The 1969 Pink Floyd song David Gilmour will always regret writing: “Just desperation really”
While Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour is often associated with the very pinnacle of musical success, with songwriting credits on many iconic and influential albums, the Cambridge native believes he has had his fair share of duds over the years.
The mastermind behind some of the greatest pieces of music in pop culture history has readily admitted to having the credits on some incredible flubs, too.
For an artist of Gilmour’s stature, that willingness to acknowledge mistakes is relatively rare. Rather than viewing every release through rose-tinted glasses, he has often assessed his catalogue with the same critical eye that helped make Pink Floyd one of rock’s most exacting bands.
It might sound like a strange position for the man who helped Pink Floyd take it up a gear and write classic records such as Meddle, The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall, but failure – or perceived failure – is essential to any artist’s progression. It’s how they iron out the flaws and understand more about how they want to approach their craft.
Alongside his undoubted talent, one of the most refreshing aspects of Gilmour’s public persona is his discerning nature.
Reflecting this, Gilmour even has reservations about the British band’s 1973 masterpiece, The Dark Side of the Moon. Outlining his “problem” with the multi-platinum record, Gilmour told Guitar Player: “My problem with Dark Side – and I’ve said it before and I’ll no doubt say it again – was that I thought that Roger’s emergence on that album as a great lyric writer was such that he came to overshadow the music in places.”
This is the kind of realism with which the guitarist approaches all of his work, imbuing his accounts with a refreshing edge when many of his peers would likely have no problem explaining exactly why their efforts are hailed as some of the finest in rock. One particular moment Gilmour has expressed deep regret at writing is the suite ‘The Narrow Way’ from 1969’s Ummagumma, a number noted for being written and performed entirely by himself. Despite such a feat, he described the motivation for the song as “desperation”.
Speaking to Sounds Guitar Heroes magazine in 1983, Gilmour was asked to explain the inspiration behind his first major composition for Pink Floyd. He replied: “Well, we’d decided to make the damn album, and each of us to do a piece of music on our own… it was just desperation really, trying to think of something to do, to write by myself. I’d never written anything before, I just went into a studio and started waffling about, tacking bits and pieces together. I haven’t heard it in years. I’ve no idea what it’s like.”
Elsewhere, when sitting down with the German publication Der Spiegel in 1995, Gilmour was asked what he thinks about early albums such as Ummagumma and its 1970 successor, Atom Heart Mother. He expressed regret at both: “I think both are pretty horrible. Well, the live disc of Ummagumma might be all right, but even that isn’t recorded well.”
It’s not unusual for artists to grow dissatisfied with their early work. Ask most musicians what album is their best, and a recurring answer will be whichever one they were working on at the time. It’s only right that an artist always believes they are pushing forward and, by proxy, their past work is a little in the wrong direction. But, for once, there’s a good chance that Gilmour was right.
The albums are certainly not without their charms, but ‘The Narrow Way’ is a long way down the list of Gilmour’s best contributions to Pink Floyd’s legacy. The guitarist has grown considerably since that number, and his talent is now far more mature. There probably isn’t too much that Gilmour can legitimately regret in his career, but that song is certainly one of them.
Viewed in hindsight, ‘The Narrow Way’ is perhaps more valuable as a snapshot of an artist in transition than as a definitive statement of Gilmour’s abilities. While he may regard it as a misstep, it captures a moment when Pink Floyd were still experimenting, searching and learning. Without those early creative stumbles, the band may never have gone on to produce the landmark records that cemented their place in music history.
