US AND THEM (Waters, Wright)
[Gilmour]
Us, and them
And after all we're only ordinary men
Me, and you
God only knows it's not what we would choose to do
[Gilmour/Waters/Wright]
Forward he cried from the rear
and the front rank died.
And the General sat, and the lines on the map
moved from side to side
[Gilmour]
Black and blue
And who knows which is which and who is who
Up and Down
And in the end it's only round and round and round
[Gilmour/Waters/Wright]
Haven't you heard it's a battle of words
the poster bearer cried.
Listen son, said the man with the gun,
There's room for you inside
I mean, they’re not gonna kill ya, so if you give ’em a quick short, sharp, shock, they won’t do it again. Dig it? I mean he got off lightly, ’cos I would’ve given him a thrashing, I only hit him once. It was only a difference of opinion, but really...I mean good manners don’t cost nothing do they, eh?
[Gilmour]
Down and Out
It can't be helped but there's a lot of it about
With, without
And who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about
[Gilmour/Waters/Wright]
Out of the way, it's a busy day
I've got things on my mind
For want of the price of tea and a slice
The old man died
The sound clips at the end of ‘Money’ segue into the next song ‘Us and Them,’ which deals with the “pressure” of violence. The sound clips heard are in response to the cue card "When was the last time you were violent and were you in the right?” Not surprisingly, all of the people who speak believe that [they did indeed think that] they were in the right (except the man who couldn’t remember because he was drunk). This is a good illustration of humans being biased towards believing that they are right.
This song was originally called “The Violence Sequence.” Waters said "Rick wrote the chord sequence for this and I used it as a vehicle. I can't remember when I wrote the top line and the lyric, but it was certainly during the making of “Dark Side Of The Moon” because it seems that the whole idea, the political idea of humanism and whether it could or should have any effect on any of us, that's what the record is about really - conflict, our failure to connect with one another.”
The phrase “Us and Them” refers to the human tendency to partition themselves. This applies to each situation in the song, whether “them” refers to one’s enemies in war, another race of people, or the homeless beggars. Waters illustrates how destructive this behavior can be. This behavior stems from the natural human inclination to interact with people that have things in common with them, whether it is a common interest, belief, or heritage. Where it goes wrong is when people begin to consider those who are different from them to be inferior, or are afraid of them because they do not know them. This is the root of the destructive behavior Waters depicts in this song.
According to Waters "the first verse [and chorus] is about going to war, how in the front line we don't get much chance to communicate with one another, because someone else has decided that we shouldn't.” Waters was disillusioned by the fact that the decision to go to war is not made by those who are really fighting, who don’t necessarily believe that the fighting is justified. “God only knows it's not what we would choose to do.” Instead, decisions made that affect the lives of hundreds of men are made by generals sitting down comfortably as “the lines on the map move from side to side.”
Eric Waters, Roger’s father, died before Roger was born during World War II, at the battle of Anzio. This event, although happening before his birth, greatly impacted Waters’ life. This event, like the troubles of his friend Syd, comes up in many of Waters lyrics including this song. The first chorus describing the death of the front rank describes how Waters father died. This event is given in further detail in the song “When the Tigers Broke Free Part 1” from “The Wall” movie.
WHEN THE TIGERS BROKE FREE (PART 1)
[Waters]
It was just before dawn one miserable
Morning in black 'forty four.
When the forward commander was told to sit tight
When he asked that his men be withdrawn.
And the Generals gave thanks as the other ranks
Held back the enemy tanks for a while.
And the Anzio bridgehead was held for the price
Of a few hundred ordinary lives.
Waters stated “the second verse [and chorus] is about civil liberties, racism and color prejudice.” The second verse starts with the line “Black and Blue.” This is interesting because in this racial context one might expect the line to be “Black and White” (rhyming aside). Listing “blue” as a skin color acts as a mockery of racism, indicating how ridiculous the concept is. “Black and Blue” also is a common term for a bruise or contusion, which serves as an image of violence as well in the song. The rest of the verse carries on expressing the futility and confusing nature of racism.
The last verse expresses Waters’ view that possession is the root of violence. “The last [chorus] is about passing a tramp in the street and not helping." said Waters. This reiterates Waters views on greed that were expressed in ‘Money.’ Passed over by people too busy to help him, the old tramp died, not having enough money for food.
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