View source for Sheep (Pink Floyd song)

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox song
| name          = Sheep
| cover         =
| alt           = 
| caption       = Promotional French single, With "Pigs on the Wing" as the A-side
| type          = Promotional single
| artist        = [[Pink Floyd]]
| album         = [[Animals (Pink Floyd album)|Animals]]
| A-side        = [[Pigs on the Wing]]
| published     = Pink Floyd Music Publishers
| released      = *21 January 1977 (UK)
*2 February 1977 (US)
| recorded      = April–May, July 1976
| studio        = [[Britannia Row Studios|Britannia Row]], London
| genre         = *[[Progressive rock]]
*[[hard rock]]
| length        = 10:20 (album version) 9:46 ([[Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd]] version)        
4:14 (French single version)
| label         = *[[Harvest Records|Harvest]] (UK)
*[[Columbia Records|Columbia/CBS]] (US)
| writer        = [[Roger Waters]]
| producer      = Pink Floyd
}}

"'''Sheep'''" (Originally titled "'''Raving and Drooling'''") is a song by the English [[Rock music|rock]] band [[Pink Floyd]], released on the 1977 album ''[[Animals (Pink Floyd album)|Animals]]''. It was written and sung by bassist [[Roger Waters]] and performed live from 1974 to 1977. Waters has since played the song on solo tours.

==History==
Waters' lyrics refer to the [[working class]], who decide to rebel against the upper classes (referred to as "Dogs" and "Pigs" on ''Animals''). This was influenced by inner-city riots that he remembered happening in [[1958 Notting Hill race riots|Notting Hill]], and that he felt were going to occur again, such as in [[1981 Brixton riot|Brixton]].{{sfn|Guesdon|Margotin|2017|pp=434–435}}

During [[Pink Floyd 1974 tours|their tours in 1974]], Pink Floyd played three new songs in the first half of the shows, followed by ''[[The Dark Side of the Moon]]'' in its entirety. The three new songs were "You've Got to Be Crazy" (which later became "[[Dogs (Pink Floyd song)|Dogs]]"), "[[Shine On You Crazy Diamond]]" and "Raving and Drooling" (which later became "Sheep").<ref name="Mabbett-2010">{{Cite Q|Q25766745 |editor1=unset}}</ref>

During performances of "Raving and Drooling", a recording of a [[Radio personality|DJ]] at [[BBC Radio]] called [[Jimmy Young (disc jockey)|Jimmy Young]] was played after being cut up and reassembled randomly. This was [[Roger Waters]]' idea of a man "raving and drooling" (or being insane).{{sfn|Guesdon|Margotin|2017|p=434}} The lyrics of the song at this point were different.<ref>{{cite web |title=What were the original lyrics to Animals? |url=http://www.ingsoc.com/waters/albums/animals/lyrics.html |work=Ingsoc.com |accessdate=5 March 2004}}</ref>

"Raving and Drooling" was originally a more [[jam session|jam]]-based song. While the basic motif was already in place—a held note from the vocalist (Waters) being [[Fade (audio engineering)|crossfaded]] into the same note on a synthesizer, with various inhuman effects applied—Waters had yet to write anything for the sections repeating F♯7 and A7 (such as "You better watch out! There may be dogs about", and so on), and so these sections, while clearly part of the song structure, were rendered instrumentally. While Gilmour later stated that "Dogs" in its earlier incarnation as "You've Got to Be Crazy" simply had [[Dogs (Pink Floyd song)#Early versions|too many words]] for him to sing, "Raving and Drooling" appeared to suffer more from a lack thereof.{{fact|date=January 2025}}

"You've Got to Be Crazy" and "Raving and Drooling" were originally planned to be on the album following the 1974 tours, ''[[Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd album)|Wish You Were Here]]'', but plans changed and they ended up in different forms on ''Animals''.<ref name="Mabbett-2010" /> In November 2011, versions of both tracks recorded at Wembley in 1974 were officially released as part of the Experience and [[Why Pink Floyd...?#Wish You Were Here (1975)|Immersion]] versions of the ''Wish You Were Here'' album.{{sfn|Guesdon|Margotin|2017|p=434}}

In live versions from 1977, backing guitarist [[Snowy White]] played bass guitar as Waters shared electric guitar duties with [[David Gilmour]]. The performance was almost identical to the album version except that had a slower ending with [[Richard Wright (musician)|Richard Wright]] playing an organ solo.

Ian Peel, a musical columnist for ''[[The Guardian]]'', noted the resemblance of "Sheep" to the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' [[Doctor Who theme music|theme]], due to its [[bassline]] and sound effects.<ref>{{cite news |last=Peel |first=Ian |date=7 July 2008 |title=Doctor Who: a musical force? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2008/jul/07/doctorwhoamusicalforce |newspaper=The Guardian Music Blog |accessdate=20 December 2011}}</ref>

==Recording==
The song was recorded during April, May and July 1976 at the band's own [[Britannia Row Studios]], [[Islington]], London.<ref name="Mabbett-2010" /> On the 1974–75 tours, Waters played bass for the song, but during recording, he switched to [[rhythm guitar]], while [[David Gilmour]] overdubbed the bass guitar part in a style similar to Waters.{{sfn|Guesdon|Margotin|2017|p=433}} [[Richard Wright (musician)|Richard Wright]] played the introduction on a [[Rhodes Piano]], which was overdubbed with sheep noises in the background.{{sfn|Guesdon|Margotin|2017|p=434}}

The middle section of the song features a narration processed through a [[vocoder]] and is a parody of [[Psalm 23]]. Live, the narration was performed by [[Nick Mason]].{{sfn|Guesdon|Margotin|2017|p=435}}

==Personnel==
*[[Roger Waters]] – lead vocals, [[rhythm guitar]], [[reel-to-reel audio tape recording|tape]] and [[effects unit|electronic effect]]s, 
*[[David Gilmour]] – lead guitar, bass guitar, [[delay (audio effect)|echoed vocal]] (from "Dogs")
*[[Richard Wright (musician)|Richard Wright]] – [[Rhodes piano|Fender Rhodes piano]], [[EMS VCS 3]], [[Minimoog]], [[ARP String Ensemble|Solina String Ensemble]], [[Hammond organ]] 
*[[Nick Mason]] – drums, tape effects, [[vocoder]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*{{Cite book|last=Fitch|first=Vernon|title=The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia|edition=3rd|year=2005|publisher=Collector's Guide |isbn=1-894959-24-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Guesdon |first=Jean-Michel |last2=Margotin |first2=Philippe |title=Pink Floyd All the Songs – The Story Behind Every Track |publisher=Running Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-316-43923-7}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote|Animals (Pink Floyd album)}}

{{Animals (Pink Floyd album)}}
{{Pink Floyd}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Pink Floyd songs]]
[[Category:1977 songs]]
[[Category:British hard rock songs]]
[[Category:British protest songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Roger Waters]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by David Gilmour]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Roger Waters]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Richard Wright (musician)]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Nick Mason]]
[[Category:Songs about sheep]]
[[it:Animals#Sheep]]