Ranking David Gilmour’s six favourite Pink Floyd songs
Pink Floyd is one of those bands that has far too many layers to peel back in one go, as with them, you can listen to different eras and tap into an entirely unique sound each time.
Their early work was much more experimental, with albums like The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall being commercially successful, and their later work verged on soundscapes, often thanks to the length of songs and how much they’re built up. All of this makes picking a favourite Pink Floyd song almost impossible, so let’s not bother and just have David Gilmour do it for us instead.
In an interview with Billboard, the guitarist discussed his favourite songs that Pink Floyd have made throughout their time as a band. “‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ and ‘Wish You Were Here’ are standout tracks,” he said, “‘High Hopes’ from The Division Bell is one of my favourite all-time Pink Floyd tracks, ‘The Great Gig in the Sky’, ‘Echoes‘.”
All commendable picks, but our work is not done here. So, let’s rank all the tracks that Gilmour chose.
Ranking David Gilmour’s favourite Pink Floyd tracks”
‘High Hopes’
This may well be the closest thing to a swansong that Pink Floyd ever had. It was certainly taken care of, as when the band started working on their album, The Division Bell, ‘High Hopes’ was the first track that they started, and the last one they finished. So, an odyssey in all but name, but what does the complex track actually mean?
What you’re hearing when you listen to ‘High Hopes’ is one of the best psychedelic rock bands on the planet coming to terms with the fact that the end might be in sight. Gilmour was putting a temporary hold on things, and in doing so, went out with a bang, with this layered, complex, and beautiful-sounding track.
Perhaps one of the most poignant moments in there is when Gilmour’s son, Charlie, hangs up the telephone on the band’s manager, Steve O’Rourke.
‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’
When it comes to extended introductions, there are a lot of bands who could lose your interest if they drag things out too long, but Pink Floyd isn’t one of them. On ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’, the opening minutes of the track consist of drawn-out synth sounds and David Gilmour playing what comes across as a pretty improvised solo. Not a lot happens, and yet we hang on to every single second. It sets the tone for the rest of the song, as things begin to develop and build.
No wonder the song is so beautiful, as it was written as an ode to former band member Syd Barrett. While the band may have had their difficulties with Barrett, there is no denying his brilliance as a songwriter and a creative, so this 13-minute tribute to him feels appropriate. It doesn’t come close to scratching the surface of someone like Barrett, but it still works as a nice ode to the musician.
‘Wish You Were Here’
This song was written as another nod to Barrett. When he was interviewed on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Roger Waters admitted that the foundation the song was built on was a poem that he wrote for Barrett. When talking about the track, he said it was partially about their former band member, adding, “And I do wish he was here”.
The song isn’t the most complicated track that Pink Floyd ever put out, but that’s what adds to the beauty of it. It feels emotive and genuine as it has simple chords, lyrics injected with feeling, the odd scattered guitar line here and there, and generally is just a nice ode to a lost soul; nothing more, nothing less. When people think of Pink Floyd, they often get lost in the bells and whistles of the band, and it’s nice to have songs like this to remind us that before concepts, light shows, and effect pedals, they were and always will be simply amazing songwriters.
‘Echoes’
OK, now this is a song that comes equipped with all of the aforementioned bells and whistles. Coming in at over 20 minutes long, many listeners may look at the track’s run time and not bother even attempting to listen to it, but these listeners are missing out on something truly special. Everything that you like about Pink Floyd creeps up at some point during this epic, whether it’s the songwriter, the tone, the concept, or the experimental nature of the band; it doesn’t matter, it’s all here.
It’s a shame that we’re never likely to hear this song live again, as Gilmour said that he was hesitant to ever do it live without Richard Wright, who passed away in 2008. “Yes, it would be lovely to play ‘Echoes’ here. But I wouldn’t do that without Rick,” he said, “There’s something that’s specifically so individual about the way that Rick and I play in that that you can’t get someone to learn it and do it just like that. That’s not what music’s about.”
‘Comfortably Numb’
The theme of this song, according to Roger Waters, is pretty nostalgic and has been widely misinterpreted, as he said it was about when he used to get sick as a child. “I remember having the flu or something, an infection with a temperature of 105 and being delirious,” he said, “It wasn’t like the hands looked like balloons, but they looked way too big, frightening. A lot of people think those lines are about masturbation. God knows why.”
Who would have thought that this sensation would lead to the creation of one of the greatest songs of all time? It doesn’t matter what conversation you’re having about music, at some point, ‘Comfortably Numb’ is bound to come up. Best track? Best lyrics? Best guitar solo? It’s all packaged up into this undeniable psychedelic rock classic.
‘The Great Gig in the Sky’
Realistically, any of the songs in this list could be considered Pink Floyd’s greatest, but what draws me most to ‘The Great Gig in the Sky’ is the open-ended nature of it. In his book, What’s Love Got to Do with It? Emotions and Relationships in Popular Songs, sociologist Thomas J Scheff discusses why we often connect with music so effectively.
“In [many] years of teaching college students, I couldn’t help but notice that for many of them, popular songs held a special meaning, as they did to me when I was their age…” he wrote, “Popular love lyrics present a picture of an imagined social-emotional world, and modern societies tend to ignore this world. Since modern societies are highly individualistic, the nature of relationships usually takes a backseat. Modern societies focus on the self-reliant individual.”
Essentially, people use love songs to express emotions that they might otherwise struggle to articulate. This is true for love, but it is also true for all other emotions, such as sadness, joy, lust, anger and whatever else you can think of. The power of ‘The Great Gig in the Sky’ is that while it has no lyrics (except some small spoken word segment) it can still be used as a vessel for any and all of these emotions.
It is arguably the most romantic song ever written in how well you can use it as a release. Whatever is running through your mind at the time lies at the centre of that song, and Pink Floyd’s ability to capture so much with so little is truly otherworldly.
