Empty Spaces

When you dive into *Empty Spaces*, you encounter a piece that, despite its short duration, condenses a particular atmosphere. The song begins with a sound that evokes anticipation, almost like an announcement at a train station, accompanied by a repeating rhythmic base and a guitar weaving a solo. Then, the voice of Roger Waters bursts in with a question that summarizes the mood: "How shall I complete the wall?". It's interesting to note that the instrumental base of this song shares its origin with the first part of *What Shall We Do Now?*, although here it is accelerated and new layers of guitar and voice are added. The end of *Empty Spaces* serves as a direct transition to the next piece on the album, *Young Lust*.

Originally, the idea for *The Wall* contemplated a different placement for *Empty Spaces*, intended to appear later in the record. Before the production was fully defined, the piece was in another key, D minor, and was situated between *Don't Leave Me Now* and *Another Brick in the Wall, Part 3*. At that time, *Goodbye Blue Sky* was followed by a similar but more extensive song, *What Shall We Do Now?*. The first half of the latter shares with *Empty Spaces* a slow instrumental construction and a four-verse vocal structure. While both begin with a similar lyrical idea about filling voids, the similarities end soon. In the film version of *The Wall*, *Empty Spaces* is replaced by *What Shall We Do Now?*. In live performances, such as *The Wall Live 1980–81* and *Roger Waters: The Wall*, the song also gives way to *What Shall We Do Now?*, although on these occasions it is divided into two tracks: the slower initial part is identified as *Empty Spaces*, and the faster section as *What Shall We Do Now?*. In the version of *The Wall – Live in Berlin*, the complete piece is presented under the title *Empty Spaces*, despite actually being *What Shall We Do Now?*. This particular performance adds the participation of the Rundfunk Orchestra, conducted by Michael Kamen, and an additional guitar solo, with Bryan Adams sharing vocals in the second half.