A view on how music should be viewed (Why Pink Floyd is amazing)

[urangutan]

The thing with, "Dark Side Of The Moon", is it is a concept album. Like Jethro Tulls, "Thick As A Brick", or any opera, there is a story being told and the story has its meaning. Back in the day of taping an album onto a tape, I made the error of playing the B side first. That album by Pink Floyd will live along side, classics to the tune of Beethoven and nobody's opinion will change that. I don't like Bach, Areatha's voice is horrid, U2 are a really bad band and Snoop has no talent. That doesn't deminish their talents, that my opinion should oppose them. Mathematically, I would suppose that simple and complex string harmonies appear as gunshot to the ear and there are some classics that have ages attached to their tunes. Music, all their is, is opinion.

[Poseidon]

Its all about emotions, lyrics carry emotion more effectively that music on its own, the instrumentals of floyd evoke the lyrics in previous songs.

Jimi Hendrix was known for his guitar, but I thought his poetry is what made him really great :

Down the street you can hear her scream you're a disgrace
As she slams the door in his drunken face
And now he stands outside
And all the neighbours start to gossip and drool
He cries oh, girl you must be mad,
What happened to the sweet love you and me had?
Against the door he leans and starts a scene,
And his tears fall and burn the garden green

And so castles made of sand fall in the sea, eventually

A little indian brave who before he was ten,
Played wargames in the woods with his indian friends
And he built up a dream that when he grew up
He would be a fearless warrior indian cheif
Many moons past and more the dream grew strong until
Tomorrow he would sing his first warsong and fight his first battle
But something went wrong, surprise attack killed him in his sleep that night

And so castles made of sand melts into the sea, eventually

There was a young girl, whos heart was a frown
cause she was crippled for life,
And she couldnt speak a sound
And she wished and prayed she could stop living,
So she decided to die
She drew her wheelchair to the edge of the shore
And to her legs she smiled you wont hurt me no more
But then a sight shed never seen made her jump and say
Look a golden winged ship is passing my way

And it really didnt have to stop, it just kept on going...

And so castles made of sand slips into the sea, eventually

[CarolA]

First let me say I really enjoy Pink Floyd, and am old enough to have lots of nostalgic feelings about their music. But I think it is a mistake to say that their lyrics, no matter how good they are, are more important than their music. Having written songs I would have to say it is often a matter of trying to weld some sort of vocal part onto an existing musical structure. Ordinary poetry is much easier and also doesn't have to be yelled at the top of your voice over a rock band! Of course, being able to get your point across in a simple metre is an art in itself - Homer managed to do it at considerable length!
Don't dismiss the guitar licks and the 7/4 feel, as our drummer Didymos Thomas will no doubt know, many musicians can come unstuck very quickly once the time signature gets past 2/4 or 4/4.
Having said all that, I don't think you can dismiss all modern music as garbage. Rap is just a relevant to modern uban life as Floyd were to the 70's (and Homer was to the 700BC's).

[TickTockMan]

Originally Posted by DylanZX

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And 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

Needless to say I have a whole different appreciation of this song at 46 than I did when I was 15 and hearing it for the first time . . . .

[JoseyDaisyChains]

Pink Floyd is good for instrumental
but when it comes down to it The smiths/Morrissey wins over any band!

[Mr. Fight the Power]

If we are going to discuss lyrics here, I will go back to someone I have already mentioned, Tom Waits:

Lyrics to Day After Tomorrow :
I got your letter today
and I miss you all so much here
I can’t wait to see you all
and I’m counting the days here

I still believe that there’s gold
at the end of the world
And I’ll come home to Illinois
on the day after tomorrow

It is so hard and it's cold here
and I’m tired of taking orders
And I miss old Rockford town
up by the Wisconsin border

What I miss, you won't believe
shoveling snow and raking leaves
And my plane will touch down
on the day after tomorrow

I close my eyes every nite
and I dream that I can hold you

They fill us full of lies, everyone buys
'bout what it means to be a soldier
I still don't know how I'm supposed to feel
'bout all the blood that's been spilled
Will god on this throne
get me back home
on the day after tomorrow

You can't deny, the other side
Don't want to die anymore then we do
What I'm trying to say is don't they pray
to the same god that we do?

And tell me how does god choose
whose prayers does he refuse?
Who turns the wheel
Who throws the dice
on the day after tomorrow

I'm not fighting, for justice
I am not fighting, for freedom
I am fighting, for my life
and another day in the world here

I just do what I've been told
We're just the gravel on the road
And only the lucky ones come home
on the day after tomorrow

And the summer, it too will fade
and with it brings the winter's frost dear
And I know we too are made
of all the things that we have lost here

I'll be 21 today
I been saving all my pay
And my plane will touch down
on the day after tomorrow
And my plane it will touch down
on the day after tomorrow

Lyrics to Come On Up To The House :
Well the moon is broken
And the sky is cracked
Come on up to the house
The only things that you can see
Is all that you lack
Come on up to the house

All your cryin don't do no good
Come on up to the house
Come down off the cross
We can use the wood
Come on up to the house

Come on up to the house
Come on up to the house
The world is not my home
I'm just a passin thru
Come on up to the house

There's no light in the tunnel
No irons in the fire
Come on up to the house
And your singin lead soprano
In a junkman's choir
You gotta come on up to the house

Does life seem nasty, brutish and short
Come on up to the house
The seas are stormy
And you can't find no port
Come on up to the house
There's nothin in the world

(Chorus)
there's nothin in the world
that you can do
you gotta come on up to the house
and you been whipped by the forces
that are inside you
come on up to the house
well you're high on top
of your mountain of woe
come on up to the house
well you know you should surrender
but you can't let go
you gotta come on up to the house
(Chorus)

[JoseyDaisyChains]

Heres an example of what i mean about Moz's lyrics then :P

Still Ill :
I decree today that life
Is simply taking and not giving
England is mine - it owes me a living
But ask me why, and I'll spit in your eye
Oh, ask me why, and I'll spit in your eye
But we cannot cling to the old dreams anymore
No, we cannot cling to those dreams

Does the body rule the mind
Or does the mind rule the body ?
I dunno...

Under the iron bridge we kissed
And although I ended up with sore lips
It just wasn't like the old days anymore
No, it wasn't like those days
Am I still ill ?
Oh ...
Am I still ill ?
Oh ...

Does the body rule the mind
Or does the mind rule the body ?
I dunno...

Ask me why, and I'll die
Oh, ask me why, and I'll die
And if you must, go to work - tomorrow
Well, if I were you I really wouldn't bother
For there are brighter sides to life
And I should know, because I've seen them
But not very often ...
Under the iron bridge we kissed
And although I ended up with sore lips
It just wasn't like the old days anymore
No, it wasn't like those days
Am I still ill ?
Oh ...
Oh, am I still ill ?
Oh ...