David Gilmour features on the new Body Count single, a cover of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb, their classic track from 1979's The Wall album.
Body Count, rapper Ice-T's heavy metal band who rose to prominence on the back of the controversial Cop Killer from their 1991 self-titled debut album, will release their new album, Merciless, through Century Media Records on November 22. It's the follow-up to 2020's Carnivore.
Comfortably Numb famously explores themes of detachment and introspection that run throughout The Wall, and which inspired Ice-T to create new lyrics for the track, which resonated with Gilmour, leading to his offer to play on the song.
"Body Count's version of Comfortably Numb is quite radical, but the words really struck me," says Gilmour of the collaboration. "It astonishes me that a tune I wrote almost 50 years ago is back with this great new approach. They've made it relevant again. The initial contact from Ice-T was for permission to use the song, but I thought I might offer to play on it as well. I like the new lyrics, they're talking about the world we’re living in now, which is quite scary. Ice-T and Body Count played in London recently, sadly I couldn't make it, but if another opportunity came up to play with them, I'd jump at it."
"For me, Comfortably Numb, is an introspective song – it's me acknowledging that I'm older now," adds Ice T. "I'm telling the younger generation, you've got two choices: you can keep the fire burning or you can give up. It's me trying to make sense of what's happening, but also pointing out that we're all in a place where we don’t have to face reality. We've got flat-screen TVs and popcorn, and we can just sit back and watch the chaos of the world like it’s a TV show. It doesn’t feel real until it shows up at your door. I’m a little numb, too – we all are."
