The Final Cut is a rock album by Pink Floyd recorded at several studios in the UK from July to December 1982. It is the final Pink Floyd studio album to feature Roger Waters. None of the songs have ever been performed live by the band, though some have been performed live by Waters during solo tours. The album is dominantly Roger Waters (similar to The Wall, but even more so). Waters' dominance on the album is most clearly seen on the back cover, which reads "The Final Cut: A Requiem for the Post-War Dream - by Roger Waters, performed by Pink Floyd".


Concept

The album has three overlapping storylines:

* One portrays Waters' view on world affairs at the time (Tracks 1, 5, 7-9, 11, 12). Much of this was formed by the Falklands War, condemning among others Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, and Menachem Begin. The name Fletcher in "The Fletcher Memorial Home" is in honour and remembrance of his father (to whom the whole album is dedicated in the credits), who died in Anzio during World War II. The album also espouses his views of an ideal world, ending the album with a nuclear holocaust he feared might happen in the real world.

* The second is the story of the mental plight of a World War II veteran and teacher (Tracks 2-4, 5 , 6). The tracks then feature him dealing with memories of the war (Your Possible Pasts, The Gunner's Dream), taking out his problems on schoolchildren (One of the Few, The Hero's Return), and lamenting his life (Paranoid Eyes). The abusive teacher is also mentioned in The Wall, viewed as "one of the bricks" by its main character, Pink (see also, The Happiest Days of Our Lives)

* The final is a story of a depressed man (who might be Pink after he tore down the wall) who either tries to block himself to the real world or kill himself, but is stopped. Track 10, "The Final Cut," was intended to fit in with Pink Floyd's previous album and rock opera, The Wall. The person singing in The Final Cut is highly reminiscent of the depressive, schizophrenic Pink from The Wall, although Waters does sing most of the album in that same vocal style. The first verse of the song ends with "And if you make it past the shotguns in the hall, dial the combination, open the priesthole, and if I'm in I'll tell you what's behind the wall", with the words "what's behind the wall" having been overdubbed with a loud shotgun sound and some shouting.

With the nuclear annihilation ending the album, it could be argued that Pink's unclear fate after the end of The Wall also becomes clear in the end of this album.