Not Now John

Last updated
"Not Now John"
NotNowJohn.jpg
Single by Pink Floyd
from the album The Final Cut
B-side "The Hero's Return"
ReleasedApril 1983 (1983-04)
RecordedJuly–December 1982
Genre Hard rock [1]
Length5:02 (album version)
4:12 (single edit)
Label Harvest (UK)
Columbia (US)
Songwriter(s) Roger Waters
Producer(s)
Pink Floyd singles chronology
"Pink Floyd – The Wall – Music from the Film"
(1982)		"Not Now John"
(1983)		"Learning to Fly" / "Terminal Frost"
(1987)

"Not Now John" is a song by the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, written by Roger Waters. It appears on the album The Final Cut (1983). [2] [3] The track is the only one on the album featuring the lead vocals of David Gilmour, found in the verses, with Roger Waters singing the refrains and interludes, and was the only single released from the album (discounting "When the Tigers Broke Free", a non-album single retroactively added to the album in 2004). It reached No. 30 in the UK Singles Chart.

Contents

Music video

In the Final Cut video EP, the video for the song depicts a Japanese boy walking through a factory searching for a soldier. The child is confronted by factory workers playing cards and geisha girls before he falls to his death from a scaffold and is discovered by a World War II veteran (played by Alex McAvoy, who also played the schoolteacher in Pink Floyd – The Wall ). The video was directed by Waters' then brother-in-law, Willie Christie. [3]

Composition

It is the only track on the album not to feature exclusively Waters on lead vocals. Unlike the majority of other tracks on The Final Cut (1983), "Not Now John" takes an upbeat, driving, tempo – and hard rock style – for much of its duration. Gilmour and Waters split vocals duties, similar to the song "Comfortably Numb" from The Wall (1979), and they represent different "characters" or points of view – Gilmour is the self-serving ignorant layperson while Waters is the intellectual, responsible observer of the world's woes. [4]

"Not Now John" is notable for being one of the few Pink Floyd tracks to feature strong profanity, as the word "fuck" occurs in the album version of the song seven times: six times as part of the phrase "fuck all that", and near the end of the song as "Where's the fucking bar, John?".

Despite the specific references in other songs on the album to public figures of the time, the "John" of the title does not refer to any particular person named John. It is a British colloquial usage as a placeholder name, closely associated with blue-collar workers, where "John" can be employed informally in the same way as "mate", "pal", or "buddy" to address someone whose name is not known.

Single

"Not Now John" was released as a single in April 1983. The words "fuck all that" were overdubbed as "stuff all that" by Gilmour, Waters, and the female backing singers, while the "Where's the bar?" lyric is sung in Italian, Greek and French, as the single fades out before the English iteration.

"The Hero's Return" was released as the B-side, featuring an additional verse not included on the album. A 12" single was released in the UK, featuring the two 7" tracks on side 1 and the album version of "Not Now John" on side 2. The single hit number 30 in the UK and number seven on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

  1. "Not Now John" (single version) – 4:12
  2. "The Hero's Return (Parts I and II)" – 4:02 [5]
  3. "Not Now John" (album version) – 4:56 (12" single only) [6]

Critical reception

In a review for The Final Cut (1983) on release, Kurt Loder of Rolling Stone described "Not Now John" as "one of the most ferocious performances Pink Floyd has ever put on record." [7] In a retrospective review of The Final Cut (1983), Rachel Mann of The Quietus described "Not Now John" as "fun, but musically crass and obvious," further saying "this is Surrey Blues rock as vapid as the views it seeks to satirize." [8]

Personnel

Pink Floyd

Additional musicians

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Final Cut</i> (album) 1983 studio album by Pink Floyd

The Final Cut is the twelfth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 21 March 1983 through Harvest and Columbia Records. It comprises unused material from the band's previous studio album, The Wall (1979), alongside new material recorded throughout 1982.

<i>Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd</i> 2001 greatest hits album by Pink Floyd

Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd is the fourth compilation album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 5 November 2001 by EMI internationally and a day later by Capitol Records in the United States. It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart on 24 November 2001, with sales of 214,650 copies. It remained on the chart for 26 weeks. The album was certified gold, platinum and double platinum on 6 December 2001 in the US by the RIAA. It was certified triple platinum in the US on 8 January 2002, and quadruple platinum on 10 September 2007.

<i>The Best of the Pink Floyd</i> 1970 greatest hits album by Pink Floyd

The Best of the Pink Floyd, also issued as Masters of Rock, is a compilation album of early Pink Floyd music, concentrating on singles and album tracks from 1967 to 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comfortably Numb</span> 1980 single by Pink Floyd

"Comfortably Numb" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on their eleventh studio album, The Wall (1979). It was released as a single in 1980, with "Hey You" as the B-side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time (Pink Floyd song)</span> 1973 song by Pink Floyd

"Time" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd. It is included as the fourth track on their eighth album The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and was released as a single in the United States. With lyrics written by bassist Roger Waters, guitarist David Gilmour shares lead vocals with keyboardist Richard Wright.

<i>The Madcap Laughs</i> 1970 studio album by Syd Barrett

The Madcap Laughs is the debut solo album by the English singer-songwriter Syd Barrett. It was recorded after Barrett had left Pink Floyd in April 1968. The album had a lengthy recording history, with work beginning in May 1968, but the bulk of the sessions taking place between April and July 1969, for which five different producers were credited − including Barrett, Peter Jenner, Malcolm Jones, and fellow Pink Floyd members David Gilmour and Roger Waters. Among the guest musicians are Willie Wilson from Gilmour's old band Jokers Wild and several members of Soft Machine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Have a Cigar</span> 1975 single by Pink Floyd featuring Roy Harper

"Have a Cigar" is the third track on Pink Floyd's 1975 album Wish You Were Here. It follows "Welcome to the Machine" and on the original LP opened side two. In some markets, the song was issued as a single. English folk-rock singer Roy Harper provided lead vocals on the song. It is one of only three Pink Floyd recordings with a guest singer on lead vocals, the others being "The Great Gig in the Sky" (1973) with Clare Torry and "Hey Hey Rise Up" (2022) with Andriy Khlyvnyuk. The song, written by Waters, is his critique of the rampant greed and cynicism so prevalent in the management of rock groups of that era.

"Outside the Wall" is a song written by Roger Waters. It is the final track on the 1979 Pink Floyd album, The Wall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Hopes (Pink Floyd song)</span> 1994 single by Pink Floyd

"High Hopes" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd, composed by guitarist David Gilmour with lyrics by Gilmour and Polly Samson. It is the closing track on their fourteenth studio album, The Division Bell (1994); it was released as the second single from the album on 17 October 1994. An accompanying music video was made for the song and was directed by Storm Thorgerson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Us and Them (song)</span> 1974 single by Pink Floyd

"Us and Them" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd, from their 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon. The music was written by Richard Wright and Roger Waters with lyrics also by Waters. It is sung by David Gilmour, with harmonies by Wright. The song is 7 minutes and 49 seconds, the longest on the album.

"Eclipse" is the tenth and final track from English rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon. It was written and sung by Roger Waters, with harmonies by David Gilmour and Rick Wright. After Waters left the band, Gilmour sang the lead vocal when performing live.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnold Layne</span> 1967 Pink Floyd single

"Arnold Layne" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd. Released on 10 March 1967, it was the band's first single and was written by Syd Barrett.

"The Show Must Go On" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, from their 1979 album The Wall. It was written by Roger Waters and sung by David Gilmour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Final Cut (song)</span> Song by Pink Floyd

"The Final Cut" is the title track from Pink Floyd's 1983 album The Final Cut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Take It Back</span> 1994 single by Pink Floyd

"Take It Back" is a song by the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released as the seventh track on their 1994 album The Division Bell. It was also released as a single on 16 May 1994, the first from the album, and Pink Floyd's first for seven years. The single peaked at number 23 on the UK Singles Chart, the fourth highest in the band's history, below 1979 number 1 hit "Another Brick In The Wall" and 1967 top 20 hits "See Emily Play" and "Arnold Layne." The music for the song was written by guitarist David Gilmour and album co-producer Bob Ezrin, with lyrics by Gilmour, his wife Polly Samson and Nick Laird-Clowes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Your Possible Pasts</span> 1983 song by Pink Floyd

"Your Possible Pasts" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1983 album The Final Cut. This song was one of several to be considered for the band's "best of" album, Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Me at the Sky</span> Song by Pink Floyd

"Point Me at the Sky" is the fifth UK single by the English band Pink Floyd, released on 6 December 1968. It was their last single in the UK for nearly a decade. The song was an early collaboration by bassist Roger Waters and guitarist David Gilmour. The single was not released in the US, but was in Canada, Japan, and some European countries.

"Julia Dream" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd and the B-side of the single "It Would Be So Nice". The song was the first to be released by the band with lead vocals by David Gilmour.

"Wish You Were Here" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd, released as the title track of their 1975 album of the same name. Guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour and bassist/vocalist Roger Waters collaborated in writing the music, with Gilmour singing lead vocals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Hero's Return</span> 1983 song by Pink Floyd

"The Hero's Return" is a song by Pink Floyd from their 1983 album, The Final Cut.

References

  1. ↑ Moskowitz, David V. (2015). The 100 Greatest Bands of All Time: A Guide to the Legends Who Rocked the World. ABC-CLIO. p. 462. ISBN   978-1-4408-0340-6.
  2. ↑ Strong, Martin C. (2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 1177. ISBN   978-1-84195-551-3.
  3. 1 2 Mabbett, Andy (2010). Pink Floyd - The Music and the Mystery. London: Omnibus. ISBN   9781849383707.
  4. ↑ Not Now John, Pink Floyd, Allmusic.
  5. ↑ Not Now John (Side 1 record label). Pink Floyd. Harvest Records. 1983. 12har 5224 – via Discogs.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ↑ Not Now John (Side 2 record label). Pink Floyd. Harvest Records. 1983. 12har 5224 – via Discogs.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. ↑ Loder, Kurt (14 April 1983). "The Final Cut". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  8. ↑ Mann, Rachel (17 June 2013). "30 Years On: Pink Floyd's The Final Cut Revisited". The Quietus. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.