"When the Tigers Broke Free" by Pink Floyd...

[rockymountaindem]

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When he asked that his men be withdrawn.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.

And kind old King George
Sent Mother a note
When he heard that father was gone.
It was, I recall,
In the form of a scroll,
With gold leaf and all.
And I found it one day
In a drawer of old photographs, hidden away.
And my eyes still grow damp to remember
His Majesty signed
With his own rubber stamp.

It was dark all around.
There was frost in the ground
When the tigers broke free.
And no one survived
From the Royal Fusiliers Company C.
They were all left behind,
Most of them dead,
The rest of them dying.
And that's how the High Command
Took my daddy from me.


Is this a true story about one of the guys in Pink Floyd, or just a song they wrote about war? Either way, it's an amazing and moving song, but I was wondering if it had any personal relevance for them.

[Loonman]

1. Roger Waters

Lost his father, Eric Waters, at Anzio 1944.

[rockymountaindem]

2. Ah

Well, that song really is something then. It must have been hard for him to write it.

[Loonman]

3. One of his most personal songs

nt

[Mad_Dem_X]

6. He references his father in quite a bit of

his songs, both with Floyd and solo stuff. His dad died before Roger was even born, if I'm not mistaken.

[Oeditpus Rex]

4. And that song is, inexplicably,

not on "The Wall."

It's only in the film. :shrug:

[BigMcLargehuge]

5. it was the B-side to Another Brick in the Wall Part 2

[asthmaticeog]

7. ?

My copy had "One of My Turns" on the flip.

I wuz ROBBED!

[Initech]

8. You can get it on the 2-disc best of Pink Floyd