High Hopes

"High Hopes" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd, composed by guitarist David Gilmour with lyrics by Gilmour and Polly Samson. It is the closing track on their fourteenth studio album, The Division Bell (1994); it was released as the second single from the album on 17 October 1994. An accompanying music video was made for the song and was directed by Storm Thorgerson. Douglas Adams, a friend of Gilmour, chose the title for The Division Bell from one verse in this song. Live versions are featured on Pink Floyd's Pulse, as well as Gilmour's In Concert, Remember That Night, Live in Gdańsk and Live at Pompeii releases. On Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd, a somewhat shortened version of the song segues into Syd Barrett's "Bike". The segue is accomplished by cutting from the church bell at the end of "High Hopes" to a new bicycle bell sound effect before "Bike" begins. A 7-inch vinyl version of the single was released on a transparent record. An early version of the song appeared on the 2018 box set The Later Years and was released as one of the preview tracks. Unlike the album version, this features the final solo played on a regular electric guitar instead of a lapsteel. Composition The song is mostly in the key of C minor, and features the sound of a church bell chiming a 'C' throughout, except for a short section in the middle where the song briefly modulates into E minor for a guitar solo. The bell was taken from a sound effects record.