Top Ten Songs by Pink Floyd
For every Pink Floyd song you pick there are probably two or three great ones that you can’t. The band wasn’t in the habit of making radio-ready singles and stuffing the rest of their albums with filler. Each album is as much about the total package as the individual parts, so there are seldom any “throwaway” songs, regardless of your personal taste. Even if you don’t like the style of a particular song, you can recognize its quality.
It’s also tough to choose just 10 songs by Pink Floyd because their songs were so good on so many levels. It’s a combination of the music, lyrics, and message that makes Pink Floyd’s work so awe-inspiring.
Thad said, here are my top ten Pink Floyd songs, in no particular order:
Pigs (Three Different Ones)
This is classic Pink Floyd. A long, melodic journey, with themes that reoccur throughout the song, musically and otherwise, trippy effects, social commentary, and actual oinking that only adds to the thinly veiled metaphor. Off their 1977 album “Animals,” this song is in very good company on that album.
Shine On You Crazy Diamond
Ominous, beautiful, heavenly, haunting, there aren’t enough adjectives to describe this song. Off 1975’s “Wish You Were Here,” a group of songs reportedly dedicated to the group’s original frontman, Syd Barrett, this is the kind of song that transports you to a place where petty problems don’t exist. If you ever see this song performed live, it will wash you clean.
Echoes
23 minutes long, off of “Meddle,” this is strange, stirring and suspenseful, defined as much by what is happening as what’s about to.
Another Brick In the Wall, Part 2
For anyone who’s even remotely a Pink Floyd fan this song likely needs no introduction. Off the concept album “The Wall” about a rock star’s mental breakdown, this song is about his abuse at school as a child. Remember “If you don’t eat your meat, then you can’t have any pudding!! How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat??!” at the end of the song. This is definitely more rock than psychedelic.
*Tie Between “Young Lust” and “Have A Cigar”
Okay, I’m kind of cheating. But anyway. “Young Lust,” also off “The Wall,” is more of a rock number with a funk edge, melodic, classic Floyd. And it’s about groupies. “Have A Cigar” is some weird, supercool psychedelic funk off “Wish You Were Here” about The Man, who is not cool at all. It features one of the greatest chord progressions of all time.
“Speak To Me/Breathe”
Pure brilliance, from throbbing beginning to calming end. This is the opening song on 1973’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” one of the best-selling albums of all time.
Comfortably Numb
Heavy, eerie, this is a great song. Also off “The Wall.”
Us and Them
A brilliant song, not just because of the music, but because of the message. This is a commentary on the irrationality of war. Obviously it is still relevant today.
“Any Colour You Like”
Soothing. Like so many songs on “Dark Side of the Moon,” psychedelic. But you don’t have to be spaced out on four varieties of illegal substances to enjoy this song. In any state of mind, it’ll improve your state of mind. This is also another great song to see performed live.
Wish You Were Here
This had to make the list, only because it’s so popular and so recognizable, but doesn’t have any of the failings of the typical pop hit – short but not formulaic, with the signature Pink Floyd lyricism .. “did you exchange a walk-on part in the war, for a lead role in a cage?” This is a beautiful, melancholy song, and if you ever see it in concert, you know everyone will be singing along.
