Obscured by Pink Floyd

I'm a big fan of Pink Floyd. Fans of the band will know all of thier songs, but this post is mainly for those who aren't all that familiar with Floyd. Here's a few tunes to check out that are a bit off the Dark Side of Wish You Were the Moon.

Wot's...Uh the Deal - gorgeous tune, accoustic arrnegment featuring multitracks of David Gilmore singing - killer harmonies the guy can sing with himslef. The song was released on

Obscured By Clouds and sadly was never performed live by the band - Gilmore played it in 2006. When I went to Pompie on my honeymoon, we visited the ampitheatre where the famous Live at Pompie show took place. This song accompanies the Pompie portion of the photo journey on my honeymoon DVD - to give an idea of what a lovely song it is.

Cymbaline - the orignal name of the song was "Nightmare" which adequately refects the tenor of the lyrics. I've always thought it was (re)named after the king Cymbeline (note the different spelling) in the somewhat obscure Shakespeare play of the same name - I know the play and the song, and the play adequately portrays a nightmare series of events in the life of the king and his family - loose connection maybe, but there's not lots of Cymbelines or Cymbalines out there. In any event, the song is dark, borrding and beautiful (Crowes fans may recall Blue Floyd's version of this great tune). Its available on More.

Embryo/The Embyo - Classic, early, concert staple (usually 10-12 minutes) - it was played at every show from February 11, 1970, to November 20, 1971. The (significantly shorter 4 minutes) studio version appeared on Works. The "whalesong effect" so familiar from Echoes originated in Embryo, it (the effect) was retired from the song after echoes was released. In any event, both versions are worth seeking out. The short studio cut is early and somwhat simple, but still very cool. The live track is illustrative of 1970-1972 Floyd shows.

Alan's Psychadelic Breakfast - I'm the only person I know who really digs this tune, so take this song with a grain of salt. The song closes out Atom Heart Mother and had a classic effect that has sadly been lost on CD... on the vinyl, the dripping tap at the end of the song is cut into the run-off groove, so it plays on infinitely until the listener removes the needly from the record, an on the CD , the dripping continues for approximately 17 seconds after all other sounds have ceased. Weren't records cool! Anyway, the song has three killer instrumentals that pierce into the omontany of Alan (a roadie for the band) talking about the breakfast he is making, other breakfasts he had had, all the while making breakfast (bacon and eggs cooking permate the song). I love the instrumentals and I recommend giving this tune a few listens. Fun stuff.

Pigs On The Wing (complete version) - This song is the bookend of my favorite Floyd Album "Animals". The only beatiful song about love surrounds three songs devoted to different types of people (all of them falwed and highly problematic (sheep, dogs, and pigs - imagine calling someone a pig or a sheep or a dog and you get the idea of those three songs). Pigs On The Wing surrounds that nonsense and its been said that the idea is to focus on companionship rather than the flaws in people, or likewise that companionship will overcome the flaws we all have. I buy it. Anyway, the 8-track version of Animals featured an alternate version of Pigs on The Wing. The two parts were looped together with a great guitar solo bridge (the solo is played by Snowey White, not David Gilmore) On the 1977 tour, Snowy played the guitar solo at the end of part 2, while Gilmore played electric rhythm guitar (on the last US leg of that tour Gimore bass guitar instead). Its worth seeking out the complete version. The song obviously looses some meaning removed from the context of Animals, but so what. Its a great song in its own right and makes a nice addition to the mellow Floyd catalogue.

Anyway, those are a few of my favorite, somewhat obscure Floyd tunes to check out.