Dark Side of the Moon

It's the year 1973. Ziggy is playing guitar. T. Rex is rocking the 20th century boy image. The world is at a turning point that contrasts with the little kooks on the radio, unsure of where to go next now that a new president is stressing the US, and the hippies have all but retired. Major Tom is looking down on the world, observing stress and uncertainty, and no one in saying anything.
Meanwhile, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Richard Wright, and Nick Mason are sitting in Abbey Road Studios plotting their next album for their band, Pink Floyd. The Floyd had yet to make their name a household one, and they knew they had to take the world into a new age to do so. And thus, with Roger Waters' realization that his life had begun, and the band's similar experiences, they all agreed to make an album themed not around an outrageous popstar gone bad, but the crucial politics that everyone was facing whether they wanted to admit it or not.

(The album artwork is featured above. It was designed by Hignosis on Rick Wright's instructions for it to be "simple and bold." The band agreed on it instantly and unanimously.)

The session for Dark Side of the Moon began in a rehearsal in which the band came up with bits of songs they would use on the record, some bits taken from a piece they performed before the album. Though it is said that not much writing went on during this time, it is considered the beginning of Dark Side of the Moon.

We now consider Dark Side to be one of the most iconic pieces of music of all time. Whether clueless teenagers are wearing the cover on a fringed shirt they found in Forever 21, college kids are syncing it up to The Wizard of Oz, young people are discovering the places it takes them, or people are revisiting their golden years through the music, the album is still being a part of lives some 40 years after its release.

This might be because of its relevance in every era. No matter how much the human race evolves or perfects itself, we're still going to relate to most if not all of what it has to say: "Run, rabbit, run, dig that hole, forget the sun, and when at last the work is done, don't sit down it's time to dig another one," "But if you ask for a rise, there's not surprise that they're giving none away," "Every years is getting shorter, never seem to find the time, plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines," "Get out of the way, it's a busy day, and I've got things on my mind, for want of tea and a slice, the old man died," and so many more lines will never stop being relevant to the society we've created. That in itself makes the whole thing immortal.

One of the songs on the album, "Time," is lyrically a very good example of the inspiration of the album. "You are young, and life is long, and there is time to kill today, and the one day you find ten years have got behind you, no one told you where to run, you've missed the starting gun." It came with the realization Roger Waters had that his life had already begun and that they were all living it now rather than later. It begins with the sounds of clocks going off which was a bit of sound recorded by engineer Alan Parsons for a quadraphonic test, and it was not intended for the album, but when he suggested it, the band was very enthusiastic about the idea and went along with it. It was also the only song on the album credited to all four band members.

The next song on the album is a quieter one that balances out the feeling. It was released as the second single from the album in US, reaching 101 on the charts. The song has very distinctive lyrics and a very distinctive piano part. Rick Wright says to have written it in 1969 while watching a violent sequence on TV during the writing for Zabriskie Point. It was originally titled "The Violent Sequence," but was rejected by director Michelangelo Antonioni who was looking for more quirky work, and, according to Roger Waters said, ""It's beautiful, but is it too sad, you know? It makes me think of church," so the song was pushed to the side until the album was made. The melancholy instrumentals, which also include two saxophone solos courtesy of David Gilmour's friend, Dick Perry, are supported by the lyrics which address war and human greed.

Another notable piece of work by Rick Wright on the album is "The Great Gig in the Sky." It originally an organ piece that was written before the recording of Dark Side as simply an instrumental with some spoken Bibles verses and conservative religious opinions by Malcolm Muggerridge. This changed when they went into the studio. They organ was changed to a piano and the idea to have a female vocalist improvise over it. Their engineer, Alan Parsons, suggested that 22 year-old Clare Tory to come into the studio to do the vocals. Though she was reluctant at first, not being a fan of Pink Floyd, she eventually agreed and came into Abbey Road Studios. The band explained the concept of what they wanted on the track and told her to think of horror and death. She had the idea to "pretend I'm an instrument," and did the vocals in two and a half takes. She was very embarrassed afterward, apologized, and the bands reserved response made her feel as if she would not make it onto the album, but when she bought the album, she found her name in the credits and her legendary vocals on the track.

Also on this track is the voice speaking at the beginning. Voices like this occur in nearly every track on the album. It was Roger Waters' idea to do this, and they conducted it by writing down random questions such as "Are you in the right?" "Are you frightened of dying?" "When was the last time you were violent?" on cards and handing them to random people in the studio who weren't very used to being interviewed. They used engineers, an Irish doormen, members of The Wings who were in the studio at the same time they were, a roadie called "Roger the Hat" who had to be directly interviewed since the cards had gone missing by the time they had tracked him down, and a few other people they could find during the recording time.

Roger The Hat

Doorman at Abbey Road Studios

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Paul and Linda McCartney

Denny Laine

"I dunno I was really drunk at the time," says Denny Laine at the end of "Money." The song begins with the sound of a cash register and coins jingling followed by a catchy sort of prissy and bluesy bass riff. This song became their "Sort of hit single," according to David Gilmour, making it into the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. The most intriguing thing on this track is the time signature. Most of it is in a 7/8 time, very unusual for such a commercial song, and switches to 4/4 for a guitar solo. The single release was cut down from 6:22 to 3:59 and helped make Pink Floyd a massive band.

Lyrics from the song, which are about greed with money, something everyone can relate too, were briefly featured in the 1982 film The Wall in which the main character, Pink, is caught writing poetry in the middle of class. The teacher in the movie grabs his notebook and reads the line "Money, get back.I'm already Jack keep your hands off my stack."

Scene from The Wall

Now, there are many more very clever bits of recording and songs in general on the album: The sped up and looped synthesizer riff along with random sounds of footsteps, voices, laughter, and automobile sounds that give "On the Run" its futuristic feel, "Brain Damage" and its lyrics about insanity, slightly inspired by departed band member Syd Barrett,and the way is flows into the simple but moving "Eclipse" that was recently played at the 2012 London Olympics, the way "Speak to Me" is almost indistinguishable from "Breathe," The lyrics in "Breathe," the way "Any Colour You Like" is very reminiscent of past Floyd and gives off a complete ethereal and, once again, futuristic vibe, and so much more that occurs on the brilliant work of art.

The Dark Side of the Moon is the third best-selling album of all time that brought Pink Floyd to success, and there is no question of why, for it introduced the world to a whole new generation of underground music and reminded the world that it was not alone in its problems.