Pink Floyd — Another Brick In The Wall (HQ)

JUL 01 1982 · 12:00

Pink Floyd — Another Brick In The Wall (HQ) (1982) Director: Alan Parker Era: Post-Punk Cinematic Rock (1982) - Feature-film-derived music video emerging from the theatrical rock-opera movement; bridges album-era prog rock and the nascent MTV video format Exceptional. This is among the most culturally significant music videos in the rock canon, functioning simultaneously as a standalone protest artwork, a promotional vehicle for one of the best-selling albums of all time, and an excerpt from a BAFTA-winning theatrical feature. Its dual directorial provenance (Scarfe's animation, Parker's live action), its documented political impact, and its status as the template for the 'concept video' genre make it irreplaceable for any serious archive of late-20th-century popular visual culture. Context: Released against the backdrop of Thatcherite Britain and the global expansion of MTV (launched August 1981), this video crystallized a decade's worth of progressive rock's anti-institutional ethos into a three-minute visual protest. Roger Waters wrote 'Part 2' as a direct critique of oppressive schooling, and the song became the UK Christmas No. 1 of 1979 — the final number one of the decade — selling over four million copies worldwide and topping charts in 14 countries. The Inner London Education Authority condemned the track, and it was banned in South Africa in 1980 after being adopted by supporters of a nationwide school boycott against apartheid-era racial inequities in education. The video's imagery of masked children marching into a meat grinder became one of the most enduring visual metaphors in rock history, cementing the anti-conformity message at the heart of The Wall concept. Director notes: The 'HQ' YouTube version (360 seconds) corresponds to the officially designated music video sourced from the 1982 feature film Pink Floyd – The Wall, directed by Alan Parker. Per IMDB (tt10741726), this version became the official music video for 'Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2' upon the film's release in 1982. It incorporates Gerald Scarfe's animation sequences — including the iconic human mincer and marching hammers, developed by Scarfe for both the 1979 original promo and the 1980–81 concert tour — woven with Parker's live-action school footage. The original 1979 promo (IMDB tt6192512, ~4 min) was directed solely by Scarfe and used different imagery; the 1982 film-derived version is the longer, more widely circulated edit. Alan Parker's official website confirms Scarfe's animations, including 'a maze and a human mincer for Another Brick In The Wall Part 2,' were developed during the film's pre-production. The film won two BAFTAs including Best Original Song.