Following Meddle (1971), Dark Side was the 8th studio album for the group, written entirely by Roger Waters. Waters wanted to write an album that deal with things that "made people mad," focusing on the arduous lifestyle the band faced in day-to-day life, including dealing with Syd Barrett's mental problems that had caused him to leave the band. It's original working title was The Dark Side of the Moon: A Piece for Assorted Lunatics. The band agreed on Waters' unifying concept and went straight to work.
If you don't recognize the artwork, you should probably stop reading this blog.
In 1972, the band went a world wide tour to perform Dark Side as it would be recorded and the tour was praised by the public. The long tour allowed Pink Floyd to make some changes until they found the songs to be just what they wanted them to be.Each side of the album is a continuous song and represents a specific part of life: it begins and ends with a heartbeat, and explores human nature throughout. "Speak to Me/Breathe" is about the mundane parts of life, "On the Run" shifts to an airport and explores Richard Wright's fear of flying, and "The Great Big Gig in the Sky" is a soulful metaphor for death. "Money" mocks greed and consumerism, "Us and Them" addresses the isolation of the depressed, and "Any Colour You Like It" concerns the lack of choice one has in society. "Brain Damage" is clearly a song for Syd and looks at mental illness from resulting fame. The whole album ends with "Eclipse" which forces the listener to recognize the common traits shared by humanity through the concepts of alterity and unity.
Some have said that Dark Side is actually about the movie The Wizard of Oz. Apparently, if you start playing the album when you start the movie, there are some coincidental match ups between lyrics and Dorothy's movements. Alan Parsons, who helped record the album, says that the band never brought up the movie even once during writing or recording.
A live performance of Dark Side in Earl's Court, shortly after the release.
"Money," ironically, has become one of the most popular songs off the album. It was one of the first songs that got me into Pink Floyd and I remember my father blasting it whenever it came on the stereo. It didn't matter what we were doing - bbqing, working outside, washing dishes, driving the car - "Money" was blasted very loudly and was accompanied with a certain foot thumping from my father. This song's got some great memories tied up in it for me.One of my other favourites is "Speak to Me/Breathe." It's just a nice mellow song that you can really get into. I really enjoyed listening to it during my summer commute to work. But all in all, this a fantastic album and probably one of their most popular (next to The Wall, of course). If you haven't heard it, go listen to it - you're missing out a piece of musical artwork.
