"Take It Back" is a song by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released as the seventh track on their fourteenth album, The Division Bell (1994). It was also released as a single on 23 May 1994, by EMI (UK) and Columbia (US), the first from the album, and Pink Floyd's first for seven years. The single peaked at number 23 on the UK Singles Chart, the fourth highest in the band's history, below 1979 number 1 hit "Another Brick In The Wall" and 1967 top 20 hits "See Emily Play" and "Arnold Layne". The music for the song was written by guitarist David Gilmour and album co-producer Bob Ezrin, with lyrics by Gilmour, his wife Polly Samson and Nick Laird-Clowes. Its accompanying music video was nominated for Best Clip of the Year in the category for Rock at the 1994 Billboard Music Video Awards.

Lyrics

The lyrics were written through the point of view of a dysfunctional relationship, used as an allegory for how humans treat the planet.

During its instrumental section, a barely audible rendition of the nursery rhyme "Ring a Ring o' Roses" can be heard.

Equipment

Guitarist David Gilmour used an E-bow on a Gibson J-200 acoustic guitar that is processed through a Zoom effects box, then directly injected into the board.

Personnel

• David Gilmour – lead vocals, guitar, Ebow

• Richard Wright – keyboards, Hammond and Farfisa organs

• Nick Mason – drums, percussion

Additional musicians:

• Tim Renwick – additional guitar

• Jon Carin – Synthesizers, keyboards, loops

• Guy Pratt – bass

• Bob Ezrin – keyboards, percussion

• Sam Brown – backing vocals

• Durga McBroom – backing vocals

• Carol Kenyon – backing vocals

• Jackie Sheridan – backing vocals

• Rebecca Leigh-White – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links