zamboni
Footballguy
#19 for me and could have been a bit higher. Glad to see several others saw the light.
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FBG'S TOP 100 PINK FLOYD SONGS - #01 - Comfortably Numb from The Wall (1979) (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Anarchy99
- Start date
Flicker, flicker, flicker, blam, pow, pow
Ghost Rider
Footballguy
Not a fan of the original from the debut, but the live versions on ummagumma and pulse are both excellent. I loved this opening the show I saw in KC in ‘94. I was bummed that the show they recorded for the Pulse live concert video didn’t have it. The visuals on the big screen were awesome.
Anarchy99
Footballguy
@worrierking gets a shot at the title . . .
SWIPE RIGHT / AH-HOO, WEREWOLVES OF LONDON
@lardonastick (17 similar songs, 8 of the same Top 10)
@turnjose7 (16 + 7)
Friend of @PIK95 (16 + 7)
@Mt. Man (16 + 7)
@Joe Schmo (15 + 10)
6 others tied at 15 songs
SWIPE LEFT / POOR, POOR, PITIFUL ME
@jabarony (7 + 4)
@Anarchy99 (9 + 6)
4 tied with 11 songs
CHALK RANKINGS (Average songs per list)
lardonastick - 16.81, Yo Mama - 16.16
Friend of PIK95 - 15.48, Yambag - 15.10
PIK95 - 14.90, Ghost Rider - 14.77, Galileo - 14.71, BroncoFreak_2K3 - 14.58, Just Win Baby - 14.56, Dwayne Hoover - 14.29, FatMax - 14.16
Ghoti - 13.85, Rand al Thor - 13.31, worrierking - 13.31, ericttspikes - 13.19
Dr. Octopus - 12.91, BrutalPenguin - 12.69, zamboni - 12.38, Pip's Invitation - 12.23
Mookie Gizzy - 11.94
SWIPE RIGHT / AH-HOO, WEREWOLVES OF LONDON
@lardonastick (17 similar songs, 8 of the same Top 10)
@turnjose7 (16 + 7)
Friend of @PIK95 (16 + 7)
@Mt. Man (16 + 7)
@Joe Schmo (15 + 10)
6 others tied at 15 songs
SWIPE LEFT / POOR, POOR, PITIFUL ME
@jabarony (7 + 4)
@Anarchy99 (9 + 6)
4 tied with 11 songs
CHALK RANKINGS (Average songs per list)
lardonastick - 16.81, Yo Mama - 16.16
Friend of PIK95 - 15.48, Yambag - 15.10
PIK95 - 14.90, Ghost Rider - 14.77, Galileo - 14.71, BroncoFreak_2K3 - 14.58, Just Win Baby - 14.56, Dwayne Hoover - 14.29, FatMax - 14.16
Ghoti - 13.85, Rand al Thor - 13.31, worrierking - 13.31, ericttspikes - 13.19
Dr. Octopus - 12.91, BrutalPenguin - 12.69, zamboni - 12.38, Pip's Invitation - 12.23
Mookie Gizzy - 11.94
Galileo
Footballguy
I had this at #19 on my list, but sort of feel like that is too high for me. This is one of those songs that feels like you are obligated to like if you claim to be a Pink Floyd fan. But, if I am telling the truth, I am not actively seeking this tune when the Pink Floyd mood hits me. It's a cool experience. It is not a regular listen for me. It does mention 3 moons around Uranus, so it's got that going for it.
Anarchy99
Footballguy
The old versions don't wow me, but I do enjoy the 1994 and DG versions. IMO, Dave's fresh coat of paint made the song better than the 60's / old live versions. I generally don't side with updated songs over the originals, but in this situtation, I think that's the case.
PIK95
Footballguy
Another that falls in that 25-32 range for me. I love those live versions as you mentioned.
jabarony
Footballguy
This Claypool Lennon cover is nice!
DocHolliday
Footballguy
Cinderella
DocHolliday
Footballguy
I didn’t include Money on my list and my list is chalky. it’s a good song but I just don’t like it. It is too choppy and empty at times.
Love when Panic covers this. It sounds like it was written for Dave Schools to play bass on it.
Rand al Thor
Footballguy
Money is a little "choppy" and off putting because it's in 7/4 time signature, which definitely is not something that's going to get the ladies out on the dance floor. I think I put Money on my list at 25, but I might leave it off if I had to do it again now that I've given some of these top 100 a new listen. The good part of Money, the guitar solo, is in 4/4 time and that's probably why you may like that part of the song more than the rest of it.
Dwayne Hoover
Footballguy
Was a couple of numbers away from my top 25. Would have been the only Syd song that made it, maybe on another timeline, I would have voted it in
Anarchy99
Footballguy
#24 - Young Lust from The Wall (1979)
Appeared On: 14 ballots (out of 33 . . . 42.4%)
Total Points: 160 points (out of 825 possible points . . . 19.4%)
Top Rankers: @BassNBrew Friend of @PIK95 @BroncoFreak_2K3 @Anarchy99 @worrierking
Highest Rankings: 4 and 5
Instrumental Demo, Demo With Vocals, Extended B Side Version, Film Version, Live Version, Bryan Adams in Berlin, London - 2011
Live Performances: PF: 31, RW: 225
Covers: Penal Colony, Dogooder, Glenn Hughes, John Law, Celtic Pink Floyd, Amazing Armadillos, Slim Kings
The song originally was an instrumental but was changed during production. The lead vocal in the song is sung entirely by Dave. The song has a distinctive, raw hard rock sound that stands out among Pink Floyd's body of work. Pink has become a rock star, and is always away from home as a result of his demanding lifestyle. As a result, he begins inviting groupies into his room between concerts, having not seen his wife in months. The end of the song is part of a dialogue between Pink and a telephone operator; it is at this point he realizes that his wife has been having an affair for some time, and his mental breakdown accelerates.
Roger: "When I wrote this song, the words were quite different. It was about leaving school, wandering about town, hanging around outside porno movies and dirty bookshops and things like that — being very interested in sex but too frightened to get involved. Now it’s completely different. That was a function of all of us working together on the record, particularly Dave Gilmour and Bob Ezrin. It reminds me very much of a song we recorded years and years ago called The Nile Song, it's very similar, Dave sings it in a very similar way. I think he sings Young Lust terrific, I love the vocals. But it's meant to be a pastiche of any young rock and roll band out on the road." The finished track is one of the final creative collaborations between Roger and David. Only the chorus survived Waters’ original demo intact. The rest of the music was rewritten by Gilmour.
The most important part of the song in terms of the narrative, however, is the spoken dialogue at the end. This consists of Pink attempting to call his wife at home in England, only to hear another man answering when the operator tries to connect him, who rapidly hangs up when he hears the words 'Mr Floyd.'
The dialogue with the operator was the result of arrangement Waters made with a friend in Britain during the recording of the album in Los Angeles. He knew that the operator actually had to believe he'd caught his wife having an affair, and didn't inform the operator she was being recorded. At a prearranged time, he made a collect call posing as "Mr. Floyd" for "Mrs. Floyd," to his (male) friend in Britain. The friend said "Hello?" and hung up. The first operator Waters used to place the call missed the significance of what had apparently transpired; the second is the one heard on the album.
Roger: "I think it's great; I love that operator on it, I think she's wonderful. She didn't know what was happening at all, the way she picks up on... I mean it's been edited a bit, but the way she picks up, all that stuff about 'is there supposed to be someone else there beside your wife?' you know I think is amazing, she really clicked into it straight away. She's terrific!"
Listening to this section is significantly more saddening when one is aware that this incident seems to based on an actual event that occurred during the deterioration of Roger's marraige with his first wife, Judy Trim. It is said that Roger called home while on the road to speak to his wife and another man answered the phone. This forms the final major brick in Pink's wall; his cold and unfaithful wife plunges him into the depths of despair.
Vulture Ranking (out of 165 songs): 22
UCR Ranking (out of 167 songs): 54
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): 22
WMGK Ranking (out of 40 songs): 28
Ranker Ranking (out of 132 songs): 31
Billboard Ranking (out of 50 songs): 12
Vulture Ranking (22 out of 165 songs): Great sound in this Gilmour track. (Waters did the words.) Great vocal track too, and I think the band does a fine job of deconstructing the chugging guitar riff that had fueled so many sex-charged songs before it. The phone rigmarole at the end is supposed to be the rock star calling home, only to have another man pick up his wife’s phone. This is all in keeping with Rock Star Rule No.456 (a)(iv), which says that a rocker can sleep with as many people as he wants on the road, but if his wife or girlfriend cheats on him, he gets to write a song about it.
UCR Ranking (54 out of 167 songs): This song (one of three on the double LP written by Waters and Gilmour together), reflects the lusty self-destruction of the main character via a dirty, blues-rock ditty. On first listen, Young Lust might seem too dumb for a band of this caliber, but between its narrative purpose and Gilmour’s sharp strains of guitar and bellowed vocals, it wins you over.
Louder Ranking (22 out of 50 songs): A rather simple blues-based hard rock song from The Wall that tells the tale of casual sex on the road. The telephone conversation at the end was inspired by a real-life event when Waters phoned home while on tour in 1975 only for a man to answer his home phone, revealing his then wife’s indiscretion. Album co-producer James Guthrie staged a real telephone call to a friend in Los Angeles so he could record the reaction of the operator, who remained unaware she was being recorded.
WMGK Ranking (28 out of 40 songs): There are a lot of rock songs about the loneliness of a rock star, but Empty Spaces really nails it in just over two minutes and in less than thirty words. Even if you’re not rich and famous, this is a devastating line: “What shall we use to fill the empty spaces where we used to talk?” The song then goes into Young Lust, the closest Pink Floyd ever got to AC/DC territory. The narrator is looking for a female companion for the night. But there’s a cost: at the end of the night, the narrator Pink (“Mr. Floyd”) calls his wife and she doesn’t take the call.
Billboard Ranking (12 out of 50 songs): It says something about this song’s blistering 4/4 strut (erupting mid-verse from lead-in track Empty Spaces) that Waters and Gilmour — just about the last two people on the planet who you’d optionally choose to hear cooing “Ooooh, I need a dirty woman/ I need a dirty girl” — make Young Lust legitimately sexy, a roaring expression of stir-crazy horniness that comes across every bit as blood-pumping and unstable as it should. Foreigner must’ve been seething with jealousy the first time they heard it.
Up next . . . The Religion Song.
Appeared On: 14 ballots (out of 33 . . . 42.4%)
Total Points: 160 points (out of 825 possible points . . . 19.4%)
Top Rankers: @BassNBrew Friend of @PIK95 @BroncoFreak_2K3 @Anarchy99 @worrierking
Highest Rankings: 4 and 5
Instrumental Demo, Demo With Vocals, Extended B Side Version, Film Version, Live Version, Bryan Adams in Berlin, London - 2011
Live Performances: PF: 31, RW: 225
Covers: Penal Colony, Dogooder, Glenn Hughes, John Law, Celtic Pink Floyd, Amazing Armadillos, Slim Kings
The song originally was an instrumental but was changed during production. The lead vocal in the song is sung entirely by Dave. The song has a distinctive, raw hard rock sound that stands out among Pink Floyd's body of work. Pink has become a rock star, and is always away from home as a result of his demanding lifestyle. As a result, he begins inviting groupies into his room between concerts, having not seen his wife in months. The end of the song is part of a dialogue between Pink and a telephone operator; it is at this point he realizes that his wife has been having an affair for some time, and his mental breakdown accelerates.
Roger: "When I wrote this song, the words were quite different. It was about leaving school, wandering about town, hanging around outside porno movies and dirty bookshops and things like that — being very interested in sex but too frightened to get involved. Now it’s completely different. That was a function of all of us working together on the record, particularly Dave Gilmour and Bob Ezrin. It reminds me very much of a song we recorded years and years ago called The Nile Song, it's very similar, Dave sings it in a very similar way. I think he sings Young Lust terrific, I love the vocals. But it's meant to be a pastiche of any young rock and roll band out on the road." The finished track is one of the final creative collaborations between Roger and David. Only the chorus survived Waters’ original demo intact. The rest of the music was rewritten by Gilmour.
The most important part of the song in terms of the narrative, however, is the spoken dialogue at the end. This consists of Pink attempting to call his wife at home in England, only to hear another man answering when the operator tries to connect him, who rapidly hangs up when he hears the words 'Mr Floyd.'
The dialogue with the operator was the result of arrangement Waters made with a friend in Britain during the recording of the album in Los Angeles. He knew that the operator actually had to believe he'd caught his wife having an affair, and didn't inform the operator she was being recorded. At a prearranged time, he made a collect call posing as "Mr. Floyd" for "Mrs. Floyd," to his (male) friend in Britain. The friend said "Hello?" and hung up. The first operator Waters used to place the call missed the significance of what had apparently transpired; the second is the one heard on the album.
Roger: "I think it's great; I love that operator on it, I think she's wonderful. She didn't know what was happening at all, the way she picks up on... I mean it's been edited a bit, but the way she picks up, all that stuff about 'is there supposed to be someone else there beside your wife?' you know I think is amazing, she really clicked into it straight away. She's terrific!"
Listening to this section is significantly more saddening when one is aware that this incident seems to based on an actual event that occurred during the deterioration of Roger's marraige with his first wife, Judy Trim. It is said that Roger called home while on the road to speak to his wife and another man answered the phone. This forms the final major brick in Pink's wall; his cold and unfaithful wife plunges him into the depths of despair.
Vulture Ranking (out of 165 songs): 22
UCR Ranking (out of 167 songs): 54
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): 22
WMGK Ranking (out of 40 songs): 28
Ranker Ranking (out of 132 songs): 31
Billboard Ranking (out of 50 songs): 12
Vulture Ranking (22 out of 165 songs): Great sound in this Gilmour track. (Waters did the words.) Great vocal track too, and I think the band does a fine job of deconstructing the chugging guitar riff that had fueled so many sex-charged songs before it. The phone rigmarole at the end is supposed to be the rock star calling home, only to have another man pick up his wife’s phone. This is all in keeping with Rock Star Rule No.456 (a)(iv), which says that a rocker can sleep with as many people as he wants on the road, but if his wife or girlfriend cheats on him, he gets to write a song about it.
UCR Ranking (54 out of 167 songs): This song (one of three on the double LP written by Waters and Gilmour together), reflects the lusty self-destruction of the main character via a dirty, blues-rock ditty. On first listen, Young Lust might seem too dumb for a band of this caliber, but between its narrative purpose and Gilmour’s sharp strains of guitar and bellowed vocals, it wins you over.
Louder Ranking (22 out of 50 songs): A rather simple blues-based hard rock song from The Wall that tells the tale of casual sex on the road. The telephone conversation at the end was inspired by a real-life event when Waters phoned home while on tour in 1975 only for a man to answer his home phone, revealing his then wife’s indiscretion. Album co-producer James Guthrie staged a real telephone call to a friend in Los Angeles so he could record the reaction of the operator, who remained unaware she was being recorded.
WMGK Ranking (28 out of 40 songs): There are a lot of rock songs about the loneliness of a rock star, but Empty Spaces really nails it in just over two minutes and in less than thirty words. Even if you’re not rich and famous, this is a devastating line: “What shall we use to fill the empty spaces where we used to talk?” The song then goes into Young Lust, the closest Pink Floyd ever got to AC/DC territory. The narrator is looking for a female companion for the night. But there’s a cost: at the end of the night, the narrator Pink (“Mr. Floyd”) calls his wife and she doesn’t take the call.
Billboard Ranking (12 out of 50 songs): It says something about this song’s blistering 4/4 strut (erupting mid-verse from lead-in track Empty Spaces) that Waters and Gilmour — just about the last two people on the planet who you’d optionally choose to hear cooing “Ooooh, I need a dirty woman/ I need a dirty girl” — make Young Lust legitimately sexy, a roaring expression of stir-crazy horniness that comes across every bit as blood-pumping and unstable as it should. Foreigner must’ve been seething with jealousy the first time they heard it.
Up next . . . The Religion Song.
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Looks like this would not have made top 25 if not for my over-ranking.
zamboni
Footballguy
Loves me some Glenn Hughes, but not a fan of his vocals there. Hell of a tribute lineup though:
Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Trapeze, Hughes/Thrall, Black Sabbath) - Vocals
Elliot Easton (The Cars) - Lead Guitar
Tony Franklin (The Firm, David Gilmour, Kate Bush, Whitesnake, Blue Murder, Roy Harper) - Bass
Aynsley Dunbar (Frank Zappa, Lou Reed, Jefferson Starship, Jeff Beck, David Bowie, Whitesnake, Sammy Hagar, UFO, Journey) - Drums
Bob Kulick (Lou Reed) - Electric Guitar
Billy Sherwood - Keyboards
Anarchy99
Footballguy
Would have ranked #24 even if you didn’t rank it at all.
Dang, surprising our individual votes have so little impact.
zamboni
Footballguy
Maths, as the band members would say.
Anarchy99
Footballguy
The higher up the list we get, the less impact individual votes will have. Young Lust outscored Astronomy Domine by 32 points. There will be a couple of instances in the remaining songs where a song might drop a few spots if someone dumped their Top 5 vote altogether, but that's only because the vote totals in that bandwidth were pretty close.
ericttspikes
Footballguy
I agree with this. It's a good tune, and truly a classic Floyd tune. For me, it moves like a beat too slow or something. I get anxious listening to it cuz I want it to speed up. Not sure what that's about, but it's a bit off putting to listen to and don't really seek it out. Was fun to see Nick Mason play this live for the nostalgia of it though. He does a great job on all these OG Floyd tunes live.
DocHolliday
Footballguy
I’m a guitar player that and love Gilmore’s playing style and tone but I can’t recall the solo in Money. I have no desire to listen to the song in order to get to the solo either. It’s an issue with me though since the song is enjoyed my many.
zamboni
Footballguy
The solo is what keeps me interested, especially the big finish with those blistering high notes.
Ghost Rider
Footballguy
Young Lust is a good song, but not one of my favorites, by the band or from The Wall.
Anarchy99
Footballguy
I like the studio version of Money, but I love all the live versions of Money. Since I generally listen to recordings of live shows way more than I do their albums, those performances raise my enthusiasm for the song. Like many other songs, their live performances are longer and extended and are often way different. IMO, all the studio versions of DSOTM have been played to death. I hadn't listened to any of them by choice in years (prior to doing the countdown). I wouldn't skip one of those songs if one came on the radio or on shuffle play, but I can't remember the last time I voluntarily picked to listen to DSOTM.
DocHolliday
Footballguy
I ranked Young Lust 6. For those of us that lean towards hard rock, this song scratches that itch and scratches it well. Gilmours vocals are perfect for the song. The guitar riff is awesome and I love the messy solo. I’m surprised this song didn’t end up around number 15. It is a very different song style from the usual trippy, spacey, smooth PF tunes and shows just how talented PF is. They can do their normal thing like no other band but also make rock songs that rock with the best of them.
Anarchy99
Footballguy
I had it at 7. To echo what I posted about Money, the live versions from The Wall shows (with 13 performers on stage including dual drum kits) were all pretty epic, and the Empty Spaces - What Shall We Do Now? - Young Lust portion was mike drop worthy. I had a friend in high school that was big into bootlegs and had a stereo system that cost more than a car. He used to crank that section of The Wall shows so loud that belongings would bounce up and down with the bass/drums and the entire house would shake. Good times. Give me this version of Floyd all day long and twice on Sunday compared to WYWH (the song). But that's me. Other opinions will vary.
Dan Lambskin
Footballguy
Same
zamboni
Footballguy
I had it a 4. Didn't know why and now I see all these references to hard rock and know why. Of course I was the guy in the recent 1982 Tim countdown that thought most of the list was hot garbage.
Anarchy99
Footballguy
These days, I have seen people in music threads throwing terms around like "hot garbage." People can like or like whatever they want . . . but is pronouncing something as hot garbage really helpful to anyone? There are threads with 100+ people expressing their love for The Beatles. If someone randomly chimed in beating their chest that their music sux, what does that accomplish? The 100+ people there having a grand old time are going to say WHATEVS (or worse) . . . the poster is not going to convince anyone the band's music is terrible . . . and all of a sudden there will be people sniping at each other. I'd say that I wonder why people are prone to rain on other people's parades, but I've been around the FFA long enough to know that is a question not worth asking.
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PIK95
Footballguy
Yeah, come on people. Have some class!
DocHolliday
Footballguy
This is an important post because it is easy for many of us to give our opinions in an unpleasant and unhelpful way. I rarely agree with Tim’s music threads but they are Tim’s rankings and I have learned to just enjoy his work. I don’t have the time to build such lists and appreciate the effort made by anyone that starts these music and movie threads.
The opinions and discussion make these threads. Some of the “argumentative” banter is quite enjoyable as long as it’s not personal or too harsh.
We don't need no education.
I did elaborate that it was strictly my opinion and explained that the product of the day pushed me into country music for many years. Also commented and thanked people for bringing back younger nostalgia even though I was a fan of the pop music at the time.
Dwayne Hoover
Footballguy
This is great
Dwayne Hoover
Footballguy
Young Lust is a great song, probably had it a little lower than it should be but there were tough decisions all around it
Yambag
Footballguy
X4, didn't make my top 25. Probably would have been in top 30 though.
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
Got to like Floyd showing their hard rock chops once in a while. Roger wrote it but Gilmour owns it.
jabarony
Footballguy
Yeah. All these years I assumed the operator was part of the script. She was probably better than anything they would have scripted.
BroncoFreak_2K3
sucker for Orange
Anyone ever heard of the cover band Pure Floyd. Ran across them in a PF video dive on Facebook. They are damn good. UK guys.
Website
Comfortably Numb
Empty Spaces and Young Lust
Website
Comfortably Numb
Empty Spaces and Young Lust
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May want to check those links....
Pure Floyd - Empty Spaces & Young Lust (Live at Diss)
Pure Floyd performing Empty Spaces, What shall we do now and Young Lust at Diss Corn Hall as part of their 20th anniversary tour.Please head to the Pure Floy...
www.youtube.com
BroncoFreak_2K3
sucker for Orange
thanks fixed
Anarchy99
Footballguy
#23 - The Great Gig In The Sky from The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)
Appeared On: 16 ballots (out of 33 . . . 48.5%)
Total Points: 165 points (out of 825 possible points . . . 20.0%)
Top Rankers: @ericttspikes @Ridgeback @Ghost Rider @BroncoFreak_2K3 @PIK95
Highest Ranking: 4
Unreleased Version, Alternate Version, Early Mix, The Mortality Sequence, The Mortality Sequence (Brighton - 1972), PF with Claire - 1973, London - 1974, Boston - 1975
Roger with Clare - 1987, DSOT, DG's PF with Clare - 1990, Pompeii - 2016
Live Performances: PF: 173, DG'S PF: 227, RW: 301, DG: 19
Covers: Phish, Dream Theater, Lulu Hughes, Wave Mechanics Union, Flaming Lips & Henry Rollins, Last Hurrah!, Chess Galea (This women belts out the vocal . . . IIRC she's in Brit Floyd)
IIRC, the first entry ranked in the Top 25 by all outside sources. The song was called The Religion Song during recording and was switched to The Religious Section and then The Mortality Sequence. The song is about life, gradually descending into death. Hence the angrier and more intense first half with a dying person refusing to "go gently into that good night." The second half is gentler, as the dying person gives into the inevitable and fades away. Wright explained: "For me, one of the pressures of being in the band was this constant fear of dying because of all the traveling we were doing in planes and on the motorways in America and in Europe."
Early on, this was just a piano sequence composed by Wright which the band didn't know what to do with. As the album came together, they resurrected it and turned it into a song. Dave joined in later with his slide guitar and Clare Torry's vocals were added. Wright explained: "I went away and came up with this piece, and everyone liked the chord sequence. It was a question of 'What do we do with it?' and we decided to get someone to sing. Clare Torry came in and she thought we were going to give her the top line and lyrics. We said, 'Just busk it.' She was terrified – 'I don't know what to do.' 'Just go in and improvise.' Which she did, and out came this extraordinary, wonderful vocal. She ends shivers down my spine. No words, just her wailing — but it's got something in it that's very seductive."
The band played the instrumental track to Torry and asked her to improvise a vocal. At first she struggled to find what was needed, but then she was inspired to sing as if she were an instrument herself. Torry performed 2 complete takes, the second more emotional than the first, but when Gilmour asked for a third take she stopped halfway through, feeling that she was becoming repetitive and had already done the best she could. The final album track was assembled from all 3 takes.
As part of the production of the album, the band asked random people a series of 12 questions and recorded their answers. One of the people they asked was Paul McCartney, but the band felt his answers were too bland (and he was interviewed so often that he didn't really put much thought in his answers). McCartney's guitarist from Wings, Henry McCulloch, is the voice that says,”I don’t know, I was really drunk at the time.”
A bootleg of one PF's DSOTM preview performances, Tour 72, began circulating before the real album and sold more than 100,000 copies.(That's a BIG number for a bootleg). Torry's performance was recorded just 6 weeks before the album was released . . . making it the last segment recorded and mixed. Initially Torry only received £30 for her performance. Over 30 years later, she sued the band for a half-share of the copyright, song writing credit, and royalties. She won in court and a settlement was reached, thought to be worth millions. In a 2012 Rolling Stone readers poll, TGGITS was voted the second best vocal performance of all time (behind Bohemian Rhapsody).
Up next, the last remaining non-Roger era song.
Vulture Ranking (out of 165 songs): 14
UCR Ranking (out of 167 songs): 25
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): 9
WMGK Ranking (out of 40 songs): 18
Ranker Ranking (out of 132 songs): 13
Billboard Ranking (out of 50 songs): 21
Vulture Ranking (14 out of 165 songs): An odd bit of Floydiana: This pretty Wright track was turned into the extravagant finale of TDSOTM’s first side when engineer Alan Parsons brought a singer named Clare Torry into the studio one night to offer some vocals. Asked to wail, wail she did. Part Cassandra convulsed at the state of a world that she had predicted, part mother crying over her earth, part lover lost, part human facing fate. Who’s going to argue with her? (Rolling Stone’s original review of TDSOTM, incidentally, opined that the track should have been “shortened or dispensed with.”) Torry was paid scale; decades later she was finally compensated more appropriately and given co-writing credit, though terms were not disclosed. Let’s do the math, sticking with our three-cents-per-album-per-track supposition. The Great Gig in the Sky might have delivered Wright $1.3 million in songwriting royalties. If Terry had been given just one cent per disc sold, the 2004 settlement would have been worth some $400,000.
UCR Ranking (25 out of 167 songs): There's no greater contribution to the PF catalog by someone other than a band member, engineer or producer than Clare Torry’s quaking vocal performance on TGGITS. Wright came up the beautiful piano and organ progression, but it was hired gun Torry who took the track into outer space. Envisioning herself as an instrument, she somehow merged the blood-curdling terror of shuffling off this mortal coil with the ecstasy-infused pleasure of earthly delights. What soul, what scope, what beauty.
Louder Ranking (9 out of 50 songs): Closing the first side of DSOTM after the sensory overload of On The Run and Time, TGGITS is a disquieting come-down that ponders mortality. It’s Rick Wright’s unsurpassed contribution to Pink Floyd as his simply embellished piano chords rise above a snippet of the Lord’s Prayer and English philosopher Malcolm Muggeridge’s thoughts on death “I am not afraid of dying, any time will do, I don’t mind” – before session singer Clare Torry temporarily obliterates the calm with a primal wordless howl that seems to rail against dying before bowing to the inevitable in what Gilmour describes as “that orgasmic sound we know and love”. The song was among the last to be completed as the album took shape. Engineer Alan Parsons recommended Torry who admits she didn’t know much about Pink Floyd before she arrived at the Abbey Road session. According to Wright, “We knew what we wanted. Not exactly musically but we knew we wanted someone to improvise over this piece. We said, ‘Think about death think about horror, whatever’.” Torry recalls that the band didn’t seem to know what they wanted, but after the first take they knew what they didn’t want. “They said, ‘No no. We don’t want any words’. That really stumped me. I thought, ‘I have to pretend to be an instrument’. That gave me an avenue to explore.” Wright remembered: “She went into the studio and did it really quickly. Then she came back out looking embarrassed saying: ‘I’m really sorry’, while the rest of us were goin: ‘This is really great.’” In 2004, Torry began legal proceedings against Pink Floyd, claiming co-authorship of the song. The case was settled out of court, details unknown, but she now gets a credit alongside Wright on the album.
WMGK Ranking (18 out of 40 songs): Composed by Rick Wright, the instrumental featured wordless vocals from Clare Torry, who – decades later – got a songwriting credit, thanks to her improvisded vocals. Her instructions were that there were no lyrics, but the song was about death, and her vocals needed to convey that. In two takes, she nailed it.
Billboard Ranking (21 out of 50 songs): Perhaps an “interlude” by virtue of being entirely wordless — minus the well-chosen “I am not frightened of dying” spoken-word sample in the song’s intro — but still one of the most memorable tracks on Dark Side, thanks to one of Rick Wright’s greatest spotlight piano riffs and a stop-the-world, non-verbal vocal from soul singer Clare Torry. Despite coaxing her to classic-rock immortality through her solo, the sessions for Great Gig were about as awkward as you’d expect, Waters recounting the recording in ’03: “Clare came into the studio one day, and we said, ‘There’s no lyrics. It’s about dying – have a bit of a sing on that, girl.'”
Appeared On: 16 ballots (out of 33 . . . 48.5%)
Total Points: 165 points (out of 825 possible points . . . 20.0%)
Top Rankers: @ericttspikes @Ridgeback @Ghost Rider @BroncoFreak_2K3 @PIK95
Highest Ranking: 4
Unreleased Version, Alternate Version, Early Mix, The Mortality Sequence, The Mortality Sequence (Brighton - 1972), PF with Claire - 1973, London - 1974, Boston - 1975
Roger with Clare - 1987, DSOT, DG's PF with Clare - 1990, Pompeii - 2016
Live Performances: PF: 173, DG'S PF: 227, RW: 301, DG: 19
Covers: Phish, Dream Theater, Lulu Hughes, Wave Mechanics Union, Flaming Lips & Henry Rollins, Last Hurrah!, Chess Galea (This women belts out the vocal . . . IIRC she's in Brit Floyd)
IIRC, the first entry ranked in the Top 25 by all outside sources. The song was called The Religion Song during recording and was switched to The Religious Section and then The Mortality Sequence. The song is about life, gradually descending into death. Hence the angrier and more intense first half with a dying person refusing to "go gently into that good night." The second half is gentler, as the dying person gives into the inevitable and fades away. Wright explained: "For me, one of the pressures of being in the band was this constant fear of dying because of all the traveling we were doing in planes and on the motorways in America and in Europe."
Early on, this was just a piano sequence composed by Wright which the band didn't know what to do with. As the album came together, they resurrected it and turned it into a song. Dave joined in later with his slide guitar and Clare Torry's vocals were added. Wright explained: "I went away and came up with this piece, and everyone liked the chord sequence. It was a question of 'What do we do with it?' and we decided to get someone to sing. Clare Torry came in and she thought we were going to give her the top line and lyrics. We said, 'Just busk it.' She was terrified – 'I don't know what to do.' 'Just go in and improvise.' Which she did, and out came this extraordinary, wonderful vocal. She ends shivers down my spine. No words, just her wailing — but it's got something in it that's very seductive."
The band played the instrumental track to Torry and asked her to improvise a vocal. At first she struggled to find what was needed, but then she was inspired to sing as if she were an instrument herself. Torry performed 2 complete takes, the second more emotional than the first, but when Gilmour asked for a third take she stopped halfway through, feeling that she was becoming repetitive and had already done the best she could. The final album track was assembled from all 3 takes.
As part of the production of the album, the band asked random people a series of 12 questions and recorded their answers. One of the people they asked was Paul McCartney, but the band felt his answers were too bland (and he was interviewed so often that he didn't really put much thought in his answers). McCartney's guitarist from Wings, Henry McCulloch, is the voice that says,”I don’t know, I was really drunk at the time.”
A bootleg of one PF's DSOTM preview performances, Tour 72, began circulating before the real album and sold more than 100,000 copies.(That's a BIG number for a bootleg). Torry's performance was recorded just 6 weeks before the album was released . . . making it the last segment recorded and mixed. Initially Torry only received £30 for her performance. Over 30 years later, she sued the band for a half-share of the copyright, song writing credit, and royalties. She won in court and a settlement was reached, thought to be worth millions. In a 2012 Rolling Stone readers poll, TGGITS was voted the second best vocal performance of all time (behind Bohemian Rhapsody).
Up next, the last remaining non-Roger era song.
Vulture Ranking (out of 165 songs): 14
UCR Ranking (out of 167 songs): 25
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): 9
WMGK Ranking (out of 40 songs): 18
Ranker Ranking (out of 132 songs): 13
Billboard Ranking (out of 50 songs): 21
Vulture Ranking (14 out of 165 songs): An odd bit of Floydiana: This pretty Wright track was turned into the extravagant finale of TDSOTM’s first side when engineer Alan Parsons brought a singer named Clare Torry into the studio one night to offer some vocals. Asked to wail, wail she did. Part Cassandra convulsed at the state of a world that she had predicted, part mother crying over her earth, part lover lost, part human facing fate. Who’s going to argue with her? (Rolling Stone’s original review of TDSOTM, incidentally, opined that the track should have been “shortened or dispensed with.”) Torry was paid scale; decades later she was finally compensated more appropriately and given co-writing credit, though terms were not disclosed. Let’s do the math, sticking with our three-cents-per-album-per-track supposition. The Great Gig in the Sky might have delivered Wright $1.3 million in songwriting royalties. If Terry had been given just one cent per disc sold, the 2004 settlement would have been worth some $400,000.
UCR Ranking (25 out of 167 songs): There's no greater contribution to the PF catalog by someone other than a band member, engineer or producer than Clare Torry’s quaking vocal performance on TGGITS. Wright came up the beautiful piano and organ progression, but it was hired gun Torry who took the track into outer space. Envisioning herself as an instrument, she somehow merged the blood-curdling terror of shuffling off this mortal coil with the ecstasy-infused pleasure of earthly delights. What soul, what scope, what beauty.
Louder Ranking (9 out of 50 songs): Closing the first side of DSOTM after the sensory overload of On The Run and Time, TGGITS is a disquieting come-down that ponders mortality. It’s Rick Wright’s unsurpassed contribution to Pink Floyd as his simply embellished piano chords rise above a snippet of the Lord’s Prayer and English philosopher Malcolm Muggeridge’s thoughts on death “I am not afraid of dying, any time will do, I don’t mind” – before session singer Clare Torry temporarily obliterates the calm with a primal wordless howl that seems to rail against dying before bowing to the inevitable in what Gilmour describes as “that orgasmic sound we know and love”. The song was among the last to be completed as the album took shape. Engineer Alan Parsons recommended Torry who admits she didn’t know much about Pink Floyd before she arrived at the Abbey Road session. According to Wright, “We knew what we wanted. Not exactly musically but we knew we wanted someone to improvise over this piece. We said, ‘Think about death think about horror, whatever’.” Torry recalls that the band didn’t seem to know what they wanted, but after the first take they knew what they didn’t want. “They said, ‘No no. We don’t want any words’. That really stumped me. I thought, ‘I have to pretend to be an instrument’. That gave me an avenue to explore.” Wright remembered: “She went into the studio and did it really quickly. Then she came back out looking embarrassed saying: ‘I’m really sorry’, while the rest of us were goin: ‘This is really great.’” In 2004, Torry began legal proceedings against Pink Floyd, claiming co-authorship of the song. The case was settled out of court, details unknown, but she now gets a credit alongside Wright on the album.
WMGK Ranking (18 out of 40 songs): Composed by Rick Wright, the instrumental featured wordless vocals from Clare Torry, who – decades later – got a songwriting credit, thanks to her improvisded vocals. Her instructions were that there were no lyrics, but the song was about death, and her vocals needed to convey that. In two takes, she nailed it.
Billboard Ranking (21 out of 50 songs): Perhaps an “interlude” by virtue of being entirely wordless — minus the well-chosen “I am not frightened of dying” spoken-word sample in the song’s intro — but still one of the most memorable tracks on Dark Side, thanks to one of Rick Wright’s greatest spotlight piano riffs and a stop-the-world, non-verbal vocal from soul singer Clare Torry. Despite coaxing her to classic-rock immortality through her solo, the sessions for Great Gig were about as awkward as you’d expect, Waters recounting the recording in ’03: “Clare came into the studio one day, and we said, ‘There’s no lyrics. It’s about dying – have a bit of a sing on that, girl.'”
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Ghost Rider
Footballguy
I like that Clare Torry was eventually given a co-writing credit for this song, as her improvised vocal is a big part of what makes it so good. Gorgeous music as well. I ranked this 8th and it could have been even higher. Such a unique and amazing song.
jabarony
Footballguy
Wonderful song. My 2nd favorite on DSOTM. Unfortunately I can't sing along with it for the injury risk.
Anarchy99
Footballguy
#22 - On The Turning Away from A Momentary Lapse Of Reason (1987)
Appeared On: 19 ballots (out of 33 . . . 57.6%)
Total Points: 184 points (out of 825 possible points . . . 22.3%)
Top Rankers: @FatMax @worrierking @Galileo @DocHolliday @PIK95
Highest Ranking: 3, 3, 5
Atlanta - 1987 (Live B Side), Long Island - 1988 (DSOT Extended Version), Venice - 1989, Amnesty International - 1991, Columbia - 1992, Pulse, Venice - 2006
Live Performances: DG'S PF: 288, DG: 6
Covers: Richie Havens, Randy Jackson, Vanishing Point, Beyond The Pale, Cannata, Oceans Of Slumber, Conqueror, Fleesh, Matt Turk, Brit Floyd
We say goodbye to Dave's incarnation of the band. This song is about how people turn away from the "weak and the weary," despite the fact that suffering is such a big problem in the world. The song references issues of poverty and oppression, lamenting on the tendency of people to turn away from those afflicted with such conditions. It ends on a hopeful note, with the last stanza beginning, "no more turning away..."
Dave: Turning Away is about the political situations in the world. We have these rather right-wing conservative governments that don't seem to care about many things other than looking after themselves. It's a social commentary I suppose — one can't say much more than that. We did argue at length about whether in the last verse one should get preachy, but in the end we said 'Let's preach!' Anthony Moore, a friend of mine — he came up with the basic idea and wrote the first set of lyrics, so I can't claim to have been the instigator of it—but as soon as I saw them, I said 'That's perfect, that's exactly what we want.'"
Gilmour ended up handing drum duties on OTTA to Jim Keltner, reportedly because Mason was struggling with the rhythmic complexities. Jon Carin added synths, while Tony Levin played bass. Gilmour then brought in Wright, who'd been expelled by Waters, to add some additional organ and backing vocals. In the end, Wright was credited, but most of his parts were reportedly discarded. "Both Nick and Rick were catatonic in terms of their playing ability at the beginning," Gilmour said. "Neither of them played on this at all really. In my view, they'd been destroyed by Roger." Unfortunately, Rick Wright's one keyboard solo on the album, which was in this song, ended up on the cutting-room floor. Rick: "...not because they didn't like it, they just thought it didn't fit." Additionally, the song was originally supposed to have orchestral accompaniment, composed by Bob Ezrin and Jon Carin, though this idea was dropped as well.
OTTA was Moore's "original idea," Dave pointed out, "but things got changed around an awful lot." There were "millions of rewrites. Basically, the last verses were completely steered into a more positive thing – and I wrote the last verses." Gilmour described the results back then as an exploration of very Waters-like "political situations in the world," the truth is On the Turning Away ultimately displayed an ardent optimism that his former writing partner had struggled to inhabit. In the end, that was a credit to Gilmour rather than any outside influence. "I have nothing against any musician wanting to use their voice to expound their philosophical or political views," Gilmour conveyed. "Bob Dylan's early, very hardcore political songs are what I grew up with. But I admit I'm not really vocal enough and clear enough. I'm afraid I live my life in shades of gray."
Up next, have no fear, our first #1 song is here.
Vulture Ranking (out of 165 songs): 94
UCR Ranking (out of 167 songs): 97
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): 24
WMGK Ranking (out of 40 songs): 39
Ranker Ranking (out of 132 songs): 52
Billboard Ranking (out of 50 songs): NR
Vulture Ranking (94 out of 165 songs): DG’s solo career has been listenable, because the albums are what they are; earnest excursions into songs he obviously couldn’t get recorded in his day band, with appropriately different tones and approaches, and if you like Gilmour’s guitar playing (I do) you get to hear him play a lot. This is basically just a Gilmour solo song on a PF album. (His co-writer contributed just lyrics.) The musical world it’s constructed in, and the persona of the singer, are substantively different from what PF had been doing previously. That’s fine, but then you have to point out that there’s a reason it would have ended up on a solo album: It wasn’t good enough to be on a Floyd release.
UCR Ranking (97 out of 167 songs): It’s got a languid pace, but the melody is sound, Gilmour’s vocal is understated and sweet and the song’s message against self-involvement remains relevant. But if you just want to hear David stretch out guitar, that half of the song is solid, too.
Louder Ranking (24 out of 50 songs): When RW walked, he didn’t quite take all the politics with him – even if DG's protest song at the mid-point of AMLOR was more wistful than Wall-style polemic (“We have these rather right-wing conservative governments,” he vaguely explained, “that don't seem to care about many things other than looking after themselves”). It might not have been particularly barbed, but OTTA was undeniably beautiful; the synth lead-in and lone vocal are still the stuff of shivers.
WMGK Ranking (39 out of 40 songs): PF’s greatest song from their post-Waters era. Like most of the songs of that period, David Gilmour worked with outside writers (in this case, Anthony Moore) and lots of outside musicians, including keyboardist Jon Carin, bassist Tony Levin and drummer Jim Keltner. Ex-Floyd keyboardist Rick Wright, who soon rejoined the band, played on this song and most of the album.
Appeared On: 19 ballots (out of 33 . . . 57.6%)
Total Points: 184 points (out of 825 possible points . . . 22.3%)
Top Rankers: @FatMax @worrierking @Galileo @DocHolliday @PIK95
Highest Ranking: 3, 3, 5
Atlanta - 1987 (Live B Side), Long Island - 1988 (DSOT Extended Version), Venice - 1989, Amnesty International - 1991, Columbia - 1992, Pulse, Venice - 2006
Live Performances: DG'S PF: 288, DG: 6
Covers: Richie Havens, Randy Jackson, Vanishing Point, Beyond The Pale, Cannata, Oceans Of Slumber, Conqueror, Fleesh, Matt Turk, Brit Floyd
We say goodbye to Dave's incarnation of the band. This song is about how people turn away from the "weak and the weary," despite the fact that suffering is such a big problem in the world. The song references issues of poverty and oppression, lamenting on the tendency of people to turn away from those afflicted with such conditions. It ends on a hopeful note, with the last stanza beginning, "no more turning away..."
Dave: Turning Away is about the political situations in the world. We have these rather right-wing conservative governments that don't seem to care about many things other than looking after themselves. It's a social commentary I suppose — one can't say much more than that. We did argue at length about whether in the last verse one should get preachy, but in the end we said 'Let's preach!' Anthony Moore, a friend of mine — he came up with the basic idea and wrote the first set of lyrics, so I can't claim to have been the instigator of it—but as soon as I saw them, I said 'That's perfect, that's exactly what we want.'"
Gilmour ended up handing drum duties on OTTA to Jim Keltner, reportedly because Mason was struggling with the rhythmic complexities. Jon Carin added synths, while Tony Levin played bass. Gilmour then brought in Wright, who'd been expelled by Waters, to add some additional organ and backing vocals. In the end, Wright was credited, but most of his parts were reportedly discarded. "Both Nick and Rick were catatonic in terms of their playing ability at the beginning," Gilmour said. "Neither of them played on this at all really. In my view, they'd been destroyed by Roger." Unfortunately, Rick Wright's one keyboard solo on the album, which was in this song, ended up on the cutting-room floor. Rick: "...not because they didn't like it, they just thought it didn't fit." Additionally, the song was originally supposed to have orchestral accompaniment, composed by Bob Ezrin and Jon Carin, though this idea was dropped as well.
OTTA was Moore's "original idea," Dave pointed out, "but things got changed around an awful lot." There were "millions of rewrites. Basically, the last verses were completely steered into a more positive thing – and I wrote the last verses." Gilmour described the results back then as an exploration of very Waters-like "political situations in the world," the truth is On the Turning Away ultimately displayed an ardent optimism that his former writing partner had struggled to inhabit. In the end, that was a credit to Gilmour rather than any outside influence. "I have nothing against any musician wanting to use their voice to expound their philosophical or political views," Gilmour conveyed. "Bob Dylan's early, very hardcore political songs are what I grew up with. But I admit I'm not really vocal enough and clear enough. I'm afraid I live my life in shades of gray."
Up next, have no fear, our first #1 song is here.
Vulture Ranking (out of 165 songs): 94
UCR Ranking (out of 167 songs): 97
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): 24
WMGK Ranking (out of 40 songs): 39
Ranker Ranking (out of 132 songs): 52
Billboard Ranking (out of 50 songs): NR
Vulture Ranking (94 out of 165 songs): DG’s solo career has been listenable, because the albums are what they are; earnest excursions into songs he obviously couldn’t get recorded in his day band, with appropriately different tones and approaches, and if you like Gilmour’s guitar playing (I do) you get to hear him play a lot. This is basically just a Gilmour solo song on a PF album. (His co-writer contributed just lyrics.) The musical world it’s constructed in, and the persona of the singer, are substantively different from what PF had been doing previously. That’s fine, but then you have to point out that there’s a reason it would have ended up on a solo album: It wasn’t good enough to be on a Floyd release.
UCR Ranking (97 out of 167 songs): It’s got a languid pace, but the melody is sound, Gilmour’s vocal is understated and sweet and the song’s message against self-involvement remains relevant. But if you just want to hear David stretch out guitar, that half of the song is solid, too.
Louder Ranking (24 out of 50 songs): When RW walked, he didn’t quite take all the politics with him – even if DG's protest song at the mid-point of AMLOR was more wistful than Wall-style polemic (“We have these rather right-wing conservative governments,” he vaguely explained, “that don't seem to care about many things other than looking after themselves”). It might not have been particularly barbed, but OTTA was undeniably beautiful; the synth lead-in and lone vocal are still the stuff of shivers.
WMGK Ranking (39 out of 40 songs): PF’s greatest song from their post-Waters era. Like most of the songs of that period, David Gilmour worked with outside writers (in this case, Anthony Moore) and lots of outside musicians, including keyboardist Jon Carin, bassist Tony Levin and drummer Jim Keltner. Ex-Floyd keyboardist Rick Wright, who soon rejoined the band, played on this song and most of the album.
zamboni
Footballguy
Not sure if this is one of the links, but my favorite non-Clare Torry performance of Gig is from a Delicate Sound of Thunder. Fell in love with those ladies when I saw that show in 1988.
ericttspikes
Footballguy
One of most incredible vocal performances I've ever heard. The best on high volume. Still get goosebumps
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