1979 Hit Ranked Among 'Best Rock Songs of All Time' Almost Sounded Completely Different

Pink Floyd's iconic rock track "Comfortably Numb" was recently ranked No. 4 on Deezer's list of the greatest rock songs ever recorded—but under slightly different conditions, the song would have sounded unrecognizable.

The track was released on The Wall, which shot to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 upon release and marked another huge success for the endlessly popular psych-rock band. The unique album tells the story of "Pink", a jaded rock star who isolates himself from the world.

The record was a passion project of founding member Roger Waters, who modeled the character after himself and wrote the lyrics to several of the album's biggest hits. When it came to "Comfortably Numb", however, Waters clashed with his bandmate David Gilmour over how the song should sound.

Gilmour and Waters generally shared writing and composing duties within Pink Floyd, typically sharing credit as the band's two frontmen. "Comfortably Numb" was also a joint effort, with Waters providing the lyrics and Gilmour composing the music they would be performed to.

However, when it came to arranging the track and deciding which instruments to include on the recording, Gilmour and Waters got into a major disagreement. As the story goes, Waters envisioned a much more orchestral arrangement, whereas Gilmour preferred a stripped-back sound with more acoustic instruments.

The pair disagreed so strongly over the song's arrangement that they brought in producer Bob Ezrin to help them reach a compromise. "My job was to mediate between two dominant personalities," Ezrin once said. "I fought for the introduction of the orchestra on that record, which Dave saw as a more bare-bones track. Roger sided with me. So the song became a true collaboration—it’s David’s music, Roger’s lyric and my orchestral chart."

There are two legendary guitar solos in "Comfortably Numb"—both performed by David Gilmour—that have allowed the song to maintain its untouchable legacy as such a dominant rock staple throughout the years. They represent the perfect fusion of Gilmour and Waters' comprimised vision for the song, blending a dirty electric sound with a grander, more orchestral backing arrangement.

The solo is often cited on lists of the greatest guitar performances ever, with Gilmour cementing his place in rock history from this song alone. As Bob Ezrin once said: "You can give [Gilmour] a ukulele and he’ll make it sound like a Stradivarius."