| Released | November 30, 1979(UK) December 8, 1979(US) |
| Recorded | January - November, 1979 |
| Genres | Hard rock • progressive rock |
| Studio | Britannia Row • Super Bear • Miraval • 30th Street • Producers Workshop • Cherokee |
| Length | 3:18(The Wall) 3:00(Is There Anybody Out There?) 4:06(Live in Berlin) 4:15(Roger Waters: The Wall) |
| Label | Harvest(UK) Columbia/CBS(US) |
| Vocalists | Roger Waters |
| Songwriters | Roger Waters |
| Producers | Roger Waters • David Gilmour • Bob Ezrin • James Guthrie |
"In the Flesh?" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd that appears as the opening track to their 1979 rock opera The Wall. Its title is a reference to Pink Floyd's 1977 In the Flesh tour; on July 6th of that year, songwriter Roger Waters spat onto the face of a fan attempting to climb the barrier separating the stage from the crowd. The incident and Waters' negative experiences during this tour would directly inspire the creation of the Wall.
Music[]
The first fifteen seconds of the closing track on the album, "Outside the Wall," can be heard playing faintly in the background for around fifteen seconds at the very beginning of the song. During the first second of the track, the words "...we came in?" can be heard spoken by a man, completing the phrase at the very end of the album where the same man says "Isn't this where..." This subtly establishes a cyclical nature to the album, similarly to how The Dark Side of the Moon begins and ends with the sound of a heartbeat (which also features on this track, prominently during the verse).
Plot[]
"In the Flesh?" serves as the formal introduction to the main protagonist of this story, the fictional rock star, Pink, during one of his concerts. Pink speaks directly, addressing how the person who they are speaking to (most likely a fan or the listener them self) has come simply to enjoy the spectacle of his concert. Pink then rhetorically asks if the darker side of his personality is not up to snuff with the person's expectations, before proclaiming that they'll have to go through the front he puts up if they want to learn about him.
Alternative versions and live performances[]
The song was performed 31 times during Pink Floyd's 1980-'81 tour of the Wall and features as the second track on the live album Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81, released in 2000. It has also been performed by Waters for the 1990 Berlin concert and his 2010-2013 tour of the Wall.