"Nobody Home" was written late into the development of The Wall after an argument between the band and Roger Waters. David Gilmour said that the song "came along when we were well into the thing [The Wall] and he’d [Waters] gone off in a sulk the night before and came in the next day with something fantastic."[4]
Lyrics
In the song, the character Pink describes his lonely life of isolation behind his self-created mental wall.[5] He has no one to talk to, and all he has are his possessions. The song describes what Roger Waters says he experienced during the band's 1977 tour, the band's first major stadium tour. Additionally, the song contains some references to founding Pink Floyd member, Syd Barrett.[5] The song was written after an argument between Gilmour, Waters, and co-producer Bob Ezrin during the production of The Wall in which Gilmour and Ezrin challenged Waters to come up with one more song for the album. Waters then wrote "Nobody Home" and returned to the studio two days later to present it to the band. It was the last song written for The Wall. On the 30th anniversary of The Wall episode of the US radio show In the Studio with Redbeard, Gilmour revealed that "Nobody Home" was one of his favorite songs from the album.
A television playing in the background is frequently heard, including the line, "Surprise! Surprise, Surprise!" from Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.[5] The lyrics "I got nicotine stains on my fingers, I got a silver spoon on a chain. Got a grand piano to prop up my mortal remains" are said to have been written specifically about Floyd's pianist Richard Wright, who was allegedly struggling with cocaine addiction at the time.[6]
^Schaffner, Nicholas (2005). "Pigs on the Wing". Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey (New ed.). London: Helter Skelter. p. 219. ISBN1-905139-09-8.
