Comfortably Numb

It is one of my top ten songs. Pink Floyd's 'Wall' has remained with me ever since I heard the first version (Mani's) in high school in 1979-80. And when I bought my own tape at the Arcade in Cuffe Parade in 1994, it was wonderful. Listening to 'Another Brick in The Wall' and 'Hey You' were one thing but 'Comfortably Numb' takes me to another high.

So it was that when I went to the Roger Waters concert at Bangalore with Kiran in 1997-98, that the high point of the concert for me, centered around this song. It was an evening of some great singing and we were in some kind of a trance as Waters belted out numbers with amazing professionalism and panache. As the event wound down, it found the exact moment for the song 'Comfortably Numb' to make its appearance. On popular public choice.
There was a hypnotic spell on the 2000 odd crowd as the song began. I turned around for a moment and saw this young boy lying down right behind the screen that is placed in front of the screen, eyes closed and letting the music seep in, not caring to 'see' but 'feel'. He was in complete rapture. And there was this blind gentleman who looked like an army officer in his working days, standing straight as a rod, enjoying the show intently. Almost everyone has the words on their lips as Roger Waters sang, his soul and his heart in his performance, irrespective of whether there were 2 people or 20000 out there. The song went right through us, in waves, and we floated as it rose and fell. I still do.
It was one of those magic moments in my life. Sheer magic!