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Not Now John

"Not Now John"
NotNowJohn.jpg
Single by Pink Floyd
from the album The Final Cut
B-side "The Hero's Return"
Released 3 May 1983
Recorded July–December 1982
Genre
Length 5:02 (album version)
4:12 (single edit)
Label Harvest (UK)
Capitol (US)
Writer(s) Roger Waters
Producer(s)
Pink Floyd singles chronology
"Pink Floyd - The Wall - Music From The Film"
(1982)
"Not Now John"
(1983)
"Learning to Fly" / "Terminal Frost"
(1987)
The Final Cut track listing
"The Final Cut"
(10)
"Not Now John"
(11)
"Two Suns in the Sunset"
(12)

"Not Now John" is a song by the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, written by Roger Waters. It appears on the album The Final Cut. The track is the only one on the album featuring the lead vocals of David Gilmour, found in the verses, with Roger Waters singing the refrains and interludes, and was the only single released from the album. It reached No. 30 in the UK Singles Chart.

The lyrics, written by Roger Waters, deal with war (particularly the Falklands War) and criticism of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, as well as general criticisms of the greed and corruption that Waters saw as dangers to society. It also shows the corruptible and fruitless labour of post-war America, Europe and Japan. The wording is such that it mainly tells of the changing of global trade and that a new leader is emerging in the consumer goods industry, Japan.

Despite the political content of the album and the specific references in other songs to public figures of the time, the "John" of the title is not intended to refer to any particular person named John. It is being used in the British colloquial sense, where "John" can be employed in the same way as "mate", "pal", "Jack", or "Guv" to refer to anyone to whom one is speaking, particularly if the speaker does not know their name. At the time, this usage of "John" as a general means of address to others would have been particularly associated with blue-collar workers, who were the people being most strongly affected by the changes to manufacturing and trade referred to in the song.

In The Final Cut Video EP for the song depicts a Japanese child walking through a factory searching for a soldier. The child is confronted by factory workers playing cards and geisha girls before he falls to his death from a scaffold and is discovered by a World War II veteran (played by Alex McAvoy, who also played the schoolteacher in Pink Floyd — The Wall). It was directed by Waters' then brother-in-law, Willie Christie.


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