The Dark Side of the Moon
Time, death and madness? Bring it on! (The Bus 5.24)
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ARCHIVE EDITION - FIRST PUBLISHED (1.15) 26 May 2022
The Stop
Released on 1 March 1973, Pink Floyd’s eighth studio album quickly became a game changer - both for the band members,1 and popular music as a whole. Recorded at London’s Abbey Road studios,2 the album is one of the most critically acclaimed records in history, spending 736 consecutive weeks on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart before dropping off in July 1988.3
A concept album in the purest sense,4 The Dark Side of the Moon is a meditation on the themes of death, time, consumerism, conflict and - perhaps most importantly - madness.5 Contemporary cutting-edge technology (including multitrack recording, tape loops and analogue recordings) is used throughout the album, along with intermixed interviews with the band’s road crew and others on subjects ranging from the philosophical to the mundane.6
In 2012, the Library of Congress included the album in its National Recording Registry for being culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.7 Upon its release, the critic Loyd Grossman wrote in Rolling Stone that it is a ‘fine album with a textural and conceptual richness that not only invites, but demands involvement. There is a certain grandeur here that exceeds mere musical melodramatics and is rarely attempted in rock. The Dark Side of the Moon has flash-the true flash that comes from the excellence of a superb performance.’8 Since 1973, millions of listeners have agreed.
Listening to the album is the only way to appreciate its artistry, and on a recent sunny morning I did this for the first time in years. I brought it up on Spotify, plugged in my headphones and spent the next 43 minutes wandering the woods and fields around our house accompanied by an amazing soundtrack.9 My suggestion is to dig it out of your vinyl collection, find the CD languishing in that box in the garage or stream it. It doesn’t matter how, but you need to listen to it - not as background music - but from beginning to end with the close attention you’d give a good book. Whatever you do, don’t shuffle the tracks - as a concept album, they are meant to be played in order!
Here is a link to The Dark Side of the Moon:
The Detour
Today’s Detour is to an article from Travel and Leisure, unfortunately titled ‘The Most Beautiful Place in Each U. S. State.’ Now, the fifty places showcased are beautiful, but a less declarative title might have been better for - as a North Carolinian - while I agree the Outer Banks are beautiful,10 having grown up in the mountains, I’d have to say the Most Beautiful Place in North Carolina is the Shining Rock Wilderness. Or maybe Triple Falls in Dupont State Forest. Or the drive at the top of 215 just before you reach the Blue Ridge Parkway from the Balsam Grove side. Or … well, you get my point.
It’s an easy read with some gorgeous photography, but just remember that beauty is subjective!
The Most Beautiful Place in Each U. S. State
Here’s an idea: wherever you live, send a photo with a comment of a place you think is the most - or perhaps just - beautiful to bryan.padrick@gmail.com and I’ll work it into a future issue of The Bus.
The Recommendation
Today’s Recommendation is The Magus, my favourite novel by the English author John Fowles.11 First published in 1965 and (unusually for a novel) revised and republished in 1978, The Magus is the story of Nicholas Urfe, a young Oxford graduate who takes a teaching job on the Greek island of Phraxos. It’s a powerful, disturbing read - and all the better for it.
From the back: ‘His friendship with the owner of the island’s most magnificent estate leads him into a nightmare. As reality and fantasy are deliberately confused by staged deaths, erotic encounters and terrifying violence, Urfe becomes a desperate man fighting for his sanity and his life.’
The Guardian 'Summer Readings' Review (2011)
The Sounds
Because of today’s Stop, today’s Sounds is a collection of five of my favourite Pink Floyd tracks from albums before The Dark Side of the Moon: ‘Cymbaline’ (More, 1969), 'Grantchester Meadows’ (Ummagumma, 1969), ‘Fearless’ (Meddle, 1971), ‘Remember a Day’ (A Saucerful of Secrets, 1968) and ‘Bike’ (The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, 1967). Enjoy!
The Thought
Today’s Thought is a quote from the fifth track of The Dark Side of the Moon, ‘The Great Gig in the Sky.’ While recording the album, the band interviewed a number of people, recording their responses. At 0.38 we hear the Abbey Road doorman Gerry O’Driscoll’s response when asked ‘are you afraid of dying?’ -
‘And I am not frightened of dying. Any time will do, I don't mind. Why should I be frightened of dying? There's no reason for it – you've got to go sometime.’
If you have a thought on this Thought - or any part of today’s issue - please leave a comment below:
And that’s the end of this stop - I hope you enjoyed a brief diversion from your regular journey!
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Until the next stop …
David Gilmour (guitars, vocals, synths), Roger Waters (bass, vocals, tape effects), Richard Wright (keyboards, synths, vocals) and Nick Mason (drums, percussion, tape effects). A brief overview of the band can be found here: Pink Floyd
Fun fact: Alan Parsons, who was also involved in recording The Beatles’ Abbey Road and Let it Be albums, received his first Grammy Award nomination for engineering The Dark Side of the Moon. Perhaps even more important for readers of The Bus, he also mixed the yacht rock band Ambrosia’s debut album - and produced their second. Though he wasn’t involved in the recording of ‘Biggest Part of Me’ (see The Bus Issue 1.10 - Yacht Rock), Ambrosia played on the first Alan Parson’s Project album, Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1975). Truly, it’s all connected.
There is, of course, controversy over when the first concept album - an album in which the songs reflect a cohesive theme - appeared. Freak Out (1966) by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention is often cited as the first, as is Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) by The Beatles. Also in the mix for ‘first’ is Pet Sounds (1966) by The Beach Boys - itself a major influence on Sgt. Pepper, which was also influenced by the Zappa album. Personally, I really don’t care - they’re all great albums. But, if I had to choose a first, I’d say it was Zappa.
Despite the band’s reputation at this time as purveyors of ‘space-rock,’ the title has nothing to do with astronomy. The album’s original title was Dark Side of the Moon: A Piece for Assorted Lunatics. The insanity theme is considered a reference to Syd Barrett, a founding member of the band (and a topic for a future Stop) who - after taking far too much LSD - essentially lost his mind and was removed from the band. The word ‘lunatic,’ by the way, comes from the ancient belief - like, Aristotle and Pliny the Elder ancient - that the full moon influences malign behaviour. For an interesting article about this, see: Lunacy and the Full Moon.
Famously, Paul McCartney (recording with Wings in the studio next door) was interviewed but his responses were deemed unusable. Roger Waters noted in an interview that McCartney was ‘the only person who found it necessary to perform, which was useless, of course. He was trying to be funny, which wasn’t what we wanted at all.’ The Dark Side of the Moon - 10 Things You Didn't Know
The album cover, one of the most iconic in history, was designed by Storm Thorgerson’s graphic design company Hipgnosis. See: Storm Thorgerson Obituary
Speaking of soundtrack, some claim - debunked by the band - the album was deliberately synced to the first 43 minutes of the Wizard of Oz. If you’re so inclined to slip down that rabbit hole, check out this helpful YouTube pairing of film and album: The Dark Side of Oz
Except when you and three friends choose to hike Ocracoke during Spring Break (instead of going to the beach) your first year of university and only realise after you arrive that all the campsites are closed in March - and a storm is coming in. But, hey, it was an adventure.