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On March 21st, 1983, Pink Floyd released their 12th studio album, The Final Cut. The record is famous for being the last one to include founding member, bassist and songwriter Roger Waters, and to celebrate its anniversary, here are 10 things you might not know about it:
1. The album was originally meant to be a soundtrack for the 1982 film version of The Wall, but as England engaged in the Falklands War, Roger Waters began rewriting the effort to be an anti-war concept album.
2. When the album was going to be for the film of The Wall, it was titled Spare Bricks. Once Roger shifted focus to making an anti-war record, it had the working title “Requiem for a Post-War Dream.”
3. The album title references a line from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. In the play, Antony calls Brutus’ stabbing of Caesar “the most unkindest cut of all.”
4.The Final Cut is the only Pink Floyd album that just Roger Waters is credited for writing all the songs. The bassist also took on all of the lead vocals, except for on “Not Now John,” where he shared singing duties with David Gilmour.
5.The Final Cut is the only Pink Floyd album to not feature keyboardist Richard Wright, who left the band after The Wall – a fact fans only found out when they saw he wasn’t listed in the credits for The Final Cut. American composer Michael Kamen replaced Wright on the effort.
6.While tensions between David Gilmour and Roger Waters boiled over during the creation of The Final Cut, early on when the two were getting along they’d play Donkey Kong together in their downtime.
7. Many of the album’s lyrics are critical of Margaret Thatcher, who is referred to as “Maggie” throughout the record.
8. Roger created the album cover himself using photos his brother-in-law took. The imagery on the front includes a Remembrance poppy and four WWII medal ribbons.
9. The song “Not Now John” has more profanity than any other Pink Floyd track. In it, the f-word is sung seven times.
10. Unlike Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, The Final Cut went to number one in the U-K, however, it didn’t do as well in America, peaking at number six and becoming the group’s lowest-selling release since 1971’s Meddle. Nonetheless, The Final Cut went on to become certified double-Platinum in the U-S for sales over two-million units.