian / Islamic theme park.
The LIVE version of High Hopes from the PULSE CONCERT is outstanding.
I was at that concert in 1994. Great times. Shame it was their last tour.
Absolutely. The studio version is good, but the live version is a revelation.
live in Gdansk is also outstanding
The Gdansk version is even better, featuring a very moving acoustic outro, amazing.
@@paulv5733 came here for this comment. the gdansk version is unbeatable
One of my favorite Pink Floyd songs. Always get me.
Me too
Yep. Same here.
It was always the acoustic solo in the middle that kept bringing me back. And it’s easy to play. And that bell is kinda haunting
This song is the proof that Pink Floyd did recover after Waters left. The whole album is quite good, one of their best.
Well, not if you take Gilmour's wife out of the songwriting. It really doesn't seem right to have your missus writing your band's songs.
@@apollomemories7399 What a ridiculous thing to say. Why wouldn't it be right? Similarly, it's not right for Waters to call in Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck to write guitar solos for him, but he seems to have no problems doing it. Seems to me that complaining about Polly Samson is some sort of weird gotcha Waters and his fans like to point to, as if it has any sort of relevance.
@@CristiNeagu If you need it explaining then there's really no helping you. It's an horrendous idea having someone's wife take over writing the content of songs under the name of Pink Floyd. It's a shockingly bad idea. And don't think for a second that Waters would not have fully explained to Clapton and Beck exactly what he wanted. You do know that he makes his own demos with friends playing other instruments before he ever goes near a proper studio? But you most probably would not.
You know absolutely NOTHING about Pink Floyd and how these people used to work. Polly Samson's presence has EVERY relevance to why Pink Floyd became nothing more than a light show for people that liked Mike +The Mechanics and that sort of soft-pop-rock nonsense. And you're so obviously one of them.
@@apollomemories7399 As predicted, you're a Waters fanboy that has abandoned all reason. You just hate Pink Floyd because Waters was too full of himself and destroyed their relationship. Go complain to him about how stuck up he was if you feel so strongly about it.
@@apollomemories7399 I couldn't disagree more. They were forced to come up with a different solution after RW left. Similar to what happened to Genesis. Closed-minded fanatics argue and argue and argue.... listen to what you like and leave what you don't. Others may well appreciate different eras for what they are. I am one of those.
This entire album is nothing short of amazing. A bit different than most of their other albums with Waters for sure, but it still has the magic by Rick Wright and David Gilmour.
It reminds us PF always had a musical identity
@@melaniezette886 I read an interview with David Gilmour when he released the solo album "On an Island". He said he didn't want the album to sound like Pink Floyd. However if you listen to the album it still sounds a lot like Pink Floyd. You're right about the musical identity and I don't think he was able to truly break away from that identity.
I am really surprised that you missed what they were doing with the acoustic guitar solo. The song does function as a metaphor for their career, and the first solo is a huge expression of that. "At a higher altitude, with flag unfurled, we reached the dizzying heights of that dreamed of world": Kick into a guitar solo that is variations of the main melodic theme from The Wall, including a key change to the same first three pitches heard when "In the Flesh?" fully kicks in. The dizzying heights are a metaphor for the huge success of The Wall.
Brilliant in your observation! I am not on your or Doug's level of knowing what key the music is in, but all I know is this song brings back a flood of memories from many years ago. Had the pleasure of sitting 3rd row at Cleveland Stadium for 2 nights of this tour. Still get chills waiting for Dave to flip the acoustic behind his back and hit that lap steel!
Excellent observation. Haven’t recognized this, hard to notice with one being distorted electric guitar and the other clean acoustic, but after listening to In The Flesh?, I hear it. Not a musician, but to my ear, In the Flesh is a descending pitch motif while High Hopes is ascending. Might say this is a dig at Roger Waters who writes dark themed music (The Wall) while High Hopes is thematically melancholic melodic optimism. There was certainly deep rooted stylistic differences that set a rift within the band that eventually tore it apart.
Another observation: The bell on the offbeats out of phase with the Richard Wrights piano chords symbolizes the band out of sync with Roger Waters.
Interesting, I would have thought that with their rift with Roger Waters that they'd be reluctant to give him any credit or attention.
@@skateebee Well, the main melodic theme from The Wall actually goes back even further to Welcome to the Machine on Wish You Were Here. The Wall itself is a sequel concept to Wish You Were Here, as both albums follow the story of Pink.
Not everyone is psychofan of Floyds.
One of PF's very finest moments. A song of the infinite melancholy of growing older. And that lap steel solo always brings tears.
Nightwish does a fantastic cover of this as well. Worth checking out.
For me, this song is about youthful idealism and enthusiasm, believing that anything is possible. Eventually, life beats most of us into "practical submission", and we shelve our dreams in favor of survival.
Whenever I am out and about and (regularly) see kids throwing tantrums in public, I am always tempted to tell them if they think life is bad for them now, they should wait till they get to my age and see how bad it is. Because, as Pink Floyd once said: And then one day you find, ten years have got behind you. No one told you when to run. You missed the starting gun.
But life is still full of joy and wonder, if you have the right attitude. ✌🏼
Now you have to check out Nightwishes tribute version.. It's live and it's wonderful.
Came here to say that
The lap steel guitar solo always makes my eyes water. Another song from the the Division Bell album is Wearing The Inside Out. It’s a Richard Wright composition. Always seems to be underrated to me.
Cept it isn't a Richard Wright composition, as old band friend Anthony Moore wrote all the lyrics. Wright did write the music.
I love this song, very emotional
I agree Wearing the Inside Out is a favourite of mine.
In 1994 I graduated from college. This album was the sound track of that time. To cap it off, I saw them in concert the evening after graduation. The bittersweet nature of this song in particular still reduces me to tears…
The later Floyd will never match the classic but The Division Bell is much stronger than the previous album. This is one of top Floyd tracks, regardless of era. The lap steel solo is insane.
There is a lovely, more stripped back version on the David Gilmour Live DVD, filmed when he curated Meltdown. The late Michael Kamen played piano on this gig, a rare sideman gig for a monster composer / arranger.
David's performance on Meltdown of High Hopes is just splendid, the backing vocals are so well done, only second to the Pulse performance.
@@RushfanUK The singers on this gig really raise the bar. Sam Brown is fabulous.
Momentary Lapse of Reason had its flaws...but on Delicate Sound of Thunder (live album), songs like Sorrow, Yet Another Movie and On the Turning Away just sound so amazing live. Gilmour's guitar solos on those songs are just pure feelings.
Agreed!!! His ending solo is amazing!!!
I'd actually argue that The Division Bell is their best album. Sure DSotM and The Wall are absolute classics with no filler, but I feel The Division Bell fits that category too. However, what sets Division Bell ahead of the others is that you can pick any individual song of the album and it still makes sense.
I was fortunate enough to have seen Pink Floyd in concert at Patriot's Stadium in MA in May of 1994. The Pulse tour. They played all of the songs on the Division Bell album and more. I correct myself, it wasn't a concert....It was an experience! Trust me. they pulled out all of the stops. Video, Laser, Quardophonic Stereo and more. To say the least, I was Comfortably Numb throughout the show.
I got to experience them on this tour. One of the many highlights was the music circling the stadium during High Hopes.
@@brickmason7301 Amazing, wasn't it?
Not quite sure they played all of the songs on Division Bell. They probably played 6 of the 9 songs.
@@apollomemories7399 Close enough. They had to fill the rest of the show with some of the classical PF songs as well.
Most definitely!
Douglas Adams, author of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, was a friend of David Gilmour. Gilmour promised him that if he could come up with a title for their new album then he could play onstage with Floyd at Earl’s Court for his 42nd birthday. Adam’s studied all the lyrics for the album and suggested Division Bell. Gilmour accepted and Adam’s got his wish to play onstage with Pink Floyd.
The song also supplied the title, Endless River, for the final album.
David Gilmour solos are the most beautiful sounds man has ever created
This is such a 'reflective' song - which includes reminiscence, regret, good times & bad. This album was around the time I was just getting into Pink Floyd (I was in early high school - and my music knowledge was rapidly expanding) - got into Dark Side, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall, etc., then this was released new - and I LOVED it! I introduced my mom to the beauty of Floyd - and she fell in love with Shine On and this track. She passed in 2018. I had both those songs on her visitation 'playlist'. The song hits harder since, and I find it's hard to keep a dry eye with it - especially when Gilmour hits the lap steel guitar solo! The emotion is visceral. RIP mom.
Yes these guys know how to reach our hearts deep
I saw them in concert on this Stadium Tour! I was at work, radio announced extra tickets, waited in line, finally my turn... I asked for 3 tickets, she said there's only 2 left. Of course I took them! The very last two tix for Tempe, AZ show. An incredible, just awesome show!
Doug, your interpretation of the lyrics is very much on-point. I just wanted to add... for me, there's also the aspect of being unable to appreciate what you have while you have it, only realizing it after it's gone. As humans we often seem to be too focused on the future and what we can get out of it, so much so that we miss all the good things we already have. Only once you move on do you realize it, but then it's too late -- time has moved on and you can't go back (i.e. looking back through the embers of the burned bridge and seeing how good it was on the other side). There's a certain... cynicism and regret that comes from the realization that you can't seem to be satisfied with the present; no matter what you have, you always will want more (forever encumbered by desire and ambition, there's a hunger still unsatisfied. Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon, though down this road we've been so many times). The high hopes of the past certainly hit differently when viewed through the lens of memory and nostalgia. Human nature is absolutely messy and and full of contradictions; even if we have the self awareness to see it in ourselves, it doesn't change our desires. As a cancer patient with an uncertain future, this song hits especially hard for me. I very much appreciate your reaction to this piece. Thank you.
Thanks for your interpretation of the song. Hope you are well and get many more years to live in joy and piece.🙏
Everyone needs to listen to ‘High Hopes’ from Gdańsk; there’s a beautiful acoustic guitar outro I believe was only played for that series of shows. HIGHLY recommended.
I miss believing that our world is slowly getting better, it seems all the good that is fought for is easily knocked away by those who don't or can't care. Too easily.
A brilliant piece of songwriting - lyrically, harmonically, wonderful drama and beautiful orchestrations...and then a guitar solo that literally takes your knees out from under you - that's Pink Floyd. Great reaction vid as always.
A beautiful song and funny that it should surface in your playlist man, as I literally just bought this album from a charity shop the week before.. As a road trip song that's definitely one for heading into a cool evening headwind after a warm setting sun.
You surprised me by spotting (you said bee) I think it's a fly... and if you go way back to 1969 and the album Umma Gumma and listen to the song Grantchester Meadows you'll hear that same fly at the end of that song meet his demise. But then he's back at the beginning of High Hopes. Good reaction!
Fantastic Song, I'm glad you had chosen to experience it too!
Pink floyd is the ultimate road trip band. I like HIGH HOPES it a wonderful tune, but I also like the version that NIGHTWISH does also
I absolutely adore this song. That concert tour changed me. We all walked out of the stadium in stunned silence and drove home from Tampa to Orlando dropping off one person at a time to their house and no one said a word. No one said goodbye. We just parted ways one by one and I laid in my bed completely flabbergasted.
This album (and specifically this song) always has a place in my heart. I'd always been a prog nerd even when I was a kid, cutting my teeth on 70's Genesis, Rush, Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, etc, while I was in middle-high school.
In '94 when this came out, was my 1st/2nd year of college, so my like-minded prog nerd friends and I got tickets to both the Giants Stadium and Yankee Stadium dates, the latter of which I believe was the first time they played the entirety of Dark Side of the Moon live in over 20 years. As an 18 year old kid, this was obviously mind-blowing.
Even more mind-blowing than seeing the older couple in the row in front of us smoking, what is still to this day, one of the largest spliffs I've ever witnessed.
This one always brings tears to my eyes. Tks Doug!!
That orchestral slide guitar at the end is incredible. Floyd were masters of ambivalence. They made you question everything.
I really prefer the 1994 live concert version of this song. David’s performance on the peddle steel guitar is absolutely incredible. The raw emotion and spectacle of this is unforgettable. I was initially mesmerized with Comfortably Numb and Sorrow from this concert. They are both incredible…..but this song stands alone in its emotional impact. You cannot hear it….and not harken back to your own days gone by. It is a masterpiece.
Yes, the Pulse live version is the best version by far - 100%
This one is my favorite from Pink Floyd. In the summer of 94 right after this came out, a close friend had a family cabin on a lake. We partied there almost every weekend. At the end of the night, the host and myself put this song on as loud as we could. All the passed out party goers had no choice but to wake up and listen. We might see each other every couple of years now, everytime we do, that's the opener, "The Grass Was Greener". We just saw each other a month ago at a wedding. We smiled, hugged, and said "The Grass Was Greener".
This is the song that will be played at my funeral. I love this song that much. To me, High Hopes is about coming home...but you never really can go home, can you? Only the memory of home.
⬆️Let's Talk📩💌.
This is one of the most beautiful songs ever, in my opinion. The melody, the lyrics, the harmony are all amazing and then that guitar solo at the end is just absolutely perfect. I love it so much!
As a fellow musician it's just inspiring to hear stuff like this.
The Division Bell tour was my very first concert at age 14. I'll never forget the sound, the lasers, the giant mirror ball, the pigs, and Nick Mason swinging his arms on "Time". Still my favorite concert I've attended.
I have recently fallen in love with the David Gilmour - High Hopes (Live At Pompeii) version. I'm not saying it's better, no way, but it is brilliant in its own right...especially the slide guitar solo and the classical guitar at the end.
The perfect final track, on their final studio album. Yes, there was a later album. consisting of instrumental material (written mostly by Richard Wright), with a single new song (the only one with lyrics). Fittingly titled "The Endless River", and a posthumous tribute to Richard, much like this one was for Syd.
This is one of the best Floyd songs ever!
This is something I would enjoy listening to on a quiet beautiful LONG trip. Pink Floyd's music is really good for helping the miles pass.
The album version has a tiny little audio Easter egg, if you listen on past the fade-out of the bells. Check it out.
No way! I’ve been thinking about this song!
This song is such a masterpiece that evokes so much emotion. It's so beautiful that it brings tears to my eyes. The song isn't complex (and, of course, it doesn't need to be), but it gives me a similar feeling that I have when I listen to a full orchestra play a beautiful classical piece. :)
This song is about growing old, older, yet remembering the days of your youth..
This is a aimless wondering in a vehicle Album ..and this is a contemplative capstone song that makes you reconsider all the things you had just breezed past. Such a wonderful song!
The song reminds me as well of "Near the End," the final song on Gilmour's second solo album.
The live versions of High Hopes from David Gilmour's "Remember That Night" and "Live in Gdansk" DVD releases are even better than the studio version, because they include a beautiful acoustic guitar outro.
nightwish did also do high hopes as a tribute with Marco singing it i love that version as well.
One of my favorites EVER!!! This whole album's brilliant!!!
Nightwish made a version of this song. Great stuff
When you listen to all the Pink Floyd albums in order and you get to this song, the last song on the last all original material album, it's heart breaking. The later The Endless River works like exit music after the show, since it's outtakes from The Division Bell that Richard Wright wanted released. I actually enjoy the album being it's like early Pink Floyd and their many instrumentals, but I can see why many have a hard time with it.
I have tears in my eyes every time I hear the transition between the chorus and the lap guitar.
Man! I've been waiting for you to do this one!!! My favorite Floyd song, and maybe the most haunting song ever written.....
You really need to see the 2005 version of this song by Nightwish - it's not a cover but a tribute, an homage to the original if you will.
David Gilmour apparently loves it!
Yes, he has. Marco slays on the vocals in that song.
Pink Floyd high hopes as a roadtripsong.. never thought of it like that.. When my father died, my sis and brother had an argument over which music to be played at his funeral sermon. the parson did't want hard rock in the church, brother , sis and me told him Pink floyd isn't hard rock.. well the parson wasn't sure...".it is all guitars and such!! " he said. We told him, we pay rent for the service, and it was HIS last wish, this music, or we will find another church, but this one was dad's church..
Eventually the day came and he went on his final road trip out of church, with Pink Floyd, High hopes. It was amazing,, been a while since I heard the song
So sorry for your loss. Your father had great taste and you honored him well. Good on you!
Now you need to do the Nightwish Tribute, version. Marko sings it. 💕
Hello Doug. Take a look at Nightwish cover High Hopes. Marco is singing. Outstanding.
one of my personal favorites of pink floyd; I love how many references it includes to their past catalogue.
The bee buzzing and other birds/insects chittering come from their song "Grantchester Meadows" off of Ummagumma.
The bells at the beginning are a reference to "Fat Old Sun."
The acoustic guitar solo is similar in structure to the guitar in "Welcome to the Machine" (after they sing the first refrain), while the drums in that part are quite similar to the ones in "Bring The Boys Back Home" off of The Wall.
Also lyrically, probably the most well known reference it makes is in the "The Endless river - Forever and ever" line, a reference to See Emily Play.
Also, though not really as mind blowing - and not even really a reference - the tolling bell heard in this song can be heard for the first time in the song Poles Apart, earlier in the album.
Doug, Gilmour's solo is a masterclass of using a slide to create the E major scale into C# minor pent highlighting F-F♯, C♯, G-G♯, D♯ as accents and desending via A, G# F# as a motif. The Pompeii live version is something else with an acoustic outro that's so beautiful you might think it's the Angel Gabriel playing it. David at his finest. It's all so nuanced and so beautifully phrased. One of The Master's Apex moments.
Nightwish did a GREAT cover of this song!
No they did not. It was 3rd rate copyism.
Really loved your analysis of the lyrics, very much a message my ears needed to hear this evening.
I see you have Marillion’s Misplaced Childhood there in the background.
I would love for you to experience Clutching at Straws. A very under-appreciated Marillion album, but it is absolutely amazing!
High hopes I always believed was/is a excellent roads end masterpiece.
We are so blessed to have
Decades of pink
Floyd in our lives.
❤
Slide guitar 🎸
Truly speaks to
The mind bringing out our true everything.
One of my all time favorite Pink Floyd songs
Nightwish did a really good live cover of this.
This one always hits me. But if you're talking the perfect Floyd album to roadtrip to, you could hardly do better than Animals. It's a must for me anytime I drive or take the train for long trips.
Underrated Song from an underrated album. A masterpiece.
⬆️Let's Talk📩💌..
A month after your first reaction to this one of my best friends died after a long battle and this was played at his funeral. It just hits so different now, thanks for this..❤
Nightwish did a fantastic cover of this, you should react to that
This song is so emotional, it makes me cry everytime I listen this. What A song, no other words
btw 'the endless river was the newest pf album
⬆️Let's Talk📩💌..
Now that you have checked this, maybe you could check Nightwish's interpretation of this song.
The vid of Nightwish doing High Hopes was filmed the day they gave the letter to Tarja letting her know that she was being fired. Everytime I see the Nightwish version, I think of that.
Who needs 3rd rate copyists from Finland, of all places? Terrible, simply terrible.
One of my absolute favorite Pink Floyd. Nothing can touch PF when they're at their best.
And Polly takes a lot of shit for her association with Gilmour, especially from the Waters acolytes. As a lyricist myself, what she manages to convey here is just what the song needed and she deserves credit for that. Lyrically, she did a bloody good job. And this was the track that signed off the band's career.
What a way to sign off an illustrious career.
And to think that was all recorded on a houseboat. Mindblowing.
The Astoria! Gosh, I admire Roger for his talents, but for him to carry on like he did during the In the Flesh Tour 1977 and beyond is sad. Like most, the drugs, booze, ego and money can lead to unfortunate endings.
You're a complete tool, either that or a newbie. Nobody, absolutely nobody who had been listening to the Floyd for all these years previously would ever say what you have. Waters IS Pink Floyd. And IF you were any kind of accomplished "lyricist" as you describe yourself, then you wouldn't question Waters' works. How can you compare this with songs on Animals or Wish You Were Here? Are you a simpleton, or something?
And quite rightly she gets a lot of shit, too, it's wet, limp-wristed, a completely lacks gravitas.
This wasn't their sign off as they have released two further songs with lyrics since 1994.
The houseboat is a very professional recording studio and somewhat more than the basic barge you perhaps imagine.
The Division Bell has been my ultimate driving album for a long time. My mom and I would listen to it from start to finish taking my dad three hours away to the airport when he’d fly out of town for work.
Doug vibing with Pink Floyd lyrics is always great
David Gilmour's lap steel guitar solo is truly epic and I can't but help turn it up when it comes in..that high note that then falls is truly orgasmic... It is an absolute classic track and what final track of to the last Pink Floyd album. Watch the live Pulse footage of this track..even more epic
Hello Doug! This is Harry from NW Greece!!! Yes, you're mighty right, Pink Floyd always bring it to the listener.....
Thank you again Doug for a great reaction to High Hopes you are so right it is very melancholic and make you think of the past, I was welling up listening this morning and I've heard this song dozens of times before!!
It's probably been mentioned to you that the last line is 'The Endless River' which was the name of the last album album released of mainly material from the Division Bell sessions. It features quite a lot of Rick Wright posthumously. For a great Rick track listen to Wearing the Inside Out from Division, it's lovely....
It’s always the second listen that you really feel some songs
Gilmore still produces music. “On an Island” is, of course, a masterpiece. “The Blue” is my favorite track.
You should react to the Nightwish cover of this song. It’s incredibly beautiful and has a darker, more somber feel. Marco sings it, and he does an amazing job.
⬆️Let's Talk📩💌...
The live Pulse version is amazing
One of my favourite songs, it reminds me of university life even though it was after my Uni time it just leaves me emotional for that optimism and learning and the sadness of missing that time and people in my life in the way it was back then.
many easter eggs in this song, harking back to other songs on other albums , only pink floyd people would understand this. many from older albums, many newer albums such as momentary lapse of reason
You did a great job of deciphering the meaning behind the song lyrics. Well done. Pink Floyd was always causing listeners to be introspective and thoughtful. Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and The Beatles were truly my three favorite writers of songs. The Who is right up there and Jethro Tull too.
I was also in high school when this came out. I knew of the standard-issue stuff off Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall which were all over classic rock radio, but I didn't think much of them until the Pulse concert was broadcast on TV. I'm thinking it was on ABC In Concert on Friday night over a couple of weeks. Anyhow, I promptly went out and bought the Pulse CD set as my first Pink Floyd purchase. It seems like the older I get, the more meaning this music has to me....
The song and video are just brilliant.
Thanks for checking it out.
The lyric that always gets me is: "Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us - to a glimpse of how green it was on the other side."
All those bridges that we burn as we're seeking the next great thing - only to realize when it's far too late to go back how good we had it. I don't know that another song captures the regrets of aging as well as this one for me.
Nightwish do a nice live cover of this.
Ultimate driving song is still Deep Purple’s Highway Star.
The Endless River ( final album ) All songs are left over pieces from The Division Bell sessions.
Songs? You mean all one of them.
Edit. And written years after just to include one song on the album.
It is a muci video, i saw in my youth. And i will never forget it. It just blew me away, all those pictures in this clip, with this perfect music.... one of the songs who brought me away from hearing Eurodance to "real" music.
The car featured was a Morris Traveller. 1,098 cc A-series inline-four, 48 bhp (36 kW) at 5,100 rpm.
An estate car with a wooden frame (the Traveller) from October 1953 and panel van and pick-up truck variants from May 1953. It was the first British car to sell over a million units, typifying "Englishness".
One of the best albums ever! 😊
I have been hiking the White Mountains of New Hampshire since 1993. This song sure has the nostalgia of the first few years of hiking there. Years go by, more hiking each year......then hiking with the melancholy of a departed hiking buddy......And I am still hiking there, going up the same trails and to the same summits for 30 years.....and I still have goals to reach in those mountains. Hence the lyrics snap everything into focus:
"Encumbered forever by desire and ambition
There's a hunger still unsatisfied
Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon
Though down this road we've been so many times"
Beautiful, man. ✌🏼
One of the greatest PF songs among so many......
I think this is my favorite Floyd song. So emotive.
Doug, thank you indeed✨I experienced pure magic during the PULSE concert in Gothenburg. Floyd was absolutely out-of-this-world brilliant❤️
Never thought of this as a 'road song' but.... (I'm sure someone will have pointed this out before)...
There's some extra content here for those that know Cambridge (and you're right, there's a lot of Cambridge in this song). The lyric is printed as "along the Long Road", not "long road". There is a road in Cambridge called "Long Road". It's long, I've cycled along it. There's also a road called "Fen Causeway" which is in the lyrics as "the Causeway". I'm not so sure about "the Cut". I don't think that's a road, I suspect it's a particular favourite place on the banks of the river Cam. Probably not far from "Grantchester Meadows".
One of my favorites. The kind of song you play on the flight home from visiting family that you don’t spent enough time with.