Just a very quick Floyd question here, one in which I think the answer is obvious but I thought I’d run a subtly-check by the boards.
Specifically, I’m referring to the part that dreams “maniacs don’t blow holes in bandsmen by remote control.” Well, that is all well and good; I’d hate to be at a show where the band (as opposed to the penguin on top of the telly) blows up. But that fear just doesn’t rise up to the same level of the rest of the song – suppressed speech, disappearing folks, jack-booted thugs knocking down the doors, etc.
I checked ‘bandsmen’ on Dictionary.com, m-w.com, and MS Bookshelf to see if it could mean something besides “A player in a band,” but to no avail. Could it be English slang? Could it be a reference to a cultural event or string of events I don’t know about? Something autobiographical? Could it be Waters thought the word ‘bandsmen’ just fit lyrically within with the song?
So, like I said, there could be nothing behind the line, yet it is worth asking the fellow Floydians on the board if they know of something more.
Thanks.
Now get your filthy hands off my desert!