One of the Few

"One of the Few" is a song by the British progressive rock band Pink Floyd.^[1] It was released as the third track on The Final Cut album in 1983.^[2] The song is 1 minute and 12 seconds long. It features a ticking clock in the background and a steady drumbeat. The melody features most of the D minor scale.^[3] The lyrics describe a war veteran's return from the battlefield (specifically a pilot from the Battle of Britain, commonly known as The Few) to pursue teaching. The ticking clock continues to the next track, "The Hero's Return", which is sung from the veteran's perspective. This is one of the rejected songs from The Wall, and its working title was "Teach".

"One of the Few"
Song by Pink Floyd
from the album The Final Cut
Published	Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd
Released	21 March 1983 (UK) 2 April 1983 (US)
Recorded	July–December 1982
Genre	Art rock
Length	1:12
Label	Harvest Records (UK) Columbia Records (US)
Songwriter(s)	Roger Waters
Producer(s)	Roger Waters James Guthrie Michael Kamen

The lyrics "Make 'em laugh, Make 'em cry" in the third and final verse of the song is reprised in the third verse of "Not Now John" which is the eleventh track on The Final Cut.

The title, "One of the Few", is a reference to Winston Churchill’s speech before the House of Commons on August 20, 1940 in which he stated “Never was so much owed by so many to so few” in reference to the Royal Air Force's defence of Great Britain.^[4]

The song was also covered by British rock band Anathema on their album Alternative 4.

Reception

In a retrospective review for The Final Cut, Rachel Mann of The Quietus described "One of the Few" as "plaintive and consciously echoes Wilfred Owen's poem The Send Off, with its talk of siding sheds and the trains ready to take young men to their deaths."^[5]

Personnel

• Roger Waters – vocals, acoustic guitar, synthesizer, bass guitar

References

1. Mabbett, Andy (1995). The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-4301-X.
2. Strong, Martin C. (2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 1177. ISBN 1-84195-551-5.
3. Pink Floyd: The Final Cut (1983 Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd., London, England.)
4. Rose, Phil (2015-01-14). Roger Waters and Pink Floyd: The Concept Albums. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-61147-761-0.
5. Mann, Rachel (17 June 2013). "30 Years On: Pink Floyd's The Final Cut Revisited". The Quietus. Retrieved 27 July 2017.