Synopsis

The video presents a grim vision of institutional schooling. Children are marched through a rigid system, stripped of individuality, and fed into a grotesque industrial machine, while a harsh teacher embodies discipline, humiliation, and thought control. As the chorus rises, the students revolt: they swarm through the school, destroy its order, and drag the teacher toward a bonfire. The sequence combines live action with stark animation, turning Roger Waters' protest against authoritarian education into one of rock's most memorable visual nightmares.

Factoids & Trivia

• The version most audiences know is assembled largely from scenes in the 1982 film *Pink Floyd - The Wall*. The promo edit connects the school scenes from "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" with "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2."

• The children heard on the recording were 23 pupils from Islington Green School in London, located near Pink Floyd's Britannia Row Studios. They rehearsed for about a week, then recorded their vocals during a session limited to roughly 40 minutes.

• Engineer Nick Griffiths originally expected to record only two or three children. The larger choir was suggested to give the second verse more impact, and the voices were multitracked to make the group sound even bigger.

• The pupils who sang on the record did not appear in the familiar video. After hearing the lyrics, the school's headmistress refused permission for them to take part in the video or appear on television.

• The film version uses a different mix from the original album recording. It includes extra guitar, a shorter children's chorus, and newly recorded teacher vocals performed by actor Alex McAvoy.

• The school authority reportedly condemned the song's message as "scandalous," adding to the controversy surrounding its lyrics about corporal punishment and rigid education.

• "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" became Pink Floyd's first UK No. 1 single since 1968 and topped the UK chart during the 1979 Christmas period.

• The bonfire sequence was edited in some theatrical and home-video releases because of concerns that children might imitate the dangerous stunt.