A Saucerful of Secrets (song)

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A Saucerful of Secrets
Pink Floyd
publication June 29, 1968
length 11:52
Genre (s) Progressive rock , psychedelic rock
text Roger Waters , Richard Wright , Nick Mason and David Gilmour
music Roger Waters, Richard Wright, Nick Mason and David Gilmour
album A Saucerful of Secrets

A Saucerful of Secrets is a multi-part instrumental title by the British rock band Pink Floyd , which was released on their second, eponymous album A Saucerful of Secrets in 1968.

A Saucerful of Secrets is the fifth track on the album and was composed by Roger Waters , Richard Wright , Nick Mason and David Gilmour . For the first time David Gilmour (incorrectly listed as David "Gilmore" on vinyl at the time) appeared as a songwriter for Pink Floyd.

Publications

During the creation of the title, the song was still called The Massed Gadgets of Hercules . It was often played live from 1968 to 1972. A live version is included on the mixed live / studio recorded double album Ummagumma . Another version is included in the film, Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii . Live versions of the piece differ acoustically considerably from the studio recordings. Instead of dominant cymbal play at the opening of the piece with Something Else , the ostinate E-Bass Waters' takes over this function. Richard Wright uses the second part, Syncopated Pandemonium , in such a way that he swaps his Farfisa organ for a concert grand piano and works it with his fists and arms. The sequence Celestial Voices is clearly expanded instrumentally with drums, bass, guitar and vocals.

Song structure

Although the piece is identified as A Saucerful of Secrets on all pressings of the album of the same name , various versions of the Ummagumma subtitled the piece in four sequences. The first part Something Else was originally performed as Richard's Rave Up at EMI , the second part Syncopated Pandemonium , as Nick's Boogie .

Roger Waters explained the meaning of the subtitles to Rolling Stone in such a way that the song describes a battle and its consequences. Something Else embodies the situation before the battle, Syncopated Pandemonium describes the current battle, Storm Signal looks at the victims of the finished battle and Celestial Voices deals with the mourning for the dead.

  1. Something Else (0: 00-3: 57)
  2. Syncopated Pandemonium (3: 57-7: 04)
  3. Storm Signal (7: 04-8: 38)
  4. Celestial Voices (8: 38–11: 52)

Live performances

  • Pink Floyd played A Saucerful of Secrets between 1968 and 1972. The last concert that included the title was on September 23, 1972 at the Winterland Auditorium in San Francisco , California , where it was played as an encore.
  • In the Live at Pompeii: Directors Cut version , Nick Mason plays the drums with a higher frequency and also plays in the last two parts of the piece. David Gilmour's vocals only accompany the last and not the penultimate sequence.
  • Celestial Voices (the fourth part of the piece) played a role as the finale, repurposed as The End of the Beginning , on the tour for The Man and The Journey . On June 26, 1969 at the Royal Albert Hall , the band played the piece with wind instruments and choir .
  • During the song, the band fired two cannons at the Royal Albert Hall in 1968. As a result, Pink Floyd was banned from the house for life . However, David Gilmour was allowed to play again in the Royal Albert Hall on his On an Island tour in 2006 .

Staffing

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Misspelling
  2. ^ Andy Mabbett, Pink Floyd - The Music and the Mystery , London: Omnibus, p. 160 (2010). ISBN 978-1-84938-370-7 .
  3. ^ Glenn Povey, Echoes: The Complete History of Pink Floyd, Chesham: Mind Head Publishing , (2007). ISBN 978-0-9554624-0-5 .
  4. ↑ Toby Manning, Floyd's Finest 50 , The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd (1st ed.), London: Rough Guides, 188 (2006). ISBN 1-84353-575-0 .
  5. ↑ FAQ
  6. ^ April MacIntyre: David Gilmour's 'Remember That Night - Live at the Royal Albert Hall'. In: monstersandcritics.com. August 29, 2007, archived from the original ; accessed on March 7, 2019 .