About the band: Pink Floyd were a British band formed in London in 1965. Their music changed from psychedelic rock to full-blown prog over the years. They are one of the most commercially successful and influential bands in popular music history, and are definitely in my top 3 bands. They have released 15 studio albums in varying line-ups, but consensus is that their best period is the seventies, in which they released a handful of stunning albums, including Dark side of the moon. Pink Floyd currently have four songs in my list of about 200 best pop/rock songs of all time.
About the song: the famous 1979 album The Wall may for me not be on the same high artistic level as many of their previous releases, but Comfortably numb is up there with the best of Pink Floyd. A true classic, both creepy and grand. It begins dramatically with the subdued lines "Hello, is there anybody in there - just nod if you can hear me." The dark verses open into the light of the chorus, wherein the point of view seems to shift from doctor to patient, recounting childhood episodes in an effort to figure out what has made him so 'numb', but in vain: "When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse out of the corner of my eye - I turned to look but it was gone, I cannot put my finger on it now - The child is grown, the dream is gone - I have become comfortably numb". At this point, the melancholy of the chorus gives way to one of rock's greatest guitar solos. And if you think that could not be improved, wait for the second solo at the end…. Run time 6:24.
