Exploring Dark side of the Moon

Before I begin, I would like to state that this is merely my analysis of The Dark Side of the Moon. I am, in no way, reviewing this great work of art because to do so would be blasphemous. What I am doing is a general and track-by-track analysis of this album: musical, historical, lyrical and philosophical. The interpretation of art is subjective. In this article, what I have written about is a general interpretation of the album as well as my own.

Having sold more than 50 million copies worldwide, Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon is arguably one of the best (if not the best) albums ever made. The album is considered by many to be Pink Floyd’s masterpiece and is what launched them to the greatest height of fame they had seen yet. Not only is it acclaimed for its musical finesse but it also is appreciated for exploring philosophical themes of everyday life. Existentialism is a definitive common theme which can be observed throughout the album. Themes such as insanity, the passage of time, the conflict in human nature and death are also explored in the tracks.

The material in this album marks a major departure from their previous musical style. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London in 1972-1973 using advanced recording techniques available at that time with the help of Alan Parsons (of the Alan Parsons Project).

The Dark Side of the Moon is one of the earliest and the most popular concept albums ever made. Each track explores a certain philosophical theme of everyday life. The tracks are not separate but part of a larger continuous piece that is the album in its entirety, drawing a parallel to life. The artists have written about something so part of our everyday life, that we sometimes forget of what importance it is to us. The essence of the album is simple and pure, yet it is something we have often failed to ponder over.

Speak to me (Breathe): Speak to me opens with a consistent heartbeat which signifies the beginning of life. This is followed by a sound collage of sorts consisting of excerpts from other tracks on the album. This piece leads into Breathe, a song so wonderfully rich in texture that it is among Floyd’s finest works. The song is composed by David Gilmour and Richard Wright and features Gilmour playing electric guitar.

Breathe has 4 verses of 4 lines each. The song preaches about the importance to live on your own terms and each verse showcases the dichotomy of life. The first two lines of each verse sound hopeful, almost optimistic but the last two lines of each verse have a slightly more grounded yet encouraging approach. The message of the track is of an existentialist nature; you are a free to determine your own development through acts of will. That you must strive to live on your own terms and focus on what is important for you. Everything around you is what you perceive it to be, subjective to your senses. It parallels you to the rabbit by encouraging you to dig more holes and not sit down even if your work is done.

On the Run: The second track on the album, On the Run is a stressful sounding fully instrumental piece with a metronomic drum beat and space-age sound effects. This is one of the prominent examples of songs which fall within the “space-rock” subgenre. It addresses the anxieties associated with modern travel (especially flight) and how these fears cause a fear of death. This was primarily influenced by keyboardist Richard Wright’s fear of flying.

Time: This track is often a strong contender for Pink Floyd’s best one till date. The song starts with alarm sounds and chimes recorded by sound engineer Alan Parsons. The drum solo in the beginning is preceded by ominous chord slabs and Nick Mason on the rotoms. This song also features a bluesy guitar solo by David Gilmour introduced a different, more blues influenced sound into the band’s style.

However, the true beauty of this is in the lyrics. The passage of time is something we all realize the importance of but often end up taking for granted. “Time” offers a warning to all of us about the dangers of focusing on the mundane aspects to one’s life. It alludes to stagnation caused as a result of this and that the realization of us taking time for granted often dawns upon us too late. The bleak realization of one taking their time for granted is generally one which is heavily regretted. The song has a calm reprise of “Breathe” which emphasizes the fall into solitude and eventual insanity as a consequence of this realization. Dark, yet comforting, “Time” teaches us to acknowledge the importance of not stagnating as individuals.

The Great Gig in the Sky: Initially titled “the Mortality Project”, the Great Gig in the Sky is possibly the darkest track on the album. This song contains snippets from conversations with random people about their thoughts on death and has Clare Torry singing non-lexical vocals. The album has a consistent theme of life and death to it, and this track is filled with allusions to death. The song makes you understand and accept death as a part of life, instead of living in fear of it. After all, as doorman Gerry O’Driscoll says; “Why should I be afraid of dying? We’ve all got to go sometime.” This hauntingly beautiful melody concludes the first side of the album.

Money: The second side of the album begins with “Money”, which is known for its unusual 7/8 time signature. The song begins with the sound of cash registers and change, which set the premise. The song features a serene bass line by Roger Waters, a mesmerizing guitar solo by Gilmour and Dick Pary’s smooth saxophone resonating in the background is a cherry on top.

The lyrics use tongue-in-cheek humor to comment on people’s attitude towards money and greed and capitalism being a consequence of this. The lyrics make you smile but you cannot help agree with the point made. We want others to “share it fairly, but don’t take a slice of my pie”. This further highlights the hypocritical nature of people towards money. Ironically, this song was the most commercially successful of all the songs on the album.

Us & Them: “Us and Them” is the longest piece on the album and one cannot help but notice the strong jazz influence in this song. The slow paced song has melancholic vocals by Gilmour and two saxophone solos. This lyrical interpretation of this classic is a topic that has been long debated on. One of the key themes of this song is war and its cruelties (primarily due to Waters’ father passing away in WW2), but it progresses to symbolize the
conflict in human nature.

The beauty of “Us and Them” is not merely in its ability to touch upon a theme like this but to use it to humanize all conflict by saying that we’re all just ordinary men. It makes you empathize with others by acknowledging the fact that we’re all similar yet different in our own way. It compels us to question ourselves and our understanding of everything around us. This existential philosophy is a common theme through most of the band’s work, mainly because the artists were existentialists themselves. Clever lyrics such as “Black and Blue, and who knows which is which and who is who?” use dichotomies to further symbolize this conflict which we all experience in our minds at one time or another. The subliminal message of this wonderfully perplexing song is that no one considers themselves to be in the wrong. As obvious as it may sound, why would any rational human being do something they deemed wrong? This difference of opinion leads to suffering (here, war). The need to fight is not that one is necessarily in the human nature but yet, we fight wars believing the fact that we are right. The lyrics inspire you to question this fact and one cannot help but realize the depth to which this is true. In a world so complicated, questioning our own subjectivity could help us understand things a tad better and this song makes us do so in the most graceful of ways.

Any Color You Like: The third fully instrumental piece on the album, “Any Color You Like” has Gilmour’s guitar solo transforming into a psychedelic jam with definitive elements of funk music. This piece connects “Us & Them” to the final parts of the album; “Brain
Damage” and “Eclipse”.
This piece was inspired by lyricist Roger Waters’ observation about the illusion of choice in society. It brings to light the notion that society showcases a wide variety of choices when there actually are none. The song puts us into perspective with society and makes us ponder about whether we make choices in actuality or are we just a consequence of its illusion.

Brain Damage: Vocalist Syd Barrett’s departure from the band was a topic which highly influenced most of the band’s later work. In particular, lyricist Roger Waters started exploring insanity more prominently as an active theme in many of their future works. Syd Barrett’s departure was a result of a slow mental breakdown, eventually leading into insanity and “Brain Damage” captures the essence of this insanity.

The song opens with the line “the lunatic is on the grass” which is intended to color society’s perspective of people deemed ‘lunatics’. Society treats these people as outsiders. Hence, they are on the grass, a place which signs such as “Keep off the grass” warn you about. This serves to draw the parallel that these so-called ‘lunatics’ are in a place which is not considered ordinary by society. This is consequently followed by alienation of these individuals from society.

This song not only serves to make you understand the ever present danger of insanity but humanizes it. It contemplates what a person deemed insane by society is a consequence of, and how that person is repressed by society into seeking “help”. “Brain Damage” makes you empathize with these individuals who are forced to give into society against their own awareness by contrasting their perspective to ours.

Ultimately, are we not all “insane” in some way or the other? Just like Syd Barrett, isn’t the lunatic in all of our heads? Have we not all felt like there are certain aspects to ourselves which no one will ever seem to understand? Have we not all shouted when no one seemed to hear? Just like the moon, don’t we all have a dark side? In my opinion, the true beauty of this song is in that it makes you contemplate about these questions which we all, at times, forget the importance of.

Eclipse: “Eclipse” is the grand finale to this concept album. This piece echoes snippets from other tracks on the album. The theme of each piece is alluded to as a stage of life. Eclipse is the culmination of life. This tracks takes into perspective everything you sense (touch, feel, see and other sensory inputs) and paints how they all add up to make your own perception of the world.

Everything you have experienced so far, is all under the sun and in tune. However, as Waters’ sings, the sun is eclipsed by the moon. The eclipse by the moon is a metaphor for death. Death is the finale to your life. Everything you have experienced so far is eclipsed by it. The song (and the album) ends with the very heartbeat it began with, signifying that you leave with what you came into this world with; just your heartbeat, the one constant thing. However, are we just another brick in the wall?

Waters’ does not use Death to belittle everyone’s life. Instead, it serves as a culmination of life where everything finally makes sense. The song ends with one of the darkest lines in rock music history “There’s no dark side of the moon really, matter of fact, it’s all dark”. The light on the moon is just an illusion. Everything that was eclipsed was in tune, under the sun. The sun is a metaphor for your life itself and the human condition, and how everything you experienced, all your aspirations, conflicts, dreams, struggles make it unique to you. They all come together to shape your understanding of this beautifully twisted universe around you.

“Eclipse” shows us how everyone’s life is similar in this sense, and that we are no different than anyone else. Instead of everything making no sense in the end, everything finally adds up in the final moment. The cycle of life and ultimate death is represented in its purest form. Then, the heartbeat ends, and you are gone.

“The Dark Side of the Moon” is an album so pure, so complete that it leaves you bewildered at the very perspective which it offers you. It is Roger Waters’ at his creative best, empathizing with the listener and humbling us all. The album shows us our significance on the world and puts that into perspective; our similarities do not make us insignificant, and our differences do not make us any more significant than the next person. It embraces humanity and manifests everything in the human existence while questioning everything. What mesmerizes me is the album’s perspective on seemingly paradoxical aspects to a certain theme; it teaches us to find unity in alterity, to find concord in discord, and makes us think differently about the saucerful of secrets that is life.