Brain damage

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Brain damage
Pink Floyd
publication March 24, 1973
length 3:50
Genre (s) Rock music , progressive rock , art rock
text Roger Waters
music Roger Waters
album The Dark Side of the Moon

Brain Damage is a piece of music from the 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon by the British music group Pink Floyd . It is the eighth track on the album and flows smoothly into the successor and final track on the album, Eclipse .

Theme and music

Brain Damage deals with the subject of madness . In addition to the title “Brain Damage” and the text, this is evident from the inserted laughter and scraps of conversation between the vocal passages.

Together with the follow-up and album-ending title Eclipse , it forms the finale of The Dark Side of the Moon , the overall theme of which deals with what can drive a person crazy, but before that with specific topics and not madness in general has dealt with.

Development and text

Brain Damage was invented by bassist Roger Waters as one of the first songs of the later The Dark Side of the Moon during the recording of the album Meddle . Except for keyboardist Richard Wright , who perceived the song as a weak piece of music, Brain Damage was well received by the band.

The piece was first called Dark Side of the Moon , and only later was renamed Brain Damage . The band announced the piece under the title Lunatic , among other things during live performances .

The theme is based, among other things, on former Pink Floyd member Syd Barrett , who left the band at an early age due to serious mental health problems. Overall, his story gave the impetus for the concept of the album The Dark Side of the Moon .

In Brain Damage alone , the phrase “(I'll see you on) the dark side of the moon” (in German: “I'll see you again on the dark side of the moon”) appears. It relates to the situation when madness wins the upper hand, and goes back to a saying by Mark Twain , according to which every human being like a moon has a dark but always hidden side.

music

Musically particularly striking is the initial phase of the song, which is structurally relatively simple for Pink Floyd and which is primarily played by Roger Waters . He constantly changes between the notes F sharp and F. The guitar arpeggios are reminiscent of Dear Prudence from the Beatles .

In addition, Brain Damage is one of two tracks on the album The Dark Side of the Moon , together with Eclipse , in which Roger Waters is the main vocalist. At first dissatisfied with his singing for the song, he finally took over this part in Brain Damage after encouragement from guitarist David Gilmour .

The piece was written and composed entirely by Roger Waters.

Publication and appearances

After its release in 1973 on The Dark Side of the Moon , Brain Damage was later found on other Pink Floyd albums. It can be found on Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii (2003 Director's Cut Edition) , slightly changed on Works as well as Pulse and In the Flesh , a live solo album by Roger Waters. Brain Damage was regularly played live, both in the first few years after its release and on tours of the band after the departure of Roger Waters, as well as by the latter on his solo tours.

The album Pulse contains a recorded live version of Brain Damage on the tour of the same name, which was recorded in 1994 at Earl’s Court in London .

The song was also covered several times. An orchestral recording can be found on the album Us and Them: Symphonic Pink Floyd . It comes from the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Peter Scholes.

occupation

also:

  • Lesley Duncan - backing vocals
  • Doris Troy - backing vocals
  • Barry St. John - backing vocals
  • Liza Strike - backing vocals

literature

  • John Harris: Pink Floyd and The Dark Side of the Moon. The making of a masterpiece . Hannibal, Höfen 2006, ISBN 3-85445-272-1 .
  • Toby Manning: The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd . Rough Guides, London et al., ISBN 1-84353-575-0 .

Web links