The Happiest Days of Our Lives

"The Happiest Days of Our Lives"
Song by Pink Floyd from the album The Wall
Published	Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd
Released	30 November 1979 (UK) 8 December 1979 (US)
Recorded	April–November, 1979
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	1:46
Label	Harvest (UK) Columbia (US)
Writer(s)	Waters
Producer(s)	Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour, James Guthrie and Roger Waters
Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd track listing 26 tracks Disc one "Astronomy Domine" "See Emily Play" "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" "Echoes" "Hey You" "Marooned" "The Great Gig in the Sky" "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" "Money" "Keep Talking" "Sheep" "Sorrow" Disc two "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I–VII)" "Time" "The Fletcher Memorial Home" "Comfortably Numb" "When the Tigers Broke Free" "One of These Days" "Us and Them" "Learning to Fly" "Arnold Layne" "Wish You Were Here" "Jugband Blues" "High Hopes" "Bike"

26 tracks

Disc one "Astronomy Domine" "See Emily Play" "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" "Echoes" "Hey You" "Marooned" "The Great Gig in the Sky" "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" "Money" "Keep Talking" "Sheep" "Sorrow" Disc two "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I–VII)" "Time" "The Fletcher Memorial Home" "Comfortably Numb" "When the Tigers Broke Free" "One of These Days" "Us and Them" "Learning to Fly" "Arnold Layne" "Wish You Were Here" "Jugband Blues" "High Hopes" "Bike"

"The Happiest Days of Our Lives" is a song by Pink Floyd. It appeared on The Wall album in 1979.

The song is approximately 1 minute, 46 seconds in length, beginning with 24 seconds of a helicopter sound effect; followed by the schoolmaster shouting (in a helicopter) "You! Yes, you! Stand still, laddie!", performed by Roger Waters. Waters's lead vocal is treated with a reverse echo. The lead instrument is the electric guitar with an added delay effect, playing roots (mostly D, G, and A over a melody in D minor). The bass and guitar figure heard during the verses, G to A, is similar to the one in "Waiting for the Worms", heard much later in the album. During the transition to "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II", the key shifts from D minor to the relative major, F major, with dramatic drum rolls and harmony vocals.

On the album, "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" segues into "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II" with a loud, high-pitched scream by Roger Waters. Because of this segue, many radio stations play one right after the other, and subsequent Pink Floyd compilation albums (both Echoes and A Foot in the Door) use this song as the extended intro to Another Brick in the Wall.

In the film based on the album, the sound at the beginning of the song is depicted as coming from a train entering a large tunnel, rather than a helicopter heard on the album. According to Gerald Scarfe, there was supposed to be a puppet of the teacher at the end of the tunnel in the film. Alan Parker made shots of it, but it didn't work out, so they used Alex McAvoy, who played the schoolteacher, to do the scene instead. Before the cut in the middle for the Schoolmaster to mock Pink, somewhat quiet hysterical laughter is heard, extremely similar to the Schoolmaster's voice. Additionally, the song is slightly faster and the bass is noticeably louder compared to the album version.

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Wikipedia