Nobody Home

"Nobody Home"
"Nobody Home"
Song by Pink Floyd
from the album The Wall
Published	Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd
Released	30 November 1979 (UK); 8 December 1979 (US)
Recorded	April–November 1979
Genre	Progressive rock; art rock;
Length	3:26
Label	Harvest (UK); Columbia (US)
Songwriter	Roger Waters
Producers	Bob Ezrin; David Gilmour; James Guthrie; Roger Waters;
Official audio
	"Nobody Home" on YouTube

"Nobody Home" is a song from the Pink Floyd eleventh studio album The Wall (1979).^[1]^[2] This song was one of several to be considered for the band's compilation album, Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd (2001).^[3]

Background

"Nobody Home" was written late into the development of The Wall after an argument between the band and Roger Waters. David Gilmour said that the song "came along when we were well into the thing [The Wall] and he'd [Waters] gone off in a sulk the night before and came in the next day with something fantastic."^[4]

Lyrics

In the song, the character Pink describes his lonely life of social isolation behind his self-created mental wall.^[5] He has no one to talk to, and all he has are his possessions. The song describes what Roger Waters says he experienced during the band's 1977 tour, the band's first major stadium tour. Additionally, the song contains some references to founding Pink Floyd member, Syd Barrett.^[5] The song was written after an argument between Gilmour, Waters, and co-producer Bob Ezrin during the production of The Wall in which Gilmour and Ezrin challenged Waters to come up with one more song for the album. Waters then wrote "Nobody Home" and returned to the studio two days later to present it to the band. It was the last song written for The Wall. On the 30th anniversary of The Wall episode of the US radio show In the Studio with Redbeard, Gilmour revealed that "Nobody Home" was one of his favorite songs from the album.

A television playing in the background is frequently heard, including the line, "Surprise! Surprise, Surprise!" from the American sitcom Gomer Pyle – USMC^[5] The lyrics "I got nicotine stains on my fingers, I got a silver spoon on a chain. Got a grand piano to prop up my mortal remains" are said to have been written specifically about Floyd's keyboardist Richard Wright, who was allegedly struggling with cocaine addiction at the time.^[6]

Personnel

Pink Floyd

David Gilmour – bass guitar
Roger Waters – vocals, EMS VCS 3
Richard Wright – piano, Prophet-5 synthesiser

with:

Bob Ezrin – piano
New York Symphony Orchestra

Personnel per Fitch and Mahon.^[7]

Cover versions

An orchestrated version, arranged by Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke, performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and conducted by Peter Scholes, appears on the instrumental album Us and Them: Symphonic Pink Floyd (1995).
On Metric's 2011 tour, for their fourth studio album, Fantasies (2009).^[8]
On the tribute album Back Against the Wall (2005), the track is performed by Rick Wakeman of Yes.^[9]
Mark Lanegan performed the song on the tribute album The Wall Redux (2018).^[10]

Bibliography

Fitch, Vernon; Richard Mahon (2006). Comfortably Numb: A History of The Wall 1978–1981.
Fitch, Vernon (2005). The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia (3rd edition). ISBN 1-894959-24-8.

References

^ Strong, Martin C. (2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 1177. ISBN 1-84195-551-5.
^ Mabbett, Andy (1995). The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-4301-X.
^ Guthrie, James. "James Guthrie: Audio: Building A Compilation Album". Pink Floyd. Archived from the original on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
^ Simmons, Sylvie, ed. (October 2009). ""Good Bye Blue Sky", (Pink Floyd: 30th Anniversary, The Wall Revisited.)". Guitar World. 30 (10). Future: 79–80.
^ ^a ^b ^c Janovitz, Bill. "Nobody Home - Pink Floyd : Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
^ Schaffner, Nicholas (2005). "Pigs on the Wing". Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey (New ed.). London: Helter Skelter Publishing. p. 219. ISBN 1-905139-09-8.
^ Fitch and Mahon, p. 94.
^ "Nobody Home by Metric Concert Statistics". setlist.fm. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
^ Pink Floyd's The Wall tribute, The Rock Radio, 2005.
^ Review: The Wall Redux

[1] Strong, Martin C. (2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 1177. ISBN 1-84195-551-5.

[mabbett-2] Mabbett, Andy (1995). The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-4301-X.

[GuthrieAudio-3] Guthrie, James. "James Guthrie: Audio: Building A Compilation Album". Pink Floyd. Archived from the original on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2013.

[goodbye_blue_sky-4] Simmons, Sylvie, ed. (October 2009). ""Good Bye Blue Sky", (Pink Floyd: 30th Anniversary, The Wall Revisited.)". Guitar World. 30 (10). Future: 79–80.

[AM-5] Janovitz, Bill. "Nobody Home - Pink Floyd : Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 August 2012.

[Schaffner219-6] Schaffner, Nicholas (2005). "Pigs on the Wing". Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey (New ed.). London: Helter Skelter Publishing. p. 219. ISBN 1-905139-09-8.

[Fitch_and_Mahon,_p._94-7] Fitch and Mahon, p. 94.

[8] "Nobody Home by Metric Concert Statistics". setlist.fm. Retrieved 13 August 2012.

[9] Pink Floyd's The Wall tribute, The Rock Radio, 2005.

[10] Review: The Wall Redux

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

v t e The Wall
Songs	"In the Flesh?" "The Thin Ice" "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)" "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" "Mother" "Goodbye Blue Sky" "Empty Spaces" "Young Lust" "One of My Turns" "Don't Leave Me Now" "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 3)" "Hey You" "Is There Anybody Out There?" "Nobody Home" "Vera" "Bring the Boys Back Home" "Comfortably Numb" "The Show Must Go On" "In the Flesh" "Run Like Hell" "Waiting for the Worms" "Stop" "The Trial" "Outside the Wall"
Outtakes	"The Last Few Bricks" "When the Tigers Broke Free"
Remix single	"Proper Education"
Live albums	Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81 The Wall – Live in Berlin Roger Waters: The Wall
Films	Pink Floyd – The Wall Roger Waters: The Wall
Tours	The Wall Tour The Wall Live
Tribute albums	Back Against the Wall Rebuild the Wall
Miscellaneous	Another Brick in the Wall: The Opera
Category

v t e Pink Floyd songs
Discography Songs
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn	"Astronomy Domine" "Lucifer Sam" "Matilda Mother" "Flaming" "Pow R. Toc H." "Interstellar Overdrive" "The Gnome" "Chapter 24" "The Scarecrow" "Bike" "See Emily Play" (U.S.)
A Saucerful of Secrets	"Let There Be More Light" "Remember a Day" "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" "Corporal Clegg" "A Saucerful of Secrets" "See-Saw" "Jugband Blues"
More	"Cirrus Minor" "The Nile Song" "Green Is the Colour" "Cymbaline"
Ummagumma	"Grantchester Meadows" "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict" "The Narrow Way"
Atom Heart Mother	"Atom Heart Mother" "If" "Summer '68" "Fat Old Sun" "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast"
Meddle	"One of These Days" "A Pillow of Winds" "Fearless" "San Tropez" "Seamus" "Echoes"
Obscured by Clouds	"Burning Bridges" "Wot's... Uh the Deal?" "Childhood's End" "Free Four"
The Dark Side of the Moon	"Speak to Me" "Breathe (In the Air)" "On the Run" "Time" "The Great Gig in the Sky" "Money" "Us and Them" "Any Colour You Like" "Brain Damage" "Eclipse"
Wish You Were Here	"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" "Welcome to the Machine" "Have a Cigar" "Wish You Were Here"
Animals	"Pigs on the Wing (Part One)" "Dogs" "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" "Sheep"
The Wall	"In the Flesh?/In the Flesh" "The Thin Ice" "Another Brick in the Wall" "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" "Mother" "Goodbye Blue Sky" "Empty Spaces" "Young Lust" "One of My Turns" "Don't Leave Me Now" "Hey You" "Is There Anybody Out There?" "Nobody Home" "Vera" "Bring the Boys Back Home" "Comfortably Numb" "The Show Must Go On" "Run Like Hell" "Waiting for the Worms" "Stop" "The Trial" "Outside the Wall"
The Final Cut	"The Post War Dream" "Your Possible Pasts" "One of the Few" "The Hero's Return" "The Gunner's Dream" "Paranoid Eyes" "The Fletcher Memorial Home" "Southampton Dock" "The Final Cut" "Not Now John" "Two Suns in the Sunset"
A Momentary Lapse of Reason	"Signs of Life" "Learning to Fly" "The Dogs of War" "One Slip" "On the Turning Away" "Yet Another Movie" "Round and Around" "A New Machine" "Terminal Frost" "Sorrow"
The Division Bell	"Cluster One" "What Do You Want from Me" "Poles Apart" "Marooned" "A Great Day for Freedom" "Wearing the Inside Out" "Take It Back" "Coming Back to Life" "Keep Talking" "Lost for Words" "High Hopes"
The Endless River	"Louder than Words"
Other songs	"Arnold Layne" / "Candy and a Currant Bun" "See Emily Play" "Apple and Oranges" / "Paint Box" "It Would Be So Nice" / "Julia Dream" "Point Me at the Sky" / "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" "Embryo" "When the Tigers Broke Free" "The Last Few Bricks" "Lucy Leave" "I'm a King Bee" "Vegetable Man" "Scream Thy Last Scream" "Hey, Hey, Rise Up!"

"Nobody Home"
Song by Pink Floyd
from the album The Wall
Published	Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd
Released	30 November 1979 (UK) 8 December 1979 (US)
Recorded	April–November 1979
Genre	Progressive rock art rock
Length	3:26
Label	Harvest (UK) Columbia (US)
Songwriter	Roger Waters
Producers	Bob Ezrin David Gilmour James Guthrie Roger Waters

Official audio
"Nobody Home" on YouTube