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Pink Floyd

English rock band

Pink Floyd were an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished for their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics and elaborate live shows. They became a leading band of the progressive rock genre, cited by some as the greatest progressive rock band of all time.

Pink Floyd (1973)
Isn't it strange
How little we change
Isn't it sad we're insane
Playing the game that we know end in tears
The games we've been playing for thousands and thousands and thousands and...
Life is a short, warm moment
And death is a long cold rest.
You get your chance to try in the twinkling of an eye:
Eighty years, with luck, or even less.
Oh by the way, which one's Pink?

Pink Floyd were founded in 1964 by Syd Barrett (guitar, lead vocals), Nick Mason (drums), Roger Waters (bass guitar, vocals), Richard Wright (keyboards, vocals) and Bob Klose (guitars); Klose quit in 1965. Guitarist and vocalist David Gilmour joined in December 1967; Barrett left in April 1968 due to deteriorating mental health.

Song lyrics

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  • Isn't it strange
    How little we change
    Isn't it sad we're insane
    Playing the game that we know end in tears
    The games we've been playing for thousands and thousands and thousands and...

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)

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  • Lime and limpid green, a second scene
    A fight between the blue you once knew.
    Floating down, the sound resounds
    Around the icy waters underground.
  • Emily tries but misunderstands, ah ooh
    She often inclined to borrow somebody's dreams till tomorrow.
    There is no other day
    Let's try it another way
    You'll lose your mind and play
    Free games for may
    See Emily play.

A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)

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Set the controls for the heart of the sun.
 
It's awfully considerate of you to think of me here
And I'm much obliged to you for making it clear that I'm not here.
  • Remember a day before today
    A day when you were young.
    Free to play alone with time
    Evening never came.
  • Over the mountain watching the watcher.
    Breaking the darkness
    Waking the grapevine.
    One inch of love is one inch of shadow
    Love is the shadow that ripens the wine.
    Set the controls for the heart of the sun.
  • It's awfully considerate of you to think of me here
    And I'm much obliged to you for making it clear that I'm not here.

Ummagumma (1969)

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  • In the lazy water meadow I lay me down.
    All around me golden sun flakes settle on the ground.
    Basking in the sunshine of a bygone afternoon
    Bringing sounds of yesterday into this city room.

Atom Heart Mother (1970)

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If I were the moon, I'd be cool.
If I were a book, I would bend for you.
If I were a good man, I'd understand
The spaces between friends.
  • If I were the moon, I'd be cool.
    If I were a book, I would bend for you.
    If I were a good man, I'd understand
    The spaces between friends.
    • If, written by Roger Waters

Meddle (1971)

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  • A cloud of eiderdown
    Draws around me
    Softening a sound.
    Sleepy time, and I lie,
    With my love by my side,
    And she's breathing low.
  • Strangers passing in the street
    By chance two separate glances meet
    And I am you and what I see is me.
    And do I take you by the hand
    And lead you through the land
    And help me understand
    The best I can.

Obscured by Clouds (1972)

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  • Ancient bonds are breaking,
    Moving on and changing sides.
    Dreaming of a new day,
    Cast aside the other way.
    Magic visions stirring,
    Kindled by and burning flames rise in her eyes.
  • Life is a short, warm moment
    And death is a long cold rest.
    You get your chance to try in the twinkling of an eye:
    Eighty years, with luck, or even less.
  • The memories of a man in his old age
    Are the deeds of a man in his prime.
    You shuffle in gloom in the sickroom
    And talk to yourself till you die.
    • Free Four

The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)

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And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
And if there is no room upon the hill
And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too,
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.
~ Brain Damage
For other uses of "the dark side of the Moon", see dark side of the Moon.
 
I've been mad for fucking years, absolutely years
  • I've been mad for fucking years, absolutely years
    Been over the edge for yonks
    Been working with bands son long, I think 'Crikey'
    I've always been mad, I know I've been mad
    Like the most of us, very hard to explain why you're mad
    Even if you're not mad.
  • Long you live and high you fly
    And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry
    And all you touch and all you see
    Is all your life will ever be.
    • Breathe, written by David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Richard Wright
 
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way.
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way.
  • Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
    You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way.
    Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
    Waiting for someone or Speak something to show you the way.
    • Time, written by David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, Richard Wright
  • So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking,
    Racing around to come up behind you again.
    The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older;
    Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.
    • Time
 
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
  • Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
    The time is gone, the song is over,
    Thought I'd something more to say.
    • Time
 
Money, it's a hit.
Don't give me that do goody good bullshit.
 
Money, it's a crime.
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie.
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today.
But if you ask for a rise it's no surprise that they're
Giving none away.
  • Money, get back.
    I'm all right Jack keep your hands off of my stack.
    Money, it's a hit.
    Don't give me that do goody good bullshit.
    I'm in the high-fidelity first class traveling set
    And I think I need a Lear jet.
    • Money, written by Roger Waters
  • Money, it's a crime.
    Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie.
    Money, so they say
    Is the root of all evil today.
    But if you ask for a rise it's no surprise that they're
    Giving none away.
    • Money
  • Us, and them
    And after all we're only ordinary men.
    Me, and you.
    God only knows it's not what we would choose to do.
  • Forward he cried, from the rear, and the front rank died.
    The general sat, and the lines on the map, moved from side to side.
  • And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
    And if there is no room upon the hill
    And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too
    I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.
  • The lunatic is in my head.
    The lunatic is in my head
    You raise the blade, you make the change
    You re-arrange me 'til I'm sane.
    You lock the door
    And throw away the key
    There's someone in my head but it's not me.
    • Brain Damage
  • All that is now
    All that is gone
    All that's to come
    And everything under the sun is in tune
    But the sun is eclipsed by the moon.
 
There's no dark side of the moon really.
Matter of fact it is all dark.
  • There's no dark side of the moon really.
    Matter of fact it is all dark.
    • Eclipse

Wish You Were Here (1975)

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Shine on you crazy diamond.
  • You reached for the secret too soon,
    You cried for the moon.
    Shine on you crazy diamond.
    Threatened by shadows at night,
    And exposed in the light.
    Shine on you crazy diamond.
 
Welcome my son, welcome to the machine.
  • Welcome my son, welcome to the machine.
    Where have you been?
    It's alright we know where you've been.
    You've been in the pipeline, filling in time.
 
Come in here, dear boy, have a cigar.
You're gonna go far, fly high,
You're never gonna die,
You're gonna make it if you try;
They're gonna love you.
  • Come in here, dear boy, have a cigar.
    You're gonna go far, fly high,
    You're never gonna die,
    You're gonna make it if you try;
    They're gonna love you.
  • Oh by the way, which one's Pink?
    • Have a Cigar
  • 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?
  • 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.
    • Wish You Were Here

Animals (1977)

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What do you get for pretending the danger's not real.
Meek and obedient you follow the leader
Down well trodden corridors into the valley of steel.
What a surprise!
A look of terminal shock in your eyes.
Now things are really what they seem.
No, this is no bad dream.
  • You gotta be crazy, you gotta have a real need.
    You gotta sleep on your toes, and when you're on the street,
    You gotta be able to pick out the easy meat with your eyes closed.
    And then moving in silently, down wind and out of sight,
    You gotta strike when the moment is right without thinking.
    • Dogs, written by Roger Waters, David Gilmour
  • What do you get for pretending the danger's not real.
    Meek and obedient you follow the leader
    Down well trodden corridors into the valley of steel.
    What a surprise!
    A look of terminal shock in your eyes.
    Now things are really what they seem.
    No, this is no bad dream.
    • Sheep, written by Roger Waters

The Wall (1979)

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See also: Pink Floyd The Wall (film)

All songs written by Roger Waters, except as noted

 
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.
 
We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
  • So ya, thought ya, might like to go to the show?
    To feel the warm thrill of confusion, that space cadet glow
  • If you wanna find out what's behind these cold eyes
    You'll just have to claw your way through this disguise.
    • In the Flesh?
  • If you should go skating
    On the thin ice of modern life
    Dragging behind you the silent reproach
    Of a million tear-stained eyes
    Don't be surprised when a crack in the ice
    Appears under your feet.
  • When we grew up and went to school
    There were certain teachers who would
    Hurt the children in any way they could
    By pouring their derision
    Upon anything we did
    And exposing every weakness
    However carefully hidden by the kids.
  • We don't need no education
    We don't need no thought control
    No dark sarcasm in the classroom
    Teachers leave them kids alone
    Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
    All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
    All in all you're just another brick in the wall.
 
Hush now baby, baby, don't you cry.
Mother's gonna make all your nightmares come true.
Mother's gonna put all of her fears into you.
Mother's gonna keep you right here under her wing.
She won't let you fly, but she might let you sing.
Mama will keep baby cozy and warm.
Ooooh baby ooooh baby oooooh baby,
Of course mama's gonna help build the wall.
  • Hush now baby, baby, don't you cry.
    Mother's gonna make all your nightmares come true.
    Mother's gonna put all of her fears into you.
    Mother's gonna keep you right here under her wing.
    She won't let you fly, but she might let you sing.
    Mama will keep baby cozy and warm.
    Ooooh baby ooooh baby oooooh baby,
    Of course mama's gonna help build the wall.
  • Did-did-did-did you see the frightened ones?
    Did-did-did-did you hear the falling bombs?
    Did-did-did-did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter when the promise of a brave new world unfurled beneath the clear blue sky?
  • What shall we use
    To fill the empty spaces
    Where we used to talk?
  • I am just a new boy,
    Stranger in this town.
    Where are all the good times?
    Who's gonna show this stranger around?
    Ooooh, I need a dirty woman.
    Ooooh, I need a dirty girl.
    • Young Lust, written by Roger Waters, David Gilmour
  • Day after day, love turns grey
    Like the skin of a dying man.
    Night after night, we pretend its all right
    But I have grown older and
    You have grown colder and
    Nothing is very much fun any more.
    And I can feel one of my turns coming on.
    I feel cold as a razor blade,
    Tight as a tourniquet,
    Dry as a funeral drum.
 
But it was only fantasy.
The wall was too high,
As you can see.
No matter how he tried,
He could not break free.
And the worms ate into his brain.
  • Hey you, out there on your own
    Sitting naked by the phone
    Would you touch me?
    Hey you, with you ear against the wall
    Waiting for someone to call out
    Would you touch me?
    Hey you, would you help me to carry the stone?
    Open your heart, I'm coming home.
  • But it was only fantasy.
    The wall was too high,
    As you can see.
    No matter how he tried,
    He could not break free.
    And the worms ate into his brain.
    • Hey You
 
I have become comfortably numb.
  • There is no pain you are receding
    A distant ship, smoke on the horizon.
    You are only coming through in waves.
    Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying.
    When I was a child I had a fever
    My hands felt just like two balloons.
    Now I've got that feeling once again
    I can't explain you would not understand
    This is not how I am.
    I have become comfortably numb.
  • So ya!
    thought ya!
    Might like to!
    Go to the show!
    To feel the warm thrill of confusion, that space cadet glow.
    I've got some bad news for you sunshine:
    Pink isn't well, he stayed back at the hotel
    And they sent us along as a surrogate band.
    We're gonna find out where you fans really STAND OUT!
    Are there any queers, in the theater tonight? Get'em off against the wall.
    (gainst! The! Wall!)
    Now there's one in the SPOTLIGHT, he don't look right to me.
    Get him up against the wall.
    ('gainst! the!)
    And that one looks Jewish and that one's a COON!
    Who let all this riffraff into the room?!
    There's one smokin' a joint!
    And ANOTHER ONE WITH SPOTS!
    If I had my way, I'd have all of you SHOT!
    • In the Flesh
 
Good morning, Worm your honor.
The crown will plainly show
The prisoner who now stands before you
Was caught red-handed showing feelings
Showing feelings of an almost human nature;
This will not do.
  • Good morning, Worm your honor.
    The crown will plainly show
    The prisoner who now stands before you
    Was caught red-handed showing feelings
    Showing feelings of an almost human nature;
    This will not do.
  • THE EVIDENCE! BEFORE THE COURT IS! INCONTROVERTIBLE!
    There's no need for the jury to RETIRE!
    In all my years of judging, I have never heard before!
    Of someone more deserving of the full penalty of law!
    THE WAY youmade them SUFFER, your exquisite wife and mother
    Fills me with the URGE to DEFECATE!
    (Go on, Judge, shit on him!)
    SINCE! my friend! you have revealed your deepest fear,
    I sentence you to be EXPOSED BEFORE YOUR     PEERS!
    TEAR DOWN THE WAAAAALLL!!!!
    • The Trial
  • All alone, or in twos,
    The ones who really love you
    Walk up and down, outside the wall.
    Some hand in hand,
    And some gathered together in bands,
    The bleeding hearts and the artists make their stand.
    And when they've given you their all,
    Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy
    Banging your heart against some mad bugger's wall.

The Final Cut (1983)

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All songs written by Roger Waters

 
The pie in the sky turned out to be miles too high
And you hide, hide, hide
Behind brown and mild eyes.
  • Tell me true tell me why was Jesus crucified?
    Is it for this that Daddy died?
    Was it for you? Was it me?
    Did i watch too much t.v.?
    Is that a hint of accusation in your eyes?
 
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.
  • 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.
  • Button your lip
    And don't let the shield slip.
    Take a fresh grip on your bulletproof mask.
    And if they try to break down your disguise with their questions
    You can hide, hide, hide
    Behind paranoid eyes.

    You put on your brave face and slip over the road for a jar
    Fixing your grin as you casually lean on the bar
    Laughing too loud at the rest of the world
    With the boys in the crowd
    You can hide, hide, hide
    {"I'll tell you what, mate, I'll give you three blacks, and play you for five, alright?"}
    Behind petrified eyes

    You believed in their stories of fame, fortune and glory
    Now you're lost in a haze of alcohol-soft middle age
    The pie in the sky turned out to be miles too high
    And you hide, hide, hide
    Behind brown and mild eyes.
  • Take all your overgrown infants away somewhere
    And build them a home, a little place of their own.
    The Fletcher Memorial
    Home for Incurable Tyrants and Kings.
  • Fuck all that we've got to get on with these
    Gotta compete with the wily Japanese.
    There's too many home fires burning
    And not enough trees.
    So fuck all that
    We've go to get on with these.
  • Not now John we've got to get on with the film show
    Hollywood waits at the end of the rainbow
    Who cares what it is about as long as the kids go.

A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987)

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Into the distance, a ribbon of black
Stretched to the point of no turning back
A flight of fancy on a windswept field
Standing alone my senses reeled
A fatal attraction is holding me fast,
How can I escape this irresistible grasp?

Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I.

  • Into the distance, a ribbon of black
    Stretched to the point of no turning back
    A flight of fancy on a windswept field
    Standing alone my senses reeled
    A fatal attraction is holding me fast,
    How can I escape this irresistible grasp?

    Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
    Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I.

  • Dogs of war and men of hate
    With no cause, we don't discriminate
    Discovery is to be disowned
    Our currency is flesh and bone
    Hell opened up and put on sale
    Gather 'round and haggle.
  • A restless eye across a weary room
    A glazed look and I was on the road to ruin
    The music played and played as we whirled without end
    No hint, no word her honour to defend
    I will, I will she sighed to my request
    And then she tossed her mane while my resolve was put to the test.
  • Don't accept that what's happening
    Is just a case of others' suffering
    Or you'll find that you're joining in
    The turning away.

The Division Bell (1994)

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Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young
In a world of magnets and miracles
Our thoughts strayed constantly and without boundary
The ringing of the division bell had begun.
  • Her love rains down on me easy as the breeze
    I listen to her breathing it sounds like the waves on the sea
    I was thinking all about her, burning with rage and desire
    We were spinning into darkness; the earth was on fire.
  • Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young
    In a world of magnets and miracles
    Our thoughts strayed constantly and without boundary
    The ringing of the division bell had begun.
    • High Hopes, written by David Gilmour, Polly Samson

Quotes about Pink Floyd

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  • Well, there it is. I think you can pass your verdict as well as I can. My verdict is that it is a little bit of a regression to childhood, but after all, why not?
    • Hans Keller, discussing the then-new group Pink Floyd, The Look of the Week, BBC TV, May 1967.
  • Whereas the guys in Led Zeppelin dressed like sex-hungry geishas, the members of Pink Floyd favored sweaters, blue jeans and sneakers; they looked like their mothers had dressed them. In Pink Floyd's Live at Pompeii DVD, which includes footage from the making of Dark Side of the Moon, the cameras ponderously linger on Pink Floyd eating lunch in the studio canteen during a break from recording sessions. It's entirely possible that this was the most interesting part of making one of the most popular classic-rock albums of all time. It's like Pink Floyd was trying to be as boring as possible while also being insanely popular.
    • Steven Hyden, Twilight of the Gods: A Journey to the End of Classic Rock, 2018, pp. 25–26
  • [Their lifestyle] is interchangeable with the president of just about any bank in England.
    • Bob Ezrin, co-producer of The Wall, quoted in The Billboard Book of Number One Hits, Fred Bronson, 2003, p. 523
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