Pink Floyd – Hey You

Hey you ! out there in the cold...
Send "Hey You" Ringtone to Cell

Hey you out there in the cold
Getting lonely getting old
Can you feel me?
Hey you standing in the aisles
With itchy feet and fading smiles
Can you feel me?
Hey you don't help them to bury the light
Don't give in without a fight.

Hey you out there on your own
Sitting naked by the phone
Would you touch me?
Hey you with you ear against the wall
Waiting for someone to call out
Would you touch me?
Hey you, would you help me to carry the stone?
Open your heart, I'm coming home.

But it was only fantasy.
The wall was too high,
As you can see.
No matter how he tried,
He could not break free.
And the worms ate into his brain.

Hey you, out there on the road
Always doing what you're told,
Can you help me?
Hey you, out there beyond the wall,
Breaking bottles in the hall,
Can you help me?
Hey you, don't tell me there's no hope at all
Together we stand, divided we fall.

Send "Hey You" Ringtone to Cell


Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by danibehzi

Track duration: 04:39

"Hey You" as written by Roger Waters

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Hey You song meanings
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118 Comments

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  • -1
    My Interpretation:I have a game for you. Read "The Present" at truthcontest.com, then listen to this song again, and see what you think. ;)
    Flagged Vincent720on February 19, 2013   Link
  • +2
    Memory:I was suddenly put in the psychiatric ward a few years ago after my birthday. I felt like I didn't belong there, and as each minute passed i felt lonelier and lonelier. I didn't speak to anybody there except for asking the nurses for another blanket. The way I spent my time there was sitting in front of my room's window listening to the radio. This song came on, and it was as if the song was speaking for me and narrating my thoughts as I watched people walk past the window, unknowing of my prying eyes. But, by the power of my envy that they were out there it brought people to look at the window I was staring at them through. They could feel me.

    "Hey you out there in the cold
    Getting lonely getting old
    Can you feel me?
    Hey you standing in the aisles
    With itchy feet and fading smiles
    Can you feel me?"

    I learned people's routines from this window and I fell into a pit of despair. But when this song came on I felt enlightened that people out there and around me felt as confined as me. It got me through the time spent there. "Don't give in without a fight"

    "sitting naked by the phone"
    there was a phone at the ward for patients to ask their families or friends to visit or just to talk. Throughout the time spent there, I tried multiple times to call my boyfriend but every time I tried nobody would pick up at his house. I would cry everyday after repeating the same routine, I was figuratively naked in front of the patients and nurses; exposed.

    "No matter how he tried
    He could not break free"
    I had multiple escape attempts, but due to the security cameras, sedatives and magnetically locked doors I couldn't do it without being stopped, and I wasn't willing to pay a fine for pulling a fire alarm in a hospital. All the furniture was either fixed to the ground or plastic, so any attempts to escape were futile.

    I am aware of the concept of The Wall album and I understand what Pink was experiencing, this is just my experience relating to this song.
    Flagged nefariousHon February 17, 2013   Link
  • -2
    General Comment:IT IS AMAZING SONG OFCOURSE BUT IT MAKES U FEELS DEPRESS , FOR ALL PEOPLE WHO FELT THAT THERE IS NO HOPE
    I SAY SORRY
    BUT THE DOOR IS SO HIGH BUT YOU JUST DON'T SEE ..
    Flagged ManofArtson May 17, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:In context with the rest of the album, in the past songs this person grew up to resent the people around him and close himself from people. This song is the moment in which being isolated for so long, breaks him. The song is a complex narrative that centers around a nameless person who is basically feeling that no one is answering him or her. The repetition of "Hey You' indicates that the person in the song is desperate to have a connection with other people and bring back his sanity. He is clinging, asking for someone to feel him, touch him, to help him, to hear him. It his isolation from the rest of the world that creates an intense desire for a physical, emotional, communicable level. These forms of communication to another person are basic human needs to avoid feeling desolate. The song quotes, "Would you help me carry the stone." This is the burden of the human condition that needs human affection to have a stable sane life.This person for so long built a wall all around him.
    This song is the manifestation of this emotion. I could imagine this person going to the grocery store and wanting to talk to some random stranger about his life. Ultimately, his isolation tore his mind into shreds.
    The music helps blend the feeling. The use of guitar for the high repetitive notes with the blend of the low bass melody creates a gloomy, intense and yet it almost seems like the notes in the song is descending into a greater depression. This descend is caused by the one stand out, loud mid (G) double repetitive note that sounds like daodao. And this shifts from that high guitar makes audience feel that transition from a lighter mood, to a darker mood. The timing of the song and the long strides the singer takes to say each phrase makes each word have a stronger emotional meaning. This is what shapes the structure of the song and the meaning behind it.
    Flagged khawleyon April 24, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song is all about being alone, and he wants somebody to talk to him, and he is calling out to the audience. He wants somebody to help him escape and return to his old life.
    Flagged Coach45on April 20, 2012   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:offcourse the idea of isolation is the main interpretation.
    You can also put it in a slightly different context. try seeing the main character of these lyrics as a small part of yourself. The part that you did not neglect.. unlike the others which have split off.
    Flagged Morwormon February 26, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I always thought this song was about the Berlin Wall...would I be wrong in thinking that? A lot of lyrics in this song can reference someone living through the times when the Berlin Wall was up.
    Flag PermanentPsychosison November 10, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I was listening to this song tonight and I think I know what it means to me. I think first it is open to interpretation. I don't think the line 'don't tell me there is no hope at all' is negative. I believe it is meant to show action, courage or integrity. A demand to fight. In a sense, I think Pink in the song, realizes he is unhappy, but cannot really see the wall. But every person who reads or hears the song. You see a part of yourself or everyone in the lyrics. You see the human condition and how we isolate ourselves but really are shouting for help! You see the wall. Hope is a weird thing, some teach that it is a distraction from logical action. But at the same time, hope has a weird 'effect'?. It can define if you're as good as dead. rotting away. or if you have something to fight for. A reason to keep going or trying. Pink may have decided that the wall was too high because he let doubt get the best of him. when sang, it's as if, they are saying "' apparently' the wall was too high , as you can see."

    Flag cm1on September 26, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:What i get from this song especially the last line is when you get so sad and depressed and even when people try and help you, you just exclude yourself which is what the first part is saying with all of the hey you's. And then eventually people stop trying to help you. And the line "Together we stand, divided we fall" is the person finally realizing all the help everyone offered him but it was too late. Sorry if it doenst make sense to you.
    Flag veli58on June 19, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is the first song from the second part of the album and I think it's about the isolation: "Hey you, out there beyond the wall". And that the protagonist finally sees how far he got with all that stuff - The Wall, drugs, alcohol, etc. He already dreams to break free, but the wall is too high to get over, so he stays behind it with himself, while he is getting more and more brainwashed with every day - "the worms ate into his brain". Then the dream is dead, he no longer longs to escape, but just wonders if "there's anybody out there?".
    Flag bobecaon April 13, 2011   Link

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