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‘THE’ Band

Pink Floyd

There is not much to say when you feel numb except for listening to ‘THE’ band – Pink Floyd!! Its been a while since i listened to Floyd. So did that today, and sort of connected to it emotionally. Not many people know that i’m a huge fan of Floyd . Its a personal thing. There is this connection. I bond with their lyrics, especially with tracks from the albums i love  – ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ , ‘Wish You Were Here’ and ‘The Wall’. Its like every album by Floyd has a story behind its creation. I”ll admit it, I LOVE Floyd. I love their lyrics, I love the rhythm, everything.

Its actually hard-pressing to find a band that has had as many genre names attached to them as Pink Floyd. Floyd’s music has been called pop, psychedelic, progressive rock, space rock, stadium rock, theatrical rock and self-indulgent. Whatever you call Floyd’s music, there is no denying the impact they’ve had on the entire music industry. They perfected what others had started, and they created their own place in music by doing what they felt was right.

Every song by Floyd,  in the albums i mentioned above  easily ends up in the top slot. But I choose “Wish You Were Here” above everything else because it’s the strongest distillation of the traits that made this band great. ‘Wish You Were Here’ finds all of Floyd’s finest attributes present and in perfect balance. With lyrics like – “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. What have we found? The same old fears. Wish you were here” Floyd nailed it.

For all of Pink Floyd’s relentless progressiveness — the super huge songs, the rock operas, the music concrete influence, the zany stagecraft — they would have never have achieved so much if they weren’t able to reign the weirdness in and write pristine songs. Actually, “They write great songs” is perhaps the worst  music cliche for any band , but for Pink Floyd, its inescapably true. It is.

I love Floyd and  have this basic rule for all the times i dedicate myself to Floyd, which is –

“When i listen to Pink Floyd, everybody else around should shut the F up!!

 

Akriti Mattu

25 Comments

  1. I remember trekking over 4,000 m last year. I was exhausted, I then sat on a rock and played a few Floyd tracks on my player. The feeling of listening to something so psychedelic while staring at The Dhauladhars of the Himalayas is beyond words.

  2. I never had any Floyd albums. My Partner did though and is well up on their music. He had The Wall, not sure what else, but through him I listened to comfortably numb. You could have added a youtube link, though save making me search for it 😀

    The other band that you could apply similar adjectives to would be the Moody Blues. I did buy one of theirs. Seventh Sojourn, one of my favourite LPs.

  3. i remember a completely filled up bus (in India), got my earphones out started listening to Floyd, the world became silent and it was only me ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, magical
    P.S: i love to call them psychedelic

  4. PINK FLOYD is the best band ever! Their songs are intoxicating.
    My personal fav’s: Comfortably Numb and Hey You. Another well written post Akriti:)

  5. I haven’t heard Floyd much. Wish you were here and Comfortably Numb are my favs of the few i have listened to.
    But what this post has done to me is to initiate an itch to hear and explore more of them.
    And the way it has been written, i am sure i am not going to regret the choice which i am making.
    Thank you for this.

  6. Honestly, I am not big into Pink Floyd (don’t judge me … please!!)
    However.. After reading this… the first thing i am gonna do is dig into the band and their work!!

  7. One of my first albums was ‘Dark Side of the Moon.’ It was in my uncle’s collection of vinyl. I love the Floyd just as much as you do. When they wrote Shine On (you crazy diamond) it was about Syd and they hadn’t seen him for a while. They were in the studio writing the song and Syd walked in. It really shook up the band to see him and right at the time they were writing a song about him.

    Syd died shortly after that.

    My fave songs are Shine On, Pigs, DSotM. Well, all of them.

  8. I can’t tell you how many times I listened to Dark Side of the Moon with headphones in my own little world in the 70-80’s…maybe it is time to do so again! I tried to reply to your last post on my site…but it wouldn’t allow me. What I wanted to say is BELIEVE it is there no matter how lost it is! I hope you find it soon….you won’t believe how amazing your life will be! Blessitude

    • Thank you so much for those kind words. The point in my life where i am right now, i so need to hear this 🙂

  9. I was very lost and very far away from my soul. I dealt with many things from my past and the single biggest thing that made a huge difference was forgiveness…for others…but also for myself. That is the key that allows love to flow freely…and again…love for others…and for yourself. I don’t know your circumstances, but know in your heart that you have the ability to do whatever you set your mind to. And sometimes the simple answer is to just change your mind. Wishing you peace and love on your journey…Blessitude

  10. Floyd was one of the first few bands I was introduced to while I was transitioning from adolescence to adulthood… And I wished I could remember the person who got me hooked on to this band so that I can thank them generously. My personal fav is High Hopes, Shine on you crazy diamonds and Another brick in the wall… Music has a way of making you do time and space travel!

  11. Who doesn’t love Pink Floyd?
    Every genuine music loves the band. Pink Floyd is timeless. Generation after generation
    Listens to Pink Floyd. Be it a engineering student of 20 Or a professor at 60 😛

    Something that connects with every soul. The music, philosophical lyrics, that soothing pause between lines and the eternal questions that have troubled human minds in form of beautiful lyrics. In short EVERYTHING about Pink Floyd. Its not just music but a silent meditative therapy. You feel good and so relaxed.

    Floyd music can’t be described much. One has to listen to it to get the feel of what great music is.
    My personal favourites are -“Wish you were here” and “Coming back to life” which you forgot to mention.
    Btw nice post. You have a great taste of music 🙂 Keep listening!

  12. Feeling ashamed or side corner by not listening Pink Floyed till now, but after reading this i am sure gonna put those on a repeat mode …It was a good real Akriti

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