High Strung Guitar: Hey You

From Pink Floyd’s album “The Wall,” “Hey You” was originally intended to be part of the motion picture of the same name, but was cut from the final due to time constraints. Copies of the DVD contain a rough cut in black and white of the intended video.

The song features lead vocals by both Roger Waters and David Gilmour. While Waters doesn’t play any instruments on this cut, Gilmour is on fretless bass, 6 and 12-string acoustic guitars, electric guitars, pedal steel guitar, and his own take on the high strung guitar.

For this particular recording, Gilmour strings the low “E” string an octave higher than a normal high strung configuration – thus making the string two octaves higher than standard tuning and in unison with the high “E” string. His own take on the high strung acoustic guitar provides a unique sound on the arpeggios during the “Hey You’s” beginning.

In addition, Nick Mason plays drums and Richard Wright is on Fender Rhodes piano, Hammond organ, and synthesizer. More unusual than Gilmour’s take on the high strung guitar is engineer James Guthrie’s use of an electric drill as an effect. You can hear it from about 3:22 to 4:00 in the song.