The Pink Floyd song David Gilmour could never quite understand: “It’s a more surrealistic effort”
Progenitors of progressive rock, Pink Floyd boast a discography that is largely up to interpretation. The degrees of subtlety and abstract lyrics within many of their tracks have caused fans and music nerds to argue over their true meanings for decades. Some songs are so enshrouded with mystery that even the band members themselves are none the wiser.
Often exploring philosophical and political themes, sometimes disguised through layers of complex arrangement and metaphor, Pink Floyd are noted for their incredible lyricism. After the departure of Syd Barrett in 1968, Roger Waters stepped up to the plate to become the outfit’s predominant songwriter. Waters’ lyrics often detail profound social and political musings, with the songwriter being recognised for his staunch political activism and outspoken left-wing views – some of which have caused controversy in recent years, much to the dismay of the rest of Pink Floyd.
One of the group’s most surreal efforts, however, came after Waters left the group in 1985. With guitarist David Gilmour taking over songwriting duties, A Momentary Lapse of Reason was the first Pink Floyd record not to feature Roger Waters. Throughout its production, Waters made it clear that he resented the album being made at all, even starting a legal dispute over the ownership of the Pink Floyd band name.
For the most part, Gilmour’s songwriting left more than a little to be desired. Granted, by mainstream standards in the 1980s, it was fairly acceptable, but generally, Gilmour struggled to hold a candle to the talents of Roger Waters or Syd Barrett before him. Nevertheless, A Momentary Lapse of Reason acted as a kind of commercial rebirth for the group, reaching number three in the UK album charts.
In contrast to much of their previous work, A Momentary Lapse of Reason was not a concept album. In fact, the material on the record was made up of a haphazard mismatch of tracks contributed by musicians outside the band, as well as material Gilmour had originally written for his own solo projects. The results were divisive among Floyd fans, and the songwriting was so deliberately surreal that Gilmour himself was admittedly lost.
That shift in authorship inevitably altered the band’s relationship with meaning. Where Waters had once anchored Pink Floyd’s abstractions to clear emotional or political intent, Gilmour was far more comfortable allowing atmosphere to take precedence over narrative. The music remained expansive and meticulously produced, but the guiding hand behind its symbolism was noticeably looser.
As a result, interpretation became less of a puzzle to be solved and more of a by-product of texture. Lyrics functioned as another colour in the mix rather than a roadmap for the listener, which appealed to some and alienated others. In stripping away the rigid conceptual framework that had defined much of the band’s earlier work, Pink Floyd entered a phase where ambiguity was no longer deliberate, but incidental.
Of the album’s sixth track, ‘Yet Another Movie’, Gilmour revealed, “It’s a more surrealistic effort than anything I’ve attempted before. I don’t even know what all of it means myself.” Perhaps as a result of its nonsensical lyrics, the song fails to make much of an impact, though it featured at every Floyd gig from 1987 to 1989. Originally recorded as an instrumental track, the lyrics were added later on, along with soundbites from the films Casablanca and One-Eyed Jacks.
Without Waters, Pink Floyd managed two further albums after A Momentary Lapse of Reason, though these efforts failed to make much of an impact. Most recently, Gilmour briefly reformed the band for the single ‘Hey, Hey, Rise Up!’. Protesting against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Waters was highly critical of this effort, asserting that it was akin to “content-less waving of the blue and yellow flag”.
