The Violence Sequence: The Lost Ancestor of Pink Floyd's 'Us and Them' Rejected by Antonioni for Zabriskie Point

The 1968 instrumental “The Violence Sequence” is fascinating because it proves that the core melody of “Us and Them” existed years before The Dark Side of the Moon — and it was originally written for a film scene that never used it. Pink Floyd composed the piece for Michelangelo Antonioni’s Zabriskie Point, specifically to accompany a montage of police brutality and riot footage. But Antonioni heard it and said it was too beautiful, too lyrical for the violence he wanted to depict. So he rejected it.

Rick Wright’s delicate piano progression and the melancholic chord changes were already fully formed. The band shelved the track until 1972, when they repurposed it — adding lyrics by Roger Waters and harmonies by Clare Torry — into what became “Us and Them.” The original “Violence Sequence” finally surfaced on bootlegs and later on the Zabriskie Point soundtrack reissue in 1997. Hearing it now, it’s striking how little the structure changed. It’s the same song, just without the saxophone and the “forward he cried” verses. Antonioni’s rejection turned out to be a gift — it gave Pink Floyd a seed that would grow into one of their most beloved songs.