Pink Floyd Thread

[Zoots]

Interesting. But I don't know if I'll be spending money on a huge anniversary edition that has some bonus songs that I already have in my itunes.

 

[cdisantis83]

A while back, there was quite a bit of talk about giving WYWH and Animals similar treatment, but it never materialized. I would certainly rather have seen either of those albums released in an expanded edition (perhaps with live material from the respective tours) than Piper, although I suspect that the intention of this may be to pay further tribute to Syd.

 

[xaviMF22]

Interesting. But I don't know if I'll be spending money on a huge anniversary edition that has some bonus songs that I already have in my itunes.

cheapskate

 

[Zoots]

cheapskate

It's unnecessary when I can spend on other albums I don't have!

 

[cobl04]

The last three or so minutes of Dark Side is just oohhhh...

 

[GibsonGirl]

Everything under the sun is in tune, and the sun is eclipsed by the mooooooooooon...

 

[cobl04]

It's a very contradictory record in my eyes... not sure if anyone agrees with me... but the lyrics are very melancholy. You've got songs like Breathe (lyrics like "All you touch and all you see, is all your life will ever be"), Time (Then one day you find ten years have got behind you, no one told you when to run you missed the starting gun"), The Great Gig in the Sky, and an album centred on themes such as madness, death, depression, time, etc... Then you come to the last two or three songs and the mood seems to inexplicably improve. The music during Eclipse is very very uplifiting, which contrasts with the rest of the record. I think that may be kind of why it worked so well. There are lyrics of melancholy, but in ends in such an uplifting way, that you finish on a high, and tend to forget the early depressing lyrics.

 

[Tiger Edge]

Ehh, I don't think it as much "uplifting" as it is embracing your own lunacy. Which I guess can be uplifting, but I'm not insane, so I can't vouch for that.

 

[LMP]

The Wall has been getting a lot of plays in the LMP household.

The Thin Ice -> Brick pt. 1 -> Happiest Days -> Brick pt. 2
Hey You
Nobody Home

 

[cobl04]

I downloaded Run Like Hell and Comfortably Numb yesterday.

Wow

 

[cdisantis83]

I downloaded... Comfortably Numb yesterday.

Wow

Well, you are now able to say that you possess the finest rock song in the genre's history!

"When I was a child, I caught a fleeting glimpse out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look, but it was gone; I cannot put my finger on it now. The child is grown, the dream has gone."

 

[GibsonGirl]

Ehh, I don't think it as much "uplifting" as it is embracing your own lunacy. Which I guess can be uplifting, but I'm not insane, so I can't vouch for that.

Bang on the money, Pla. Brain Damage/Eclipse aren't uplifting songs at all. The music itself is uplifting, but the lyrical content is not. The preceding songs simply lead up to that moment when the character of Dark Side (I'm not sure there's a "character" as such - but for the sake of simplicity, that's the word I'll use) has gone completely out of his mind. "And the sun is eclipsed by the moon." The moon has always been a symbol for lunacy. So those final words are not positive at all. By that point, the insanity has taken over. The moon, that lunacy, eclipses all rational thought.

It's one of the greatest endings to a record ever.

On a related note, I love the video for Brain Damage/Eclipse. That perspective shot that places the viewer in the gurney, travelling slowly down a hospital hallway with doctors peering out at you...sends shivers up my spine every time.


PS, COBL_04, you must get the whole Wall album! Life is not complete until you've heard Hey You and In the Flesh.

Are there any queers in the theatre tonight?
Get 'em up against the wall
Now there's one in the spotlight, he don't look right to me!
Get him up against the wall
And that one looks Jewish!
And that one's a coon!
Who let all of this riff raff into the room?
THERE'S ONE SMOKING A JOINT!
AND ANOTHER WITH SPOTS!
IF I HAD MY WAYYYYY, I'D HAVE ALL OF YA SHOT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS2erz9Ym5Y

 

[Screwtape2]

Bang on the money, Pla. Brain Damage/Eclipse aren't uplifting songs at all. The music itself is uplifting, but the lyrical content is not. The preceding songs simply lead up to that moment when the character of Dark Side (I'm not sure there's a "character" as such - but for the sake of simplicity, that's the word I'll use) has gone completely out of his mind. "And the sun is eclipsed by the moon." The moon has always been a symbol for lunacy. So those final words are not positive at all. By that point, the insanity has taken over. The moon, that lunacy, eclipses all rational thought.

It's one of the greatest endings to a record ever.

I have to disagree in that it is abstractly uplifting. Uplifting implies a joyful experience however for a lunatic every moment is both joyful and painful. So to a lunatic a sense of resolution of clarity is what a moment of utter joy would be to the rest of the population. It's like The Wall where simple resolution is Pink's salvation. A moment of clarity and resolution is what any lunatic wants. In that way, it is actually uplifting.

When heaven is a lady screaming and life frantic, numb and sinister all anyone would want is a moment of synergy and resolution in thedarkness. There is no dark side of the moon really. In fact it is dark. What person lunatic or otherwise wouldn't want to be able to hide in that dark?

 

[cobl04]

Bang on the money, Pla. Brain Damage/Eclipse aren't uplifting songs at all. The music itself is uplifting, but the lyrical content is not. The preceding songs simply lead up to that moment when the character of Dark Side (I'm not sure there's a "character" as such - but for the sake of simplicity, that's the word I'll use) has gone completely out of his mind. "And the sun is eclipsed by the moon." The moon has always been a symbol for lunacy. So those final words are not positive at all. By that point, the insanity has taken over. The moon, that lunacy, eclipses all rational thought.

It's one of the greatest endings to a record ever.

That's what I was trying to get at, but I couldn't quite say it right. The last two songs are contradictory because the lyrics are melancholy/depressing etc but the music is very uplifting.

And in my opinion it is THE best ending to a record ever, for me beating A Day in the Life and Love is Blindness.

 

[cobl04]

PS, COBL_04, you must get the whole Wall album! Life is not complete until you've heard Hey You and In the Flesh.

Are there any queers in the theatre tonight?
Get 'em up against the wall
Now there's one in the spotlight, he don't look right to me!
Get him up against the wall
And that one looks Jewish!
And that one's a coon!
Who let all of this riff raff into the room?
THERE'S ONE SMOKING A JOINT!
AND ANOTHER WITH SPOTS!
IF I HAD MY WAYYYYY, I'D HAVE ALL OF YA SHOT!

Wow. Any controversery caused by those lyrics at the time?

By the way, does anyone know where I can go for Pink Floyd bootlegs? I just want to hear them play Dark Side back in the 70s, soes I can compare it to Pulse.

 

[Screwtape2]

Wow. Any controversery caused by those lyrics at the time?

Well the song has become an anthem for a white supremacy group in the US.

They even have the hammers as their logo.

 

[Tiger Edge]

Well the song has become an anthem for a white supremacy group in the US.

They even have the hammers as their logo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammerskins

Most popular bands have a lunatic, or several, associating themselves with the music. I'm always reminded of Charles Manson and The Family when I hear Helter Skelter.

Bang on the money, Pla.

I wonder if those notes had anything to do with that...
I'm not one for lyrics and it usually takes about 10 or so listens of a song before I even notice the lyrics and get their meaning. I didn't "hear" U2's UTEOTW until months after I bought Achtung Baby.

 

[GibsonGirl]

Wow. Any controversery caused by those lyrics at the time?

By the way, does anyone know where I can go for Pink Floyd bootlegs? I just want to hear them play Dark Side back in the 70s, soes I can compare it to Pulse.

Not too much controversy, I don't think. I distinctly recall hearing an interview with Roger where he mentioned something about In The Flesh, but I can't really remember it all now. It was something about people taking the lyrics seriously, assuming he hated Jews or whatever, and how he thought it was completely silly of them to think that because the lyrics were written from the point of view of a fictional character, i.e. not reflective of his views at all. People were far more upset with the "we don't need no education, we don't need no thought control" line from Another Brick In The Wall Part 2. It was banned in a few countries.

Best place for Floyd bootlegs: http://www.yeeshkul.com

 

[Screwtape2]

People were far more upset with the "we don't need no education, we don't need no thought control" line from Another Brick In The Wall Part 2. It was banned in a few countries.

It is humorous to think that of all the themes in Roger's songs that that would be the one most people can relate to.

 

[GibsonGirl]

I wonder if those notes had anything to do with that...
I'm not one for lyrics and it usually takes about 10 or so listens of a song before I even notice the lyrics and get their meaning. I didn't "hear" U2's UTEOTW until months after I bought Achtung Baby.

The notes! I practically wrote you Pink Floyd book. If Nick needed any help writing Inside Out, he could have simply consulted those scrawls I sent you.

Lyrics are always on the forefront for me. First listen, I pay attention to the music. Second listen (and usually every subsequent listen) is focused almost entirely on the lyrics.

Floating down through the clouds
Memories come rushing up to meet me now
And in the space between the heavens
And the corner of some foreign field...
I had a dream. I had a dream.

Goodbye, Max. Goodbye, Ma.
After the service when you're walking slowly to the car
And the silver in her hair shines in the cold November air
You hear the tolling bell and touch the silk in your lapel
And as the tear drops rise to meet the comfort of the band
You take her frail hand...and hold on to the dream

A place to stay, enough to eat
Somewhere old heroes shuffle safely down the street
Where you can speak out loud about your doubts and fears
And what's more, no-one ever disappears
You never hear their standard issue kicking in your door
You can relax on both sides of the tracks
And maniacs don't blow holes in bandsmen by remote control
And everyone has recourse to the law
And no-one kills the children anymore...
No-one kills the children anymore

Night after night going round and round my brain!
His dream is driving me INSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANE!

In the corner of some foreign field
The gunner sleeps tonight
What's done is done
We cannot just write off his final scene
Take heed of the dream
Take heed...

 

[hardyharhar]

Bang on the money, Pla. Brain Damage/Eclipse aren't uplifting songs at all. The music itself is uplifting, but the lyrical content is not. The preceding songs simply lead up to that moment when the character of Dark Side (I'm not sure there's a "character" as such - but for the sake of simplicity, that's the word I'll use) has gone completely out of his mind. "And the sun is eclipsed by the moon." The moon has always been a symbol for lunacy. So those final words are not positive at all. By that point, the insanity has taken over. The moon, that lunacy, eclipses all rational thought.

It's one of the greatest endings to a record ever.

On a related note, I love the video for Brain Damage/Eclipse. That perspective shot that places the viewer in the gurney, travelling slowly down a hospital hallway with doctors peering out at you...sends shivers up my spine every time.


PS, COBL_04, you must get the whole Wall album! Life is not complete until you've heard Hey You and In the Flesh.

Are there any queers in the theatre tonight?
Get 'em up against the wall
Now there's one in the spotlight, he don't look right to me!
Get him up against the wall
And that one looks Jewish!
And that one's a coon!
Who let all of this riff raff into the room?
THERE'S ONE SMOKING A JOINT!
AND ANOTHER WITH SPOTS!
IF I HAD MY WAYYYYY, I'D HAVE ALL OF YA SHOT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS2erz9Ym5Y

Sorry about the unedited quote.

GG, maybe you can enlighten me on something. My memory of the Wall live has the band behind the wall out of sight, once the wall was completely built. Now, the Floyd by nature encouraged the partaking of certain substances that, shall I say, altered the reality of what may actually have been taking place. I noticed in this video they are in front. Was anything changed from Uk to USA shows?

 

[Zoots]

I know that you really admire Waters, Steph but... I simply cannot bring myself to like Waters any more than the others. You have to admit, he did steer the band into a total dictatorship, kicking Wright out and dominating everything. And more often than not, he comes off as a bitter, rude and arrogant prick to me. Sure, his songwriting had bite and the spice I guess as opposed to Gilmour's somewhat bland lyrics. But without Gilmour's beautiful guitar work complimenting his songs, Waters comes off too depressing and boring to me. There's a reason the title track is my favorite song on Final Cut, an album which I like but don't think it comes anywhere near the brilliance of The Wall or the other albums at their peak between 1971 and 1979.

 

[Screwtape2]

I know that you really admire Waters, Steph but... I simply cannot bring myself to like Waters any more than the others. You have to admit, he did steer the band into a total dictatorship, kicking Wright out and dominating everything. And more often than not, he comes off as a bitter, rude and arrogant prick to me. Sure, his songwriting had bite and the spice I guess as opposed to Gilmour's somewhat bland lyrics. But without Gilmour's beautiful guitar work complimenting his songs, Waters comes off too depressing and boring to me. There's a reason the title track is my favorite song on Final Cut, an album which I like but don't think it comes anywhere near the brilliance of The Wall or the other albums at their peak between 1971 and 1979.

Sometimes a dictatorship is what is needed. Roger Waters has always had the foresight for something epic. Gilmour is the opposite. He is a motivated person. That is often confused with being a prick. It is funny that you consider Waters depressing because if anything his solo work is hopeful. The Wall and The Final Cut are like that too but in an odd way. For some people those album will always be hopeful but for others it takes a certain time in their lives to realize that. If you think Roger without David is boring check out Ca Ira or Hitchhiking. Sure the albums from 71-79 were great but you could easily put Amused To Death among them. Roger is a poet in music and written word with or without David.

 

[GibsonGirl]

GG, maybe you can enlighten me on something. My memory of the Wall live has the band behind the wall out of sight, once the wall was completely built. Now, the Floyd by nature encouraged the partaking of certain substances that, shall I say, altered the reality of what may actually have been taking place. I noticed in this video they are in front. Was anything changed from Uk to USA shows?

That's odd. I know for certain that during the shows done in Europe, they were behind the wall only for the performance of Hey You. During Is There Anybody Out There, a spot opened up in the wall, letting you see Dave playing the acoustic. Nobody Home through to Bring The Boys Back Home was done with Roger on a platform resembling the hotel room from the movie, like so:

Then during Comfortably Numb, Roger came out in front of the wall dressed up as the doctor, while Dave played the solo at the top of the wall on a platform. Everything after that was done completely from the front, with Gerald Scarfe's animations projected on the wall behind Pink Floyd and the surrogate band. I would imagine it would have been the same at the US shows, because the costumes and all that were such a huge part of it. I think those certain...substances might be blocking that part of the show from memory.

 

[Zoots]

Sure the albums from 71-79 were great but you could easily put Amused To Death among them.

I wish I could agree but I cannot. I have given Amused To Death enough tries! Still sounds like a big boring documentary set to music. I simply cannot sit thru all of it. It's not even close to Floyd's albums IMO. No offense to you Waters fans.

 

[hardyharhar]

I remember Roger during Nobody Home watching the tv, and Dave on top of the wall during Comfortably Numb. Just don't recall the band in front of the wall after it was constructed. But the wall being as big as it was, maybe it just dwarfed everything else. Probably the point in the first place.

One of my friends who was sitting close to the wall, had bricks falling all around him when the wall was destroyed. He made a stab at hiding one, to take home as a souvenir. Didn't work.

Still one of my all time fav concerts!

 

[hardyharhar]

I'm still a little confused. If they played Hey You behind the wall, how did the drum set and keyboards get out front afterwards. Or were there two sets of equipment.

 

[GibsonGirl]

I know that you really admire Waters, Steph but... I simply cannot bring myself to like Waters any more than the others. You have to admit, he did steer the band into a total dictatorship, kicking Wright out and dominating everything. And more often than not, he comes off as a bitter, rude and arrogant prick to me. Sure, his songwriting had bite and the spice I guess as opposed to Gilmour's somewhat bland lyrics. But without Gilmour's beautiful guitar work complimenting his songs, Waters comes off too depressing and boring to me. There's a reason the title track is my favorite song on Final Cut, an album which I like but don't think it comes anywhere near the brilliance of The Wall or the other albums at their peak between 1971 and 1979.

You're entitled to think that. I must say that I think the whole "dictatorship" thing has been overplayed over the years. Roger didn't kick Rick out just for the hell of it. He (WITH David) asked him to leave because he wasn't contributing anything to the band anymore. Rick has even said as much himself. He didn't bring any material to any sessions, didn't even attempt to contribute to the song writing. And if you think he's a rude, arrogant prick, just read any of the interviews done with him over the past few years. Or just listen to this: http://www.ameinfo.com/110982.html He has nothing but praise for the other band members and has even admitted he was wrong to have gotten into legal battles with Pink Floyd in the late 80s. He's mellowed a lot. I think he's a nice guy who has been unfairly portrayed as a grumpy old bastard in the media. Remember, it always takes more than one person to have a fight.

 

[hardyharhar]

Just read a review by someone who was at the LA show also. Cleared things up. The wall was finished by intermission, and most were thinking that the rest of the show would be played without any sight of the band. That's where my confusion was, didn't remember an intermission.

Thanks for the help Screwtape.

 

[GibsonGirl]

I'm still a little confused. If they played Hey You behind the wall, how did the drum set and keyboards get out front afterwards. Or were there two sets of equipment.

They might have had another set of equipment off to the side, or maybe they just moved it out in front during The Show Must Go On. I think that was done behind the wall with the lights on low. It's been a while since I watched the DVD. Have you heard any of the bootlegs or the official live album? During the part where Gary Yudman came out to make his little announcements in a slowed down voice before In The Flesh, you can hear them doing a mini sound check on the drums and the guitars.

"Well, we'd like to thank you for your patience in waiting. The stage is set and the band is about ready to begin, I think...no...not quite yet"