One of the Few

1983 song by Pink Floyd

"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

"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".

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[edit]

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[edit]

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

## References[edit]

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.

* v
* t
* e

The Final Cut

Songs|

| Side one|

* "The Post War Dream"
* "Your Possible Pasts"
* "One of the Few"
* "The Hero's Return"
* "The Gunner's Dream"
* "Paranoid Eyes"

|

Side two|

* "Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert"
* "The Fletcher Memorial Home"
* "Southampton Dock"
* "The Final Cut"
* "Not Now John"
* "Two Suns in the Sunset"

Other songs|

* "When the Tigers Broke Free"

* The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
* A Saucerful of Secrets
* More
* Ummagumma
* Atom Heart Mother
* Meddle
* Obscured by Clouds
* The Dark Side of the Moon
* Wish You Were Here
* Animals
* The Wall
* The Final Cut
* A Momentary Lapse of Reason
* The Division Bell
* The Endless River

* v
* t
* e

Pink Floyd

* David Gilmour
* Nick Mason

* Syd Barrett
* Bob Klose
* Roger Waters
* Richard Wright

Studio albums|

* The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
* A Saucerful of Secrets
* More
* Ummagumma
* Atom Heart Mother
* Meddle
* Obscured by Clouds
* The Dark Side of the Moon
* Wish You Were Here
* Animals
* The Wall
* The Final Cut
* A Momentary Lapse of Reason
* The Division Bell
* The Endless River

Live albums|

* Ummagumma
* Delicate Sound of Thunder
* Pulse
* London '66–'67
* Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81
* The Dark Side of the Moon Live at Wembley 1974

Compilations|

* The Best of the Pink Floyd
* Relics
* A Nice Pair
* A Collection of Great Dance Songs
* Works
* Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd
* The Best of Pink Floyd: A Foot in the Door
* 1967–1972: Cre/ation
* The Later Years: 1987–2019

Extended plays|

* 1967: The First Three Singles
* 1965: Their First Recordings

Box sets|

* Shine On
* Oh, by the Way
* Discovery
* The Early Years 1965–1972
* The Later Years
* The Dark Side of the Moon 50th Anniversary

Soundtracks|

* San Francisco
* The Committee
* Tonite Lets All Make Love in London
* More
* Zabriskie Point
* La Carrera Panamericana

Singles|

* "Lucy Leave" / "I'm a King Bee"
* "Arnold Layne" / "Candy and a Currant Bun"
* "See Emily Play" / "The Scarecrow"
* "Flaming" / "The Gnome"
* "Apples and Oranges" / "Paint Box"
* "It Would Be So Nice" / "Julia Dream"
* "Let There Be More Light" / "Remember a Day"
* "Point Me at the Sky" / "Careful with That Axe, Eugene"
* "The Nile Song"
* "One of These Days" / "Fearless"
* "Free Four"
* "Money" / "Any Colour You Like"
* "Time" / "Us and Them"
* "Have a Cigar" / "Welcome to the Machine" / "Shine On You Crazy Diamond Part I"
* "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" / "One of My Turns"
* "Run Like Hell" / "Don't Leave Me Now"
* "Comfortably Numb" / "Hey You"
* "When the Tigers Broke Free" / "Bring the Boys Back Home"
* "Not Now John" / "The Hero's Return"
* "Learning to Fly" / "Terminal Frost"
* "On the Turning Away"
* "One Slip" / "The Dogs of War"
* "Keep Talking"
* "Lost for Words"
* "What Do You Want from Me"
* "Take It Back" / "Astronomy Domine"
* "High Hopes"
* "Wish You Were Here" / "Coming Back to Life"
* "Louder than Words"
* "Grantchester Meadows"
* "Childhood's End"
* "Green Is the Colour"
* "Hey, Hey, Rise Up!"
* "Brain Damage"
* "The Great Gig in the Sky"

Films|

| Concerts|

* London '66–'67
* Live at Pompeii
* Delicate Sound of Thunder
* Pulse

|

Narratives|

* The Wall

Documentaries|

* The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story
* London '66–'67
* La Carrera Panamericana
* The Story of Wish You Were Here

Tours|

* World Tour 1968
* The Man and The Journey Tour
* Dark Side of the Moon Tour
* 1974 French Summer/British Winter Tour
* North American/Wish You Were Here Tour
* In the Flesh/Animals Tour
* The Wall Tour
* A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour (Concert in Venice, Italy)
* The Division Bell Tour

Lists|

* Discography
* Songs
* Unreleased songs
* Videography
* Band members
* Live performances
* Bootleg recordings

Related media
and tributes|

* 19367 Pink Floyd
* The Amazing Pudding
* The Australian Pink Floyd Show
* Brit Floyd
* The Dark Side of the Moo
* "Echoes"
* "Embryo"
* Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd
* Live at the Empire Pool
* The Man and The Journey
* Music from The Body
* Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets
* Pinkfloydia
* Pink Floyd: The Music and the Mystery
* "Proper Education"
* Roger Waters: The Wall
* Synalpheus pinkfloydi
* Umma gumma
* Their Mortal Remains

Related topics|

* The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream
* Azimuth Co-ordinator
* Blackhill Enterprises
* Britannia Row Studios
* The Dark Side of the Rainbow
* Games for May
* Pink Floyd pigs

* Category

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz work

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