Pink Floyd - Ibiza Bar (1969)

As far as Pink Floyd’s discography goes, there may not have been a more diverse effort than their third studio album, More. Released in 1969, More was a soundtrack for the eponymous movie released that same year. The soundtrack, composed entirely by Pink Floyd, ranged from acoustic folk songs to heavy grunge and psychedelia. And because it was meant to be played over the film, more than half of its tracks were instrumentals. More was the first album to be released by the band without their original front-man Syd Barrett. As such, the album is often viewed as the birth of what would later become the iconic Pink Floyd style and sound.

Written by Roger Waters, the song below is primarily known as being the ninth track on the More album. However, before the More album was released in June 1969, the song was first released as the B-Side to a March 1969 single, backing Floyd’s other hard rocker, “The Nile Song,” as its A-Side.



Pink Floyd - Ibiza Bar (1969)

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Lyrics:

I'm so afraid of mistakes that I've made
Shaking every time that I awake
I feel like a cardboard cut-out man
So build me a time
When the characters rhyme
And the storyline is kind

I've aged and aged since the first page
I've lived every line that you wrote
Take me down, take me down
From the shelf above your head
And build me a time
When the characters rhyme
And the storyline is kind

I live where I'm left
On the shelf like the rest
And the epilogue reads like a sad song
Please, pick up your camera
And use me again
And build me a time
When the characters rhyme
And the storyline is kind

Yeah!

Roger Waters - 4:30 AM (Apparently They Were Travelling Abroad) & 4:33 AM (Running Shoes) (1984)

Born in Surrey, England in 1943, this rock legend was a founding member of the band Pink Floyd, in which he primarily played bass and shared the lead vocals with bandmate David Gilmour (who had joined the band later). Although the band had initially been under the psychedelic leadership of Syd Barrett, 1968 saw the departure of Barrett from the band due to mental illness and the rise of this man as the band’s leader and primary lyricist. Waters went on to write the lyrics and lead the band musically on albums The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall, and The Final Cut, with each of them reaching the number one spot in multiple countries around the world. In the mid-1980s, spawning from creative differences and a power struggle with David Gilmour over direction, Waters left Pink Floyd and sued to keep them from using the "Pink Floyd" name. An out-of-court settlement was finally achieved in 1987, but Waters didn’t play with the band again for another eighteen years. In September 2010, Waters began to take The Wall album on the road and backed it with a sixty-million dollar stage act to feature on tour. Currently, although the tour has periodic breaks, it is scheduled to continue throughout 2013.

In 1977, Waters came up with two ideas for concept albums. The first idea was titled Bricks in the Wall and the second was called The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking. Waters recorded some demos and played them for the other members of Pink Floyd, telling them that they could choose which one they could record as a band. He also informed them that whichever one they didn’t choose, he would release as a solo album. The band’s manager at the time, Steve O’Rourke, thought that Pros and Cons was a better concept; David Gilmour thought that Pros and Cons was better musically-speaking, too; but the band eventually decided that they would record Bricks in the Wall, eventually having it renamed to The Wall and released it in 1979.

Finally, in 1983, after Waters’ departure from Pink Floyd, he had the time to record his other visualized concept album, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking. Featuring the conductor Michael Kamen on piano and legendary guitarist Eric Clapton, the album was stylistically reminiscent of The Wall, but failed to achieve the same commercial success. The titles of the tracks on the album are noted for being named after a particular time of day, with two songs heard below, "4:30 AM" and "4:33 AM," being the opening tracks. If you were to start the album at exactly 4:30 AM, real-time, the titles of each passing song would correspond with the actual time of day. There were even a few extra seconds added after the last song of the first side, so to allow the listener time to flip the record (or cassette) over.

If you enjoy The Wall and these two opening tracks of Pros and Cons, I highly recommend you purchase the album so that you can hear the album in its entirety.



Roger Waters - 4:30 AM (Apparently They Were Travelling Abroad) & 4:33 AM (Running Shoes) (1984)

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"4:30 AM" Lyrics:

Apparently they were travelling abroad and they picked up some hitchhikers.

Drill.

Jade: "Oh God!"
Wife: "Wake up, you're dreaming."
Jade: "What?"
Wife: "You're dreaming."
Jade: "We were moving away from the border."
Wife: "Huh, what border?"

Jade: "Have a nice day."
Wife: "Huh?"
Jade: "Have a nice day."

We were moving away from the border
Looking for somewhere to sleep
The two of us sharing the driving
Two hitchhikers slumped in the back seat

Woman: "Hello."

I sneaked a quick look in the mirror
She gave me a smile
I said, “Is anyone hungry?”
“Should we stop for a while?”

So we pulled off into a layby
Her dress blew up over her head
I said, “Would you like to come with me?”
She said something foreign under her breath
And the sun shone down on her lovely young limbs
I thought to myself, “She's much too good for you”
I lay down beside her with tears in my eyes
She said

"4:33 AM" Lyrics:

So I stood by the roadside
The soles of my running shoes gripping
The tarmac like gunmetal magnets

Fixed on the front of her Fassbinder face
Was the kind of a smile
That only a rather dull child could have drawn

While attempting a graveyard in the moonlight
But she was impressed
You could see that she thought I looked fine

And when she turned sweeter
The reason, between you and me, was
She'd just seen my green Lamborghini

I think it was the Lamborghini

So we went for a spin in the country
To feel the wind in our hair
To feel the power of my engine
To feel the thrill of desire

And then in the trees, I heard a twig snap
Warning lights flashed on my map
I opened my eyes and to my surprise
There were Arabs with knives at the front of the bed
Right at the front of the bed

Oh, my God, how did they get in here?
I thought we were safe, home in England
She said, “Come on now, kid, it was wrong what ya did”
“You've got to admit it was wrong what ya did”
“You've got to admit it was wrong”

Jade: "Oh god! Jesus..."

Pink Floyd - The Gnome (1967)

Founded in 1965, this band was originally led by Syd Barrett, who guided the group toward their first taste of success in the late ‘60s through psychedelic rock. Shortly after the addition of bassist David Gilmour, Barrett’s deteriorating mental health led to him parting with the band. The remaining members went on to be one of the most commercially successful bands of all time, releasing timeless progressive rock albums such as The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), and The Wall (1979).

This song comes from the group’s debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), which was also the group’s only album released under Barrett’s direct leadership. Much like the other songs on the album, Barrett’s lyrics are very imaginative and the music is very psychedelic. If you’re only familiar with the group’s later progressive rock hits, this is nothing like you’d expect to hear.



Pink Floyd - The Gnome (1967)

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Lyrics:

I want to tell you a story
'bout a little man, if I can
A gnome named “Grimble Gromble”
And little gnomes stay in their homes
Eating, sleeping, drinking their wine

He wore a scarlet tunic
A blue-green hood; it looked quite good
He had a big adventure
Amidst the grass; fresh air at last
Wining, dining, biding his time

And then one day
“Hooray!”; another way for gnomes to say
“Ooh, my”

Look at the sky; look at the river
Isn't it good?
Look at the sky; look at the river
Isn't it good?

Winding, finding places to go

And then one day
“Hooray!”; another way for gnomes to say
“Ooh, my”

“Ooh, my”