Us and Them

The harmony of 'Us and Them' is exceptionally sophisticated for 1970s rock, reflecting Richard Wright's jazz-influenced keyboard writing. The verse progression is built entirely over a D pedal point yet manages to traverse an extraordinary emotional range through chromatic upper-voice movement — the Dminmaj7 chord alone would be notable in any rock context. The contrast between the quiet, harmonically ambiguous verses and the louder, more diatonic secondary sections creates the song's signature dynamic architecture. The jazz influence is structural rather than stylistic: it lives in the voice leading and chord colour rather than in swing or improvisation.

Richard Wright originally wrote the music on piano in 1969 as an instrumental piece titled 'The Violent Sequence' for Michelangelo Antonioni's film Zabriskie Point. In its original demo form, the song featured only piano and bass. Antonioni rejected it, reportedly telling the band it was 'beautiful but too sad' and that it reminded him of church — he wanted something closer to the style of 'Careful with That Axe, Eugene.' The piece was shelved until the band began work on The Dark Side of the Moon, when Roger Waters wrote lyrics addressing the senseless nature of war, civil liberties, racism, and social indifference.

Originally composed by Richard Wright as 'The Violent Sequence' for the 1969 film Zabriskie Point, 'Us and Them' found its destiny on The Dark Side of the Moon four years later. With Roger Waters' pointed lyrics about the futility of conflict and David Gilmour's soulful vocals floating over lush saxophone and organ, it became one of progressive rock's most emotionally resonant anti-war statements.