When I was back in Massachusetts, late October and November were Pink Floyd months for me, music-wise. There was always something about their music that fit in the increasingly-dark, bleak, and barren days leading up to the first December snowfall and Christmas. Not all of their classic albums, mind you, just certain ones like Atom Heart Mother, Obscured By Clouds, and Wish You Were Here.
(For some reason, and maybe it’s because of the time of year they were released, I don’t associated Dark Side of The Moon, Animals, and The Wall with New England fall.)
Now me, I’ve always been a huge Pink Floyd fan. Maybe it’s because their music fed the deep down cynicism, disenchantment, and paranoia I’ve always felt towards our culture, institutions, and authority; maybe it’s because the music is just so damned good.
Anyways, here’s my own “Top 10” of great Floyd tunes – prepare to be blown away:
10. Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast, from “Atom Heart Mother” (here broken into parts 1 and two), My brother Mark always loved the drums in Part 2, we always wanted that sound in Top Priority.
9. Mother, from “The Wall”
8. Learning To Fly, from “A Momentary Lapse Of Reason”
7. Take It Back / Coming Back To Life, from “The Division Bell”
6. Brain Damage / Eclipse, from “Dark Side of the Moon” (although the obvious edit linking the two songs has always been jarring to me).
5. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (part 1 and part 2, from “Wish You Were Here”. I still get shivers hearing the song as it fades in, that guitar riff at 3:55 – amazing!
4. One Of These Days, from “Meddle” (listen for the backwards cymbals shooting from left to right and right to left starting at 3:45).
3. Sheep, from “Animals” (featuring some of the most slashing, bone-crushing guitar chords and cool drum fills you’ll ever hear starting around the 8:00 minute mark!).
2. Wish You Were Here, from “Wish You Were Here”. We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl year after year…” I mean, can you find better lyrics than that?
…and, of course, probably most everyone’s favorite Floyd tune:
1. Comfortably Numb, from “The Wall”.
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Honorable mention has to go to one of the Floyd’s most underrated songs and this one, which I remember my Mom always hated really bad. 🙂
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Pool temp: 69 degrees
1) Welcome to the Machine
2) On The Turning Away
3) Pigs (Three Different Ones)
4) Wish You Were Here
5) Comfortably Numb / Run Like Hell
6) Have A Cigar
7) One Of These Days
8) The Happiest Days Of Our Lives / Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)
9) Astronomy Domine
10) Sorrow
I’m a very late convert to Floyd. In their heyday, I preferred their British contemporaries (Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple). I like PF’s later stuff better than their earlier stuff and I usually like their live stuff better than their studio stuff. I’m a heathen, I know. 🙂
Comment by Rob — October 29, 2010 @ 1:55 pm
Those are all great tunes, Rob – you really can’t go wrong with the Floyd.
Comment by The Great White Shank — October 29, 2010 @ 9:28 pm
You surely can go wrong. A friend lent me his “Obscured By Clouds” CD once. I couldn’t stand it.
Comment by Rob — October 30, 2010 @ 11:24 am
There are some great songs on Obscured By Clouds, but there are a couple that are odd, to say the least!
Comment by The Great White Shank — October 30, 2010 @ 8:52 pm