It was the collaboration that no-one saw coming - David Gilmour playing guitar for Ice-T's band Body Count as they take a fresh look at Comfortably Numb. The song, which originally appeared on 1979's Pink Floyd album The Wall, has been updated for the 21st century, with a focus on issues close to Ice-T's heart. The song appears on the new album Merciless which is out on November 22nd.

Permission was asked by Ice-T for the usage, and it clearly interested David, who went further and performed a new solo for the track on his Black Cat Strat - and even appears in the new, official video for the song, which was directed by Jay Scorsese.

"For me “Comfortably Numb" is an introspective song—it's me acknowledging that I'm older now. I'm telling the younger generation, you've got two choices: you can keep the fire burning or you can give up. It's me trying to make sense of what's happening, but also pointing out that we're all in a place where we don’t have to face reality. We've got flat-screen TVs and popcorn, and we can just sit back and watch the chaos of the world like it’s a TV show. It doesn’t feel real until it shows up at your door. I’m a little numb, too—we all are.” - Ice-T on the track.

David said: "Body Count's version of 'Comfortably Numb' is quite radical, but the words really struck me. It astonishes me that a tune I wrote almost 50 years ago is back with this great new approach. They've made it relevant again. The initial contact from Ice-T was for permission to use the song, but I thought I might offer to play on it as well. I like the new lyrics. They're talking about the world we're living in now, which is quite scary.

"Ice-T and BODY COUNT played in London recently. Sadly, I couldn't make it, but if another opportunity came up to play with them, I'd jump at it."