David Gilmour’s favourite Pink Floyd song to perform live: “Was terrific fun to play”
During the 1960s and ‘70s, there were countless musicians who attempted to take the throne of ultimate guitar royalty. Undoubtedly, David Gilmour is one of the greatest guitarists and songwriters of the era, serving as the guitarist and co-lead singer of the now-iconic band Pink Floyd. Boasting a back catalogue that has helped pioneer the new dawn of alternative music, being allowed a peek behind the curtain into the mind of a truly great artist remains a guilty pleasure for most fans.
When asked about his favourite song to perform live, Gilmour replied: “‘Echoes’, I would say. Was terrific fun to play, particularly on my last solo tour, and the solo tour in 2006 with Rick Wright.”
The song itself, ‘Echoes’, was released as part of the 1971 album Meddle, with lyrics that were composed by bassist and singer Roger Waters. The band mostly performed the track live between the years 1971 and 1975. Continuing his views on the song, Gilmour added: “I always look on that song as being very much a duet thing between him and me. So that was terrific and it couldn’t and shouldn’t be played again now that he is dead.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time Gilmour has mentioned the song directly, as he included the number when he was asked previously about his all-time favourite Pink Floyd songs: “High Hopes’ from The Division Bell is one of my favourite all-time Pink Floyd tracks,” he said, adding: “‘The Great Gig in the Sky’, ‘Echoes’, there’s lots of them.”
Sure, it’s absolutely possible to have an array of favourites, as it seems Gilmour flits between a selection of brilliant creations. However, it is clear to see that ‘Echoes’ does have a special place in his heart, especially in being able to play the song again and even taking it on the 2006 solo tour.
When asked about the legacy of his music, Gilmour gave a somewhat cheeky response: “Oh! [Long silence] Legacy? What’s a legacy? I think our music will continue to be played for a while. Then it will be forgotten like everything else will be forgotten. How long will that take? A hundred years, a thousand years, a million years? I have no idea. This is not something I think of very much.”
Even when playing the song he loves most, David Gilmour stays humble. But there’s another track from Pink Floyd that may have been as close as Gilmour ever got to stroking his own ego: ‘Comfortably Numb’. The guitarist has been on record in saying how powerful he felt when delivering the track’s standout solo.
Noting ‘Comfortably Numb’ as the pinnacle of his and the band’s live shows, he said: “It was a fantastic moment, I can tell, to be standing up on there, and Roger’s just finished singing his thing, and I’m standing there, waiting,” remembers Gilmour.
“I’m in pitch darkness, and no one knows I’m there yet,” he added And Roger’s down, and he finishes his line, I start mine, and the big back spots and everything go on, and the audience, they’re all looking straight ahead and down, and suddenly there’s all this light up there, and they all sort of—their heads all lift up, and there’s this thing up there, and the sound’s coming out and everything. Every night there’s this sort of ‘[gasp!]’ from about 15,000 people. And that’s quite something, let me tell you”.
