Tags
Al Filreis, disco, Kelly Writers House, misogyny, music, parody, Pink Floyd, The Wall
Note: Some readers may find the contents of this post offensive or disturbing.
I am just a new boy
A stranger in this town
Where are all the good times?
Who’s going to show this stranger around?
Oooh, I need a dirty woman
Oooh, I need a dirty girl
Will some woman in this desert land
Make me feel like a real man?
Take this rock and roll refugee
Oooh, baby, set me free
Oooh, I need a dirty woman
Oooh, I need a dirty girl
Musically, the song is a disco song (a parody or caricature of disco, actually). It begins with a pentatonic riff in E on lead guitar, repeated four times before the lyrics band joins in. The verses follow the same pattern, each phrase ending with two beats of A5 power chords. The chorus consists of a continued disco beat in A, ending each phrase in E (mirroring the verses). After two repetitions of the verse-chorus structure, the structure continues to repeat with a guitar solo replacing the vocals. As the song fades out, we hear Pink calling his wife, a man answering and hanging up, and an operator telling Pink she doesn’t understand what’s happening.
Each verse uses a different rhyme scheme (X-A-X-A in the first verse, A-B-A-B in the second). There’s no significant internal rhyme. Each verse line contains four beats, consistent with the higher-frequency song’s disco form.
As mentioned above, the song is a parody or caricature of the raw sexuality found in the disco music that was at the top of the charts at the time. For example, compare this song with “More, More, More” by the Andrea True Connection or “Get Down Tonight” by KC and the Sunshine Band – neither or which were parodies. All three songs are direct expressions of sexual libido, but the Pink Floyd version is exaggerated and not in keeping with their usual style. It is so well done, however, that it may not immediately be recognized as parody.
Pink is now firmly entrenched behind his Wall, with only a few metaphorical empty spaces. Yet here we see an expression of sexual desire- but a disconnected one. Pink is not interested in real human connection. He feels inadequate, not a “real man,” and daydreams of finding a “dirty woman” (in rebellion against his mother, who wouldn’t “let anyone dirty get through”). The lyrics are misogynistic and objectifying of women, simply because Pink (as he becomes increasingly isolated and disturbed) isn’t interested in human contact- he’s grasping at straws after discovering that hiding behind his wall has only made things harder, not easier- he is isolated and safe from being hurt by others, but his isolation has only intensified his self-loathing. I note as well that he says he “needs a dirty woman,” but he is caught in the quandary that he cannot reach out to others, so his “need” will remain unmet, and his self-loathing will continue to worsen.
