Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

An analysis by Vincent Amendolare

GENERAL INFORMATION

Pink Floyd’s 1973 album, Dark Side of the Moon, is arguably one of the best albums in rock history, selling over 35 million copies worldwide. Dark Side of the Moon marks the first time in Pink Floyd’s career in which bassist Roger Waters wrote all of the album’s lyrics. "The concept was originally about the pressures of modern life - travel, money and so on," drummer Nick Mason has said, "but then Roger turned it into a meditation on insanity."

This analysis will explore the lyrics of the album and the concepts explored, from the first heartbeat in ‘Speak to Me’ to the final one in ‘Eclipse.’ All interpretations given are my own unless otherwise indicated, though I always try to make my interpretations based on what I believe Waters was trying to express.

ANALYSIS BY TRACK
1. SPEAK TO ME
2. BREATHE
3. ON THE RUN
4. TIME
5. THE GREAT GIG IN THE SKY
6. MONEY
7. US AND THEM
8. ANY COLOUR YOU LIKE
9. BRAIN DAMAGE
10. ECLIPSE

ALBUM CREDITS
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND REFERENCES
CONTACT ME

Note: Because David Gilmour, Roger Waters and Rick Wright alternate as lead vocalists, I will put the singers name in brackets preceding the lines that they sing. The musical writing credits are given in parentheses next to the song title. For example:

TIME (Mason, Waters, Wright, Gilmour)

[Gilmour]
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.

[Wright]
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.

Also there are many spoken sound clips on the album; those will be given in italics. For example:

SPEAK TO ME (Mason)

I’ve been mad for fucking years, absolutely years, been over the edge for yonks, been working me buns off for bands...

These sound clips were the result of “cue cards with generic questions [that] were written up by Roger and given to roadies, anyone at Abbey Road, doormen, and members of ‘Wings’ including Paul and Linda McCartney. Approximately 20 questions were asked along the lines of, ‘Are you afraid of dying?’ ‘When was the last time you were violent and were you in the right?’, and ‘What does the phrase “The Dark Side of the Moon” mean to you?’ The most spontaneous answers to these questions appeared on the album. Paul and Linda didn't make the cut but ‘Wings'’ guitarist Henry McColluch did providing the ‘I don't know I was really drunk at the time’ response to the question regarding violent behavior used at the fade out of Money.” (pinkfloyd.co.uk)