Teacher, Teacher / The Hero's Return ::: Pink Floyd

Então, conforme relatei aqui: ouvindo esses takes do The Wall, dou de ouvidos com a versão inicial da "The Hero's Return" que, como sabemos, ficou para o Final Cut.

A música é e não é a mesma. O início impactante está já aqui, bem como a interpretação teatral (e antológica) do Roger. A letra é completamente diferente! Era, inicialmente, outra canção para lidar com a ditadura dos professores. Creio que, ao perceber que o recado já fora sobejamente bem dado com "The Happiest Days of our Lives" e "Another Brick in the Wall pt. 2", Roger a deixou de lado.

A letra, não a música! Roger Waters, como Prokofiev, sabia que boas ideias não devem ser descartadas assim e, para exasperação do David ("Se a música não era boa pro The Wall, como assim ficou boa agora?"), ela vem à tona no The Final Cut, este disco estupendo.

A letra é um dos momentos altos deste que, com Hammill, é dos maiores poetas do rock progressivo. Bastava a segunda estrofe... Brrrrrr...

"Sweetheart sweetheart are you fast asleep? Good.
'Cause that's the only time that I can really speak to you"

TEACHER, TEACHER

Schoolboy, schoolboy, did you hear what I said?
How am I supposed to make you see the light?
It's hard enough to sleepwalk through the day
Without some creepy little boy like you
Bombarding my lonely shell
Glimpses of half open doors
Gleams in the night that I might well have followed myself

Teacher, teacher, you might as well be dead
All those years you tried to suck my brain away
It was hard enough to drag myself from bed
Without some crazy lunatic like you
Bombarding my still soft shell
Sticks and stones that you found lying around
In the pile of unspeakable feelings you found

When you turn back the stone
Turned over the stone
Of your own disappointment
Back home

THE HERO'S RETURN

Jesus, Jesus, what's it all about?
Trying to clout these little ingrates into shape.
When I was their age all the lights went out.
There was no time to whine or mope about.
And even now part of me flies over
Dresden at angels one five.
Though they'll never fathom it behind my
Sarcasm desperate memories lie.

Sweetheart sweetheart are you fast asleep? Good.
'Cause that's the only time that I can really speak to you.
And there is something that I've locked away
A memory that is too painful
To withstand the light of day.

When we came back from the war the banners and
Flags hung on everyone's door.
We danced and we sang in the street and
The church bells rang.
But burning in my heart
My memory smolders on
Of the gunners dying words on the intercom.

Este vídeo torna a questão mais complexa, de vez que traz as duas partes da música. Assim saiu no compacto. A versão do oficial do disco e depois CD vai só até 2:43.