Pink Floyd appreciation thread

[LadyMac]

Possibly the greatest tribute to a fellow band mate. (is their entire catalog post syd a tribute to him in some way?):

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from hell
Blue skies from pain
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
Did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
Did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl
Year after year
Running over the same old ground
And how we found
The same old fears
Wish you were here



Edit note: not to mention the fitting coincidence that it contains an aquarium reference

This song makes me cry. It’s tears of joy though. My dad used to sing this when I was small. He had all the albums, and now they are mine. It’s bittersweet but I can’t hardly get through this particular song because I really miss my dad, and wish he was here

 

[7hogwarts]

I was lucky enough to see them back in the day. But I don't see anyone mention some of the tribute bands. Most notably for me was seeing Brit Floyd. They were so dead on. There were many parts I thought were actually better than Pink Floyd. (Is that possible?)

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Pink Floyd was my first love of music. The first band I listened to that blew my perception of what music could sound like. From that moment until now and forever they are my favorite band. My personal ranking goes as (this ranking changes for me frequently but this would be as of right now)
1. Meddle
2. Dark side
3. Wish you were here
4. The Wall
5. Animals
6. A Saucerfull of Secrets
7. Atom heart mother
8. Obscured by clouds
9. Final cut
10. Piper at the Gates
11. More
12. Ummagumma *(not a fan of the studio album but I do really like the live album)
13. Division bell
14. Momentary lapse of reason
15. endless river (only album I can admit to not listen all the way through yet. So I can’t honestly judge it.)

I’m also partial to the Pulse live album, minus most of the post waters material.
Not partial to Waters or Gilmour on their own. I think they complemented each other’s strengths and weaknesses and we’re best together in the middle of their career. My absolute favorite song is Echoes. It does get tedious in the middle for casual listening, but overall I think it’s absolutly brilliant.

Never had the opportunity to see them live. I did get to see Gilmour solo with Richard Wright in Chicago 13 years ago, and they played echoes live which is enough for me to be happy

Glad to see someone shares my appreciation of Meddle! Pink Floyd is my all time favorite band, with the Stones a close second. Somehow I stupidly never caught one of their shows. Have seen the Stones, Bob Dylan, and some other legends tho.

Albums
1. Meddle
2. Dark Side of the Moon
3. too many choices here..

If anyone hasn't already watched Pink Floyd - Live at Pompeii go do it right now lol. I bought the DVD for it years ago and I almost wore it out Thankfully you can view the whole thing on YouTube now.

 

[NS Mike D]

Yeah, I am the same way. After seeing them at the RW concert I looked them up. Incredible voices....just not my type of music.

give it time. they grow on you. there is so much going in their songs, including the use of empty space, it's inevitable as you hear more and more in each song.

 

[Greybeard]

Don't forget Shine on....that was all about Syd.

That's what I was thinking... Wish you were here? Maybe... though the interviews I've seen say not.

Shine on (you crazy diamond) is without a doubt talking about Syd.

Anyone see the photo taken of him at the studio while recording that album? Almost unrecognizable.



Thinking of Syd Barret always makes me think of Peter Gabriel. Both left at about the same time... Different reasons, yeah, but both were musical geniuses in their own way.

 

[WiscoFishNut]

For your listening pleasure

 

[Waters]

That's what I was thinking... Wish you were here? Maybe... though the interviews I've seen say not.

Shine on (you crazy diamond) is without a doubt talking about Syd.

Anyone see the photo taken of him at the studio while recording that album? Almost unrecognizable.



Thinking of Syd Barret always makes me think of Peter Gabriel. Both left at about the same time... Different reasons, yeah, but both were musical geniuses in their own way.

Yeah, I read that Syd basically just showed up after being gone for years and the band didn't even recognize him.

 

[Waters]

For your listening pleasure

Definitely a classic, post Roger Waters Pink Floyd song

 

[zoomonster]

Yeah with all this social isolation I feel like one of several species of small furry animals gathered together in a cave grooving with a pict. Girlfriend is a nurse practitioner at hospital ICU so can't even see her for some time to come.

 

[NS Mike D]

Yeah, I read that Syd basically just showed up after being gone for years and the band didn't even recognize him.

wish you were here. He was there and yet not. To them, Syd was the band. And yet, he returns to the studio and no one even recognizes him. IMO, this was a massive influence on their song writing.

Now, listen to Wish You Were Here again and think about tragedy of their beloved band mate and inspiration and the shell of himself he's become. Listen to that intro, those first simple chords. Water instantly knew it was a musical expression of how he felt about his friend and the words flowed.

Then listen to the Wall. How Pink builds a Wall around himself to protect himself from the outside world, the isolation. How drugs (self injected and then paramedic dosed) lead him to a fantasy world where he is insensitive and unaware of his outside word. His attempt to rejoin the wold and the cycle (presumably) starts over. It's about the tragedy of Syd, but also how we are all on the edge of the same fate.


I dare you to listen to their songs and not feel haunted by that image of Barrett that was posted knowing the back story.

 

[zoomonster]

wish you were here. He was there and yet not. To them, Syd was the band. And yet, he returns to the studio and no one even recognizes him. IMO, this was a massive influence on their song writing.

Now, listen to Wish You Were Here again and think about tragedy of their beloved band mate and inspiration and the shell of himself he's become. Listen to that intro, those first simple chords. Water instantly knew it was a musical expression of how he felt about his friend and the words flowed.

Then listen to the Wall. How Pink builds a Wall around himself to protect himself from the outside world, the isolation. How drugs (self injected and then paramedic dosed) lead him to a fantasy world where he is insensitive and unaware of his outside word. His attempt to rejoin the wold and the cycle (presumably) starts over. It's about the tragedy of Syd, but also how we are all on the edge of the same fate.


I dare you to listen to their songs and not feel haunted by that image of Barrett that was posted knowing the back story.

Think it was 1978 in Houston I saw them outdoors on Animals tour. Still remember that haunting on screen image they had of Syd crawling through the desert sand during one of the songs. Rained, they cancelled, riot ensued and they did not come back to Houston again for years but that's another story. Probably when I saw them on delicate sound of thunder tour in Astrodome w/o Waters in 80's was the next show.

 

[User1]

Much like NWOBHM influenced Heavy Metal in the US Pink Floyd was the pioneer of prog metal. It takes a while for people to connect the dots but it isn't long before progressive metal heads come back to Floyd. Many will say Rush but at the end of the day Floyd was leading the charge.

Just one mans opinion.

 

[CubsFan]

Cool thread. My favorite album is meddle. I wore out a momentary lapse of reason tape in my car in high school and college. Dark side of the moon and the wall are what got me hooked early on.

my first friend in college was obsessed with perfectly syncing up dark side with the wizard of oz. he’d have his stereo and vhs tied together and he’d record different versions. His roommate and he would race to fill 40s with chew spit. When one of those spilled, I mostly stopped going over to their dorm.

In the end, I think his perfect version started on the 3rd roar of the lion and after dark side was over, he played meddle and then closed it with shine on you crazy diamonds. I really want to try it now. I might be remembering it wrong. Going to have to do some detective work.

 

[Mical]

Since you guys brought it up - one of the toughest shows I've worked but was worth it - was live in Venice. It took weeks of prep and the logistics were a nightmare. But the end product was absolutely worth every minute. Yes we were spent after it but that's history now. Enjoy! (sorry it is long - but these days we all have more time)

 

[CubsFan]

Here’s that oz/ Floyd vid. I’m not sure why I remember meddle and other music aside from dark side. He must have been doing some weird stuff. Funny because he was the only one in our group that didn’t use any psychedelics.

 

[NS Mike D]

That's what I was thinking... Wish you were here? Maybe... though the interviews I've seen say not.

Shine on (you crazy diamond) is without a doubt talking about Syd.

Anyone see the photo taken of him at the studio while recording that album? Almost unrecognizable.



Thinking of Syd Barret always makes me think of Peter Gabriel. Both left at about the same time... Different reasons, yeah, but both were musical geniuses in their own way.

“Although ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ is specifically about Syd, and ‘Wish You Were Here’ has a broader remit, I can’t sing it without thinking about Syd.” Roger Walters.


Following up on your post. Agree Shine On is clearly about Syd, and Wish you Were Here was about Waters writing about not wanting to be isolated in a studio and getting out "in the trenches" while being influenced by the band not being in the studio at the same time, I always thought he was writing about Syd, and I guess later I saw the documentary when he said this, I took the connection as indisputable. Maybe it was sub-conscience. This is why I think it's hard not to make connections with Syd Barrett's mental breakdown to all their songs that carry themes about sanity, society, isolation, etc.

I think over the years I forget about Waters original broader themes in the song.

 

[NS Mike D]

One more thought on Floyd. I am sure I am not alone with nightmarish memories of the cardiac thumping awakening from a recreationally induce semi coma caused by the upper level decibel alarm clocks sounding on Dark Side.

 

[jk_s124]

Cool thread. My favorite album is meddle. I wore out a momentary lapse of reason tape in my car in high school and college. Dark side of the moon and the wall are what got me hooked early on.

my first friend in college was obsessed with perfectly syncing up dark side with the wizard of oz. he’d have his stereo and vhs tied together and he’d record different versions. His roommate and he would race to fill 40s with chew spit. When one of those spilled, I mostly stopped going over to their dorm.

In the end, I think his perfect version started on the 3rd roar of the lion and after dark side was over, he played meddle and then closed it with shine on you crazy diamonds. I really want to try it now. I might be remembering it wrong. Going to have to do some detective work.

I’ll admit to doing the dsotm woz synching more than a few times. Another synch that actually had a little weight to it was “echoes” and the “Jupiter” scene from 2001 A Space Odyssey. There were rumors that Kubrick was a big fan of atom heart mother and had contacted them to do something similar for space odyssey. Fell through and Kubrick was left without a score so reverted to old classical music that was not copyrighted. You can find that synch on utube. Also, separately, I think there was a dispute with Andrew Lloyd Webber over him copying the main riff off of echoes and using it for phantom of the opera.

 

[Billdogg]

The very first time I used headphones I was in my cousins basement. He put animals on the 8-track. I listened to it several times through. It was also my introduction to Pink Floyd. I was hooked.

Saw them 3 times - the first in 1987 in Cleveland where Comfortably Numb was the last live song the love of my life heard. Kim died just a couple months later, then twice at Ohio Stadium. Comfortably Numb is still difficult for me to listen to.

So,
1. Animals
2. Dark side of the moon (I used Time on my stereo to wake up while I was in the service. I probably woke most of the barracks too)
3. Wish You were Here.
4. All of the other albums.

 

[jk_s124]

Getting ready to do my water change.