Comfortably Numb (1979)

"Comfortably Numb" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on their eleventh studio album, The Wall (1979). It was released as a single in 1980, with "Hey You" as the B-side.

The lyrics were written by the bassist, Roger Waters, who recalled his experience of being injected with tranquilisers before a performance in 1977. The music was composed by the guitarist, David Gilmour. Waters sang lead vocals on the verses, and Gilmour, the chorus. The two argued during the recording, with Waters seeking an orchestral arrangement and Gilmour preferring a more stripped-down arrangement. They compromised by combining both versions. Gilmour said "Comfortably Numb" was the last time he and Waters were able to work together constructively.

"Comfortably Numb" is one of Pink Floyd's most popular songs and is notable for its two guitar solos. In 2021, it was ranked number 179 on Rolling Stone's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". A cover by Scissor Sisters in a radically different arrangement was a UK top ten hit in 2004. Gilmour contributed guitar to a cover by Body Count, released in 2024.

Background and writing

The Wall is a concept album about an embittered and alienated rock star named Pink. In "Comfortably Numb", Pink is medicated by a doctor so he can perform for a show.

"Comfortably Numb" originated in a wordless demo recorded by the guitarist, David Gilmour, while he was working on his debut solo album in 1978. He did not use it for the album, and the demo was later picked up by Ezrin. The verses, which are also found in the wordless demo that Gilmour composed in 1978, were originally composed in the key of E minor, which Waters, later, asked to be changed to B minor. According to Gilmour, Waters also asked him to provide extra bars of music for the chorus, in order to add the line "I have become Comfortably Numb", which are the same chords found at the first bars of the chorus, but in a different order.

Waters' lyrics were inspired by his experience of being injected with tranquilizers for stomach cramps before a performance in 1977 at the Philadelphia Spectrum during Pink Floyd's In the Flesh Tour. He said, "That was the longest two hours of my life, trying to do a show when you can hardly lift your arm." The song's working title was "The Doctor". The producer, Bob Ezrin, looked at the completed lyrics and said they "just gave me goosebumps".

The verses are in B minor, while the chorus has been described as using a modal interchange of D major (B minor's relative major) and D Mixolydian.

Recording

For the chorus, Gilmour and the session player Lee Ritenour used a pair of acoustic guitars strung in a similar manner to Nashville tuning, but with the low E string replaced with a high E string, two octaves higher than standard tuning. The same tuning was used for the arpeggios in another song from The Wall, "Hey You". To compose the two guitar solos, Gilmour recorded "five or six" solos, while Guthrie pieced together his preferred segments for the final take. He used a Big Muff distortion and delay effects on the solos.

The strings were recorded in New York by Ezrin and the American composer Michael Kamen. According to Waters, although he and Ezrin were satisfied with the recording, Gilmour found it "sloppy" and spent a week rerecording it. Waters described Gilmour's version as "just awful ... stilted and stiff, and it lost all the passion and life the original had". The disagreement became acrimonious.