Do Pink Floyd have any good songs?

ICBM

Sassafras said:

I liked the Syd Barrett days.
Unless you smoke loads of dope, the Gilmour years will seem a bit dull.
I can't listen to them anymore now I'm off the drugs.

I'd say it's the other way round... unless you smoke dope, the Syd Barrett era may seem a bit whimsical and childish - good in parts, but the great stuff started with Dark Side Of The Moon. (Possibly Meddle.)

If you don't like songs that are depressing in some way - but powerful and uplifting in other ways as well - then they're unlikely to be for you. I'd admit to being much more of a Waters than Gilmour fan as a writer, but they were at their best when they played off each other. DSOTM, Wish You Were Here, The Wall and The Final Cut are packed full of truly great writing and music - I've never quite clicked with Animals in the same way, not sure why.

But I suspect that if you need to explain this to someone who has already scratched the surface, the chances are that they're not going to get it. Which is fine, there is no rule that you have to.

HarrySeven

ICBM said:

But I suspect that if you need to explain this to someone who has already scratched the surface, the chances are that they're not going to get it. Which is fine, there is no rule that you have to.

Indeed.

I’ve yet to hear something by PF that I didn’t think was a load of overblown, torturous wank.

Then again, this is coming from someone who thinks that the solo in Buzzcocks’ Boredom is the epitome of insouciant cool. 

YMMV.

Philly_Q

Is everyone too cool to mention Comfortably Numb?  It's an amazing song.

ICBM

Philly_Q said:

Is everyone too cool to mention Comfortably Numb?  It's an amazing song.

And even better in the context of the whole album. Probably controversial to say so on a guitar forum too, but it’s the song which is great not the guitar solo. (Although it is good.)

fastonebaz

I think comfortably numb might be one of the mind numbingly boring ones I've heard in the radio. 

I'll check out some of the suggestions made.  

 

thumpingrug

NO, you stick with coldplay.

sweepy

Money, Brick in the Wall pt2, even if it does have some interesting similarities to Steely Dsn’s FM 

Danny1969

Nobody home 
Time
Not now John
One of these Days
Wish you were here

These are all examples of perfectly crafted standalone songs but they are still best heard in context .. within the album which has to be played start to finish. Back in the day, when people cared about music and valued it we would turn the lights off and sit in the dark listening so there were no distractions. It's not something people would do now and I don't think Floyd would ever be as big if they started out in this day and age. 

thecolourbox

Philly_Q said:

Is everyone too cool to mention Comfortably Numb?  It's an amazing song.

I prefer the scissor sisters version myself

There's no rule that you must like them, I don't but then they aren't really aimed at me.

I remember liking some of the sounds on one of their early albums (did it have a wind in the willows name or something?) but it doesn't really seem to bear any resemblance to the popular Pink Floyd incarnation

Philly_Q

fastonebaz said:

I think comfortably numb might be one of the mind numbingly boring ones I've heard in the radio. 

So it made you uncomfortably numb?

thecolourbox said:

I remember liking some of the sounds on one of their early albums (did it have a wind in the willows name or something?) 

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.  Yes, it's taken from the title of a chapter in The Wind in the Willows - which freaked me out when I read it as a kid, so much so that I didn't finish the book and have never read it since!

fastonebaz

Cool some more suggestions,  I've made a start on them this morning. 

euan

I like that song of theirs where Sting complains at the start about his TV

prowla

I like all of Wish You Were Here.

There's a couple of good ones on Dark Side Of The Moon (and you've got to listen to that anyway).

There's also some humour, irony, and general social commentary in some of the lyrics (though Roger Waters did describe some as "a bit lower sixth").

prowla

Sassafras said:

I liked the Syd Barrett days.
Unless you smoke loads of dope, the Gilmour years will seem a bit dull.
I can't listen to them anymore now I'm off the drugs.

Curious - I thought you had to be on drugs to like the Syd Barrett era ones.

Open_G

As much as I love pink floyd, I'll admit I've never sat around a campfire playing slowly strummed Em's and A's singing "Breathe... Breathe in the air" as a request... It's probably not what people want to hear when they ask me to play a few "good" songs

idiotwind

Fat Old Sun, Childhood's End, Wot's... uh the Deal, Green is the Colour

Those are all good, standalone songs.  If you want something a bit louder, The Nile Song is probably their "heaviest" song

MagicPigDetective

Run Like Hell

digitalkettle

fastonebaz said:

Cool some more suggestions,  I've made a start on them this morning. 

I know your MO @fastonebaz and you won't find any neon or spandex in the PF catalog

I'm in a similar boat* to you though: I've had a few tries and I never quite get them.

* Speaking of which, the first time I heard DSotM was on a yacht** sailing back across the Channel in the dead of night...very surreal...so that album is memorable for me!

** Someone had misplaced the Christopher Cross CDs.

JezWynd

ICBM said:

Sassafras said:

I liked the Syd Barrett days.
Unless you smoke loads of dope, the Gilmour years will seem a bit dull.
I can't listen to them anymore now I'm off the drugs.

I'd say it's the other way round... unless you smoke dope, the Syd Barrett era may seem a bit whimsical and childish - good in parts, but the great stuff started with Dark Side Of The Moon. (Possibly Meddle.)

Meddle was peak PF for me. While I admire the skill and artistry of their later records, there's something about their POV that is too preachy, too 6th form clever.

LastMantra

prowla said:

Sassafras said:

I liked the Syd Barrett days.
Unless you smoke loads of dope, the Gilmour years will seem a bit dull.
I can't listen to them anymore now I'm off the drugs.

Curious - I thought you had to be on drugs to like the Syd Barrett era ones.

I agree. You'd need to be on a shit ton of drugs to like that stuff. I've got a bike you can ride it if you like....
Not far off the quality of the wurzels brand new combine.
It's also very different to the later stuff, like different band different. 

I think if you've lived this long (not saying you're ancient or anything) as a musician/guitar player and not made your mind up about Floyd you probably just don't like them.

Nothing wrong with not liking them (well ). 

Get a decent system with decent headphones and give it a go.