Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd - The Wall

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"Comfortably Numb" is a song on Pink Floyd's eleventh album, The Wall (1979). It was released as a single in 1980 with "Hey You" as the B-side. The music was composed by guitarist David Gilmour, and lyrics were written by bassist Roger Waters.

The Wall is a concept album about an embittered and alienated rock star named Pink. In "Comfortably Numb," Pink is medicated by a doctor so he can perform for a show.

Guitarist David Gilmour recorded a wordless demo, and bassist Roger Waters wrote lyrics, inspired by an experience of being injected with tranquilizers for stomach cramps before a 1977 performance in Philadelphia on the In the Flesh Tour. "That was the longest two hours of my life," Waters said, "trying to do a show when you can hardly lift your arm." The song's working title was "The Doctor".

For the chorus, Gilmour and session player Lee Ritenour used a pair of acoustic guitars strung similarly to Nashville tuning, but with the low E string replaced with a high E string, two octaves higher than standard tuning. This tuning was also used for the arpeggios in "Hey You".

Waters and Gilmour disagreed about how to record the song; Gilmour preferred a more grungy style for the verses. Gilmour said: "We argued over 'Comfortably Numb' like mad. Really had a big fight, went on for ages." In the end, Waters' preferred opening and Gilmour's final solo were used.

To write the two guitar solos, Gilmour pieced together elements from several other solos he had been working on, marking his preferred segments for the final take.