This song is still relevant today. Schools don't nuture the kids, they just try to mold them into mindless followers.

The Wall is a concept album. It’s meant to be listened to from start to finish. It’s all connected to tell the whole story of his life.

Pink Floyd is timeless. Defintely need to explore more Pink Floyd. The musicianship and the lyrics and the message is powerful. Even a song like Great Gig in the Sky which doesn't exactly have "lyrics" but has killer vocals is so powerful. Pink Floyd will always give me goosebumps.

This song is just one piece of a much larger puzzle, every song on the album is part of a story.

I love your assumptions. They make me laugh. This song is about how school seeks to turn out mindless slaves to the system. Not to educate. Making them all just another brick in the wall.

can´t talk about THE WALL without reading into it. it´s one of the greatest concept albums of all time. also made into a movie, as you can see.

A lot of people misinterpret this song as anti-school and anti-education because they are taking it out of context with the rest of "The Wall". In this case, bitter and spiteful teachers(🎶"...there were certain teachers..."🎶) are disenchanting the students to education and making them rebel against the entire institution because these few bad teachers make them FEEL like they are going through a grinder instead of fostering their creativity. This has tragic consequences later in the album/movie when these uneducated youth get radicalized by mob mentality because they don't know any better. They never learned their history so now they begin to repeat it. They get swept up in tribalistic fervor and become neo-nazi's and fascists in the songs "In the Flesh" and "Run Like Hell". The album in general is not about him being a brick in the wall. The bricks are his traumatic experiences. This violently critical teacher becomes another brick in wall of his mind. A wall built to isolate him from any feelings or connections with others. The world can't hurt him anymore if he walls himself up from the rest of the world. I still get chills by the end of the album when they chant, 🎶"Tear Down the Wall!" because that is no way to live. It really is an amazing movie that needs to be watched several times.

According to the band, the "wall" is the self-isolating barrier we build over the course of our lives, and the "bricks in the wall" are the people and events that turn us inward and away from others.. 😀

The poem was the lyrics to Money , too many stops for me

BJ those were the lyrics to a huge hit!!! Number 1 and the song that puts Pink Floyd on the map.

Having Attended A Grammar School In The UK Around The 70s,I Can Vouch For The Fact That If You Were "Different" It Was Frowned Upon,When I Think Of The Abuse Some Teachers Handed Out I Still Feel Anger 50yrs Later..This Tune Became An Anthem For All Those Who Were "Different"Within The Strict Structure Of Learning..Some Learned And Some Didn't..Wonder Why?🇬🇧

When I was young my dad showed me this song. Loved it since 😁

This is taken from the movie, The Wall. Pink Floyd's basic topic, IMO, was mental illness. The walls start being built in childhood. Here, they comment on the effect of bad teachers. The poem is in their song Money.

Have you heard Pink Floyd's song, Money? In the beginning that is the lyrics in Money that the teacher is reading.

The "poem" is from an earlier previous album, "The Dark Side of the Moon", to this day, one of the best albums. Ever. Give it a try. Look at Supertramp "Crime of the Century" too, especially, "School."

I could not count the number of times I've listened to this album or watched this movie. Just an absolute Masterpiece all around.

i was in the eight grade when this came out in 1979 and they actually allowed us to play this at our prom lol

Isn't it amazing how Pink Floyd saw the indoctrination back in 70's. Yal should listen to the entire album in song order. The album is a story.

"The Wall" is a masterpiece that narrates the journey of a pure being (a child), who, as a result of having lost his father in the war, and from "Victorian" education, makes a journey from biophilia to necrophilia , becoming a rock artist (it is an analogy of fame) and later a dictator ..... Trying to understand "The Wall" from a single song is a mistake... See the picture.

The wall they are talking about is not a physical one, but the emotional one that we build around ourselves as we grow to protect ourselves

In fact, this song does not really condemn education in general, if it's well done. What it condemns, is the way of educating children without considering their own personality, their natural strengths, or the artistic side of certain children. Compliance and discipline at the cost of student real development.

You should react to the whole album in a live stream since the whole album is a story that would be 🔥🔥

The album "The Wall" is a concept album , and they also made a movie from the content. If you watch the movie, and check up on what the story is about , it's actually really good. It was made in the early 80's. If you watch the movie really pay close attention to his story to follow it.

This was from the 1982 film "Pink Floyd: The Wall" a rock musical which was based on the band's album of the same title. The movie mainly has musical numbers of songs from the album and doesn't have a lot of speaking parts. This scene with the factory, masks and destroying the school was all in the boy's mind, it wasn't real. The kids did not kill the teacher since it was all in his head. The story can be hard to understand at times so you would have to follow almost every detail in the movie to really get what's going on. Good reaction.

You will get a lot of negative comments regarding pausing too long/ too often unfortunately. Especially pausing during a guitar solo lol It's your reaction though but a long review is best done after the song with a few pauses/comments during it. Hope you enjoyed Pink Floyd , peace

You two gotta go down that PF rabbit hole!! So many amazing tracks! Us and Them. The Great Gig in the Sky. Mother. Wish You Were Here. Dogs. Time. Breathe…

Guys love as always. Im from London UK. My mum was in this Video. She was born in 66’ it was Filmed at Star Cross Primary school - Islington, North London!

No matter times I hear this song, I always get chills. Good reaction guys.

Our schools today are like factories. They want all the children to think, act and respond exactly the same and they must follow the rules they set.

This video is from the movie The Wall. This concept album is about building walls of protection around yourself until you can't escape them. A movie of this entire album was made by Pink Floyd and it's excellent. This is a double album comprised of 26 songs because it's such a big story.

SO MUCH for listening to the music!

The context for The Wall is not that the school kids are bricks. It's that the school system supplied "bricks" for the isolating "wall" that 'Pink' was constructing around himself. If you only see this video, it's hard to make that connection. This is just one chapter in the story.

BJ, your interpretation of this video was spot on. Love this channel.

Love a good Floyd reaction. School is just another 'Brick in the Wall' that isolates Pink from the rest of society. Other bricks in that wall of alienation are an overbearing mother, the death of his father, the war, rock stardom and drugs.

Haha BJ! That little poem went number one in multi-million album sales and still an iconic song today An inside joke wrapped into an even better movie

The album as a whole is the story of a man having a nervous breakdown. The wall represents the barrier he builds between himself and reality. This video is part of an amazing movie they did with the whole story.

The Wall album is best heard in order. Pink Floyd is the fictional character growing up after losing his father in WW 2 then eventually struggling with mental issues. The Wall he built to close off society around him.

Also the Wall itself is essentially the thing a person puts up to protect themselves from the world, but that also imprisons them from being more. Listen to the song Mother. It is super deep and spooky.

Pink Floyds music can be deep when it comes to their lyrics

The poem was actually the song “money” off dark side of the moon

Pink floyd is a great band to dive into. Comfortably numb is another great song by them and the live version(pulse concert)is like a nice exciting ride. You'll have to listen to the wall album to understand the story

You hit the nail on the head when you said it was an uprising, it spread to every school in the country as we all fought back against the brutality of that school system, teachers like him existed for real.

What most people don't know about the band and the album, "The Wall" was it was a tribute to the original lead singer Syd Barret.

The poem the school teacher read out was the lyrics to the song Money.

As so many have said……… listen to the whole album.. better still watch the whole movie. You’ll understand it much better.

Pulse version of "Comfortably Numb" please. EPIC tune Gotta watch/listen to the whole Wall album and it'll all make more sense Dig into Pink Floyd, no other band like them

The picture at the end is of grown up 'Pink' and his wife. The phone ringing is him calling home while he is on tour, but his wife's with another man, which is another 'brick' in his 'wall'.

Actually I think the boy was day dreaming about what he wanted to do (tear down the school). And at the end, it is that same boy grown up and he is messed up for life. The trauma of the school was just one brick in the wall that caused him to close up and build a wall around him. His co-dependent life with his mother was another brick that closed him in etc. All these horrible life events caused him mental illness. ( Just my own interpretation). You really should listen and watch the whole album in order. It is absolutely amazing. You will never forget it.

New subscriber here, love the insight and thought in your reactions! You get the symbolic meaning so often when others miss it, I really appreciate that. Just wanted to add to this one, you got the meaning SO right; that industrial view of education really started in Britain with the Industrial Revolution. Suddenly there was a huge need for factory workers everywhere to help run the machines; they didn't want real people with real thoughts and feelings, they wanted bricks in the wall to build their strength as a power structure. The individuals didn't matter. In many ways, this unfortunately still applies not just in the U.K., also here in the USA etc. Love you guys, thanks for this ^_^

love floyd

Watching this on TV when I was growing up used to scare the crap out of me. Love your reactions, more intelligent than the others and I think Asia may have the nicest smile on youtube.

The Wall, the movie is a must watch to really get the feel for a concept and understand the album.

Pink Floyd is a awesome band!!! Y’all need to dive into the rabbit hole of the their music!!!!!🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻. By the way great reaction!!!!!❤️❤️

The wall is highly “stylized” as is most Pink Floyd. “The Wall” is about the walls that separate us. There’s walls everywhere…….between teacher and student, band and audience, actors and audience, etc etc Literally everywhere we look in society. Roger Waters was exploring some heavy concepts for being a young man back then.

Oh my-who wants to explain the details of ICONIC Pink Floyd- There albums tell a story- one song flows into another- “The Wall” album is my favorite! And “Young Lust” is a favorite song of mine off the album . Such a groove- The MOVIE The Wall is a MUST see - watch the movie to answer your questions- 💜🤘🏼👍

I really like you two! Appreciation of music is a real life lesson! You live, you learn! Music is not just the message! So are the words! Everything has a message!

It's wild. Everyone pauses at the exact same times and asks the exact same questions. This video is way too distracting

Thank you both for your excellent reaction! The rebellion sequence happens in the young man's dreams. That daydream is his protection from the reality he is living at this school - one more brick in the protective wall he is building around himself. The poem in his notebook is actual lyrics from the Pink Floyd song Money. PF wrote albums, not just songs, and you really need to listen to the entire album of The Wall. This has been my first time on your channel, but it most definitely will not be my last!! Keep up the great work!

that little poem made pink floyd millions!

“so was it like military school?” so cute 😊 love you guys so much

Nightwish cover of PF "High Hopes" is much better than PF version

You have to see the whole film to understand , Story of one of the Floyds founder members Sid Barrat !

This is one video from The Wall. A movie that plays the entire album like a music video. In the next song you see the protagonist "Pink" as the grown up rock star. Gotta watch the entire movie!

The poem the teacher read is actually lyrics to Pink Floyds song called Money, on the album Dark Side Of The Moon.

The song is about how schools stifle creativity making us all the same and not preparing us for the real world. The meat grinder the kids are falling into represents the world that they aren’t ready for.

When you think of rock songs, and who are the best rock bands of all time and what are the best rock songs of all time this is certainly one of them!

the 'poem" was actually lyrics,,in a song called "money" on their previous album,dark side of the moon,,,

It's really hard to grasp the meaning of any singular song on this album without hear and/or watching the movie ",The Wall" is a concept album that tells one contentious story from start to end.. a must see movie...

seriously guys, you have to see the movie and you will realize the context, so that you have a general idea each theme in the movie would be like a brick in the wall of the character Pink Floyd, greetings from Argentina

This song was #1 for over 6 weeks when i was in high school !!! .. the opening poem is the lyrics from Money from the Dark Side of the Moon album

The poems are lines from the album Dark Side of the Moon, the track called 'Money'. I was at the Pulse Concert and I'm less than 2 miles from that school and recognise one kid in the video.

Please do a whole movie reaction to this! The Wall.... ya won't be disappointed!

I can’t believe that is your first time hearing that that! Popular song playing all over the place my whole life😮

The poem is the lyrics from the song Money off of Dark side of the Moon Pink Floyd is Truly TIMELESS!!

The train is a reference to the holocaust and how people were herded onto boxcars and taken to extermination camps. For older generations, with more vivid memories of WWII history, this is super clear imagery.

Nice that you are trying Pink Floyd,one of the very best bands from any genre. As good and provocative that this song is, you need to listen to the entire album to get the whole story of 'Pink', listen to the audio album sometime then watch the movie. Even better songs to be amazed by are Time, Comfortably Numb and Echoes. Enjoy! 🎸

This song is part of the story of how this individual built a mental wall between himself and the rest of the world.

I'm sure somebody may have said this but just in case they didnt...the "kids" on the train was a representation of Jews being shipped to concentration camps during WWII. This album is about the loss Roger Waters was dealing with (among other things) about his father dying in WWII while he was a child and never got to know his father.

The funny thing about that "poem" is that it's the words to Money, one of their best songs.

The album is a composit of the life story of a guy who's father is killed in WWII. He is raised by his mother and struggles to find his dentity. He develops mental health issues as he struggles with substance abuse and self imposed isolation. His mom is overprotective and he learns to build "mental walls" to isolate himself from feeling emotional pain, but he also cuts himself off from love. There's a lot more to it, but thats the jist.

You guys get it!

This whole album was a representation of what he went through with the war when he was younger and in UK/England/Great Britain. This was how it was back in the day. The whole album is amazing and the movie is too. You've got to understand the way it was back then, by this song, to watch the movie. But this is how it was back then. Holocaust and just, like you said, a number. Not a person. A number.

These are Kids in a grade school in England. Pink Floyd is a British Rock Band. Extremely popular worldwide for at least 45 years.

The wall was a great movie.

The Wall is a great movie.

The meaning of the wall is the defensive psychological wall he built around himself...each bad thing that happens to him is another brick in his wall . You need to do the whole album or film.

The brick in the wall is a recurring metaphor for them; in this case the bricks being the perfect little humans society wants kids to be, instead of the free spirits the kids want to be.

I love that your bringing in my ERA. THANKS 😃

The poem he read out in class is the lyrics to one of their most popular songs ‘Money’.

Awesome album. I saw this live in San Diego where the Clippers used to play… top most row. All the smoke rising, I just sat back and enjoyed the concert… man it was a trippy production, probably too much smoke 😎

The "poems" he was writing are the actual lyrics to Pink Floyd's song Money from the album The Dark Sude of The Moon

When I was in 8th grade when this came out during lunch period they would play this song in the cafeteria and all the kids would sing it together.

Hello Asia and Bj! The poem the kid had and the teacher read out load is the song "Money" from Pink Floyd. So the Kid was most likely Roger Watters of Pink Floyd perhaps reliving his school days of how it was for him.

Thsi song was made as an protest/anthem for kids. The complaint was that schools were like factories. Just churning out kids with little to no interest into their individuality. The result was a sick society. The Brick in the Wall is a reference to the wall you build around yourself to protect yourself. If you watch the move The Wall, it has the music from the album The Wall and it illustrates a story about a how a man comes to survive dealing with all the personal attacks from every aspect of his life. School is just one part.

The phone ringing is Pink calling his wife who he is separated with, and she's over seas, and he misses her. But she's with another man, and when the operater reaches them over seas, they hang up cause she refuses the call from pink. And all he wants to do is talk to her. Cause he misses her.

You really need to watch the movie. Its amazing even today

This is just one song of a story... this song is him reflecting on his school days, which added to his life span of bricks that build the emotional wall that had him trapped in lonely seclusion. The album, or movie, is the complete story.

Thank you, thank you, thank you BJ, for being the voice of reason, as Asia clearly thinks this film is a factual documentary, when in fact it is an artistic expression of a particular point of view.. That's what art is about, using images and themes to get across certain ideas about things in life which need to be questioned.

No, many of the commenters are missing the whole metaphor of the Wall. You have listen to the whole album. What is happening to the protagonist ("Pink" in the movie) is that each traumatic event in his life creates another brick in the wall he builds around his mind. To manage his pain and suffering, he walls himself off from the world, from feeling, from caring, from anything that would potentially hurt him.

That poem is actually one of Pink Floyd's songs, lol It is the song "Money"