I believe "Time" is Pink Floyd's best song. It's certainly the most profound. How you relate to it only becomes stronger the older you get. It's absolute truth in its words. The music used to tell its message is also quite powerful and sublime at the same time. I also think it's David Gilmour's best guitar solo.
Shine On You Crazy Diamond had the most profound effect on me. It spells out the pain of the ‘loss’ of a dear friend in metaphorical but stark lyrics. Masterful writing.
I'm not a huge fan of WYWH album as a whole but Shine on stands out as one of their peak moments. Profound, clear, and hits in the very heart. Masterpiece.
I agreer totally. Shine on is the funnest and most satisfying song to play on the piano, too. Really neat chord changes...You feel you're really doing something when you play that song... Mother is definitely right up there too...
Wish you were here, Will always be my favorite. My wife passed recently and we were both fans of Pink Floyd and I can not get through that song without thinking of her.
I'm so sorry, Keith. That song is one of my favorites too but unlike Rick, I don't feel it as "uplifting." It makes me feel nostalgic and sad. That's not a bad thing though. I really hope you can find solace in your memories of her and in music. She had to leave her body but her soul continues and she'll be there to help you transition when its your time. 💐❤️
Tough tough call. For myself it depends on my mood!! Some days it's Echos, Wish You Were Here, Time & Comfortably Numb. All great tunes. Some days it's Pigs on A Wing. We all our songs and our why as Rick explains! As always Rick thank you for your insight & breakdown
Echoes from Pompeii is my all time favorite. I love the way that song reverses itself. Never heard anything quite like it before and it just had a lasting impression on me.
It’s a legendary feat in music history. It’s my favourite song of all time and the build with the climax around 3/4 of the way through the song gives me goosebumps every time.
Echoes is probably their greatest song. It set the stage and template for everything that followed and was the moment when they really figured out where they wanted to go.
I would rather say Wish You Were Here, it is the best Pink Floyd's song because it is Pink Floyd in its purest form and its essence without synths or electric overloaded solos, just a band playing for an old friend.
Pink Floyd is my favorite band of all times and I absolutely love so many of their songs…but High Hopes gives me chills every time. Glad you mentioned it here!
It's "Time", plain and simple. It is profound, beautifully structured, and lyrically magical with a magnificent guitar solo. A work of art from the amazing intro through the "Breathe" reprise.
I really only focus on lyrics with country and folk, but this song has always struck me. I’m more into Waters’ lyrics now that I’m older. Time is the song for me.
After Meddle, Pink Floyd started with these bloated concept albums. I jumped. ship. They lost the quality to transport the listener to another place. Did not like DSOTM. Flame me.
Totally agree... and by a long way.... only song I have ever tripped on without doing and drugs at all... lisytened to it back then on a caseete through a walkman,,,,,, bouncin on clouds! A Masterpiece! See Emily play though will always stick with me.. I remember the day Relics was released , a dorm mate got it for his birtday and Relics got played relentlessly all year! An Abum/Collection for the ages... Meddle tough was the transitional Album and still had the Syd Effect to some degree,,,,, Brilliant Album
Great Gig in the Sky is my favorite. The singer was told to sing how she thought it might feel like to experience death. Most times, when I listen to it, I end up in tears or close to it. What a brilliant idea they had with that one
@@tomasvanecek8626 Have you heard Bike? People around then don’t get it but Syd’s stuff is literally almost even better remembered by the young. It takes a lot to realize how distinctive they were. Vegetable Man had it been a single wound have been unheard of until the arrival of new wave. Incredible. It’s like he was already in 1979 and skipped the entire Classic Rock period.
I like listening to it now because it hasn't been worn out like Dark Side and The Wall. I love those two albums, but heard the too many times. Getting a buzz and listening to Wish You Were Here is very relaxing
Comfortably Numb, is just an out of this world musical experience. I've been listening to it for forty plus years and never tire of it. Gives me goosebumps every single time. A truly brilliant song. So ethereal and beautiful.
I agree 100%. A song about shooting dope. But it's a great song. That's the first song I learned guitar solos. You had the 1st easy sweet gentle guitar solo then you have the second bluesy outro solo which is soaring. Two very simple effective solos that say way more than a bunch of kids shredding. The groove in Meddle is also great
"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is their greatest song for me. Quality and quantity in abundance. Amazing when you consider the struggle they endured to record it. "OK, who's been playing with the echo returns?" 🙂
Saw it live, so sad & Beautiful, 5-9 was just riveting, with that Diamond Center Stage shining facets of light on everone in the venue. 1977 Philadelphia
It’s not a song though, Shine on you crazy diamond is a 9 part 25 minute long symphony. It has more in common with a classical piece than a song within its structure.
This song (Us & Them) is THE most impactful LIVE musical moment of my life. I was 16, in 1988 and I slept out overnight at the mall for Pink Floyd tickets for their show at Veterans Stadium in Philly in 1988. I got floor seats in section AA, but as someone who is was incredibly short then (and now) I couldn't see anything since everyone was standing on their seats. So I went up to a higher level hoping to find a seat I could see from, when a nice couple said they had an open seat in the front row of the 2nd level. When the chorus of Us & Them hit and all those lights circling the screen turn towards the audience and shine bright white...it was just such a moving moment. I will never, ever forget it. Best concert I've ever seen.
I can't believe he did not include this. Gilmours REAL greatest solo. Tight song form as Rick was talking about. Rick needs to remake this video. He must have simply forgot it
Alan Parsons deserves credit for how he put their music together on this album. The way one song flowed into the next, the sound effects, and the overall package was a major achievement for the audio / recording engineer. ❤
But how much did Parsons have to do with all that? I've read quite a lot about Pink Floyd, but I've never heard a definitive answer. I know that he put together the alarm clock sequence at the beginning of "Time." But beyond that, I just haven't heard. Interesting fact: When Pink Floyd started making Wish You Were Here, they asked Parsons to work on it. They gave him a lowball offer, thinking he would be privileged to work with them again. He turned them down and immediately went on to great success with the Alan Parsons Project.
~~ it's interesting how on the 2003 film; "The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon" - all band members have interview segments - and Parsons has a bit as well - David Gilmour seems to downplay any contributions Parsons made - he says (a bit dismissively) of Alan; "He had a few good ideas" - David knows well that Roger was the driving force behind that project - and he seems to not want to give anyone else much credit - perhaps for fear of any perception of reducing his own input on the record even further by comparison to Roger's ..
@@gregc8670Parsons had a great deal to do with this lp! He had the added responsibility of actually taking razor to tape! Imagine being responsible for a perfect take then having to edit it with a razor! The sound quality of DSOTM was and is the height of an audiophiles wet dream!
Fearless, Time, Mudmen, Echoes, Dogs, Learning to fly, Comfortably Numb, etc.... There are too many to choose from. From every album, not just singles...
My top 10 - Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, Mother, Wish You Were Here, Paranoid Eyes, Brain Damage/Eclipse, Comfortably Numb, One of the Days, Sorrow, Astronomy Domine, When the Tigers Broke Free
Shine on you crazy diamond had taken me on an experience I’ve never felt in any other song, that’s why it separates itself from any other song of all time.
I can't believe it took so far into the comments to find Shine On. As my life goes on different Floyd songs become my favorite and this has been it for me for quite awhile now. The guitar work is some of the finest of any musician ever.
It's quite the composition. The band was in the studio recording the song which of course is about Syd Barrett. He was the brilliant, charming, witty, good looking young artist who started as front man for Pink Floyd. There was a party going on where he was slipped a huge amount of LSD. He was also in the early stage of schizophrenia. It is thought by most who were close to him that these conditions flipped the switch off in his brain. It is said that when he looked at you, rather than seeing his normal brilliant, charming, mischievous, almost child like demeanor, that his eyes were like "black holes in the sky", as described by the lyrics of Roger Waters in Shine On You Crazy Diamond. It's so sad how his mind transformed so darkly, and he came to resemble Uncle Fester of the TV series Adams Family, but only with a very morbid demeanor.
@@uversa7 I thought you were going to tell the story of him showing up during the recording of the Wish You Were Here album, shaved head and gaunt, looking nothing like the shining diamond of a man he was as the band leader just a few years before. Crazy story.
Comfortably Numb is my favourite Pink Floyd song. The two guitar solos are probably the best ever and I love the lyrics. This is a historically brilliant song.
Every group worth it's salt has that one song that really resonates and like Stairway, November rain, bohemian, you can't always get what you want, home by the sea, telegraph road and comfortably numb. All of them are long songs that have slow starts and fast finishes.
For me it’s Time. It includes a personal connection to general relativity and actually makes you feel the time that passed in your life just listening to the song. On top of that, the solos that include key change feel like a sad introspective journey. It’s one of my favorite songs of all time.
Always loved Time. Originally, it was Gilmour’s guitar work that drew me to the song. Now in my 50s, the lyrics hit me hard every time I hear it. Given the fact that they were probably just shy of 30 when they wrote it, the concept of being young and in no hurry for anything, and suddenly realizing years have passed and life is now short, shows a ton of wisdom for such young men.
A great song about our journey here and the fraud which deals with debt and the initial cut. A song likely handed to them. Just to add, general relativity is a lie created by the dumb as a rock Einstein the actor to hide the Aether.
To me it's funny watching this music teacher/producer who brings all this sophistication, and can instantly tell you every chord extension, key change and odd tempo, turn into a teenager listening to great music. "That's just... so great!"
Dogs is a pure masterpiece, and a complete, structured song, which is an amazing song from beginning to end. Every instrument is perfect, and the guitar solos are just so good.
Hard to beat Dogs, think I crashed a car listening to Animals. There's an early version called "you have to be crazy" and a live recording of it if you search.
Great Gig in the Sky is the only rock song that has ever evoked a wave of emotion so strong that I have physically wept. I can't imagine a better qualification for quantification...
I'm 64 now. I still remember the first time I listened to Shine On You Crazy Diamond. A friend at school had taped the album having just bought it. I came home, ate dinner, went to bed early and listened to the album lying in bed with headphones. The start of the album, with the early parts of SOYCD is still my favourite ever start to an album and my favourite Pink Floyd.
I'm also 64. I heard "Shine on" live twice before the WYWH album came out: at Wembley and Knebworth and at the latter gig, Dick Parry was used for more than just the two "Dark Side" songs: he played a knockout solo in the encore "Echoes" replacing the guitar break straight after verse 2. I bought a bootleg of "Shine on" soon after that so was really familiar with it by the time I heard the album version for the first time. When Parry's Baritone came in at the end of (again) verse 2, it knocked me out.
Right, and likely the really crappy Radio Shack headphones that we all had, that would leave your head a sweaty mess. I have nostalgic memories of that time.
yup…am 63 and rode my bicycle 14 miles round trip to KMart to buy Wish You Here in 1975 right when it was released. It took me a couple of weeks to realize that the shrink wrapper was an opaque flexible film that was covering the jacket…I thought it was the album jacket was a grey version of the Beatles White album design. Then, I noticed a perforated air hole in the shrink wrapper and saw color of the jacket picture through it and took a peek behind the shrink wrapper to my freaking surprise. Best Floyd album? Hard to say…my fondest one, though. Been dialed in to Floyd since an older brother’s initiation of UMMA GUMMA in 1969…
I'm 58 and growing up in an area where I only heard Top 40 music in my teens, I knew little about Pink Floyd other than The Wall. My older brother had a cassette with some songs, one of which was Comfortably Numb and that's the first Floyd song I got to know and that was probably about 1982 or so. When I went to college in the fall of 84 I found a radio station I couldn't get at home and that was KQRS out of Minneapolis. They played all of this awesome music I'd never heard like Floyd and Rush etc. In fact I'd never heard of Rush until then. The first Floyd Album I had, which I borrowed from a friend and recorded on cassette, was The Wall and it was certainly different than anything I had heard before. College student living frugally so it was a while before I had a library of Pink Floyd CDs. And yes, the headphones. I really should give a listen to both WYWH and DSOTM with headphones. I don't know when the last time I used headphones.... What would the teenagers, or even 30 year olds think of headphones today? lol
Shine On is their greatest song. Not just musically, but those have to be Roger’s best-ever lyrics. Plus the subject matter, harkening back to the band’s very origin. Just perfect. THAT SAID, Animals is my favorite album by them and contains Roger’s best-ever singing.
I love the long intro to Shine On You Crazy Diamond, but the song proper (the vocal part) isn't that great. I think Floyd's greatest song is "Time"... It has the fantastic long cinematic intro which Floyd do so well, and the song is great, Waters's best lyric, his most important message.
Hard to put them by order, but I'm gonna try to list a few sngs I love: Julia Dream, Paint Box, Remember a Day, Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, See Emily Play, Cirrus Minor, Green is the Colour, Let There Be More LIght, Embryo, Echos, Breathe, Pillow of Winds, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Astronomy Domine, Jugband Blues, One Of These Days
Man, who wouldn't just love to sit down with Rick, have a few beers, and talk about music? He's so knowledgeable, yet so unassuming, without a trace of arrogance, and his love of music is contagious. Love ya, Rick!
One of the most underrated aspects of Pink Floyd is the space in between notes, what they do not play, the amazing atmosphere they create for each song. Unparalleled.
One doesn’t simply listen to one song from Pink Floyd. You start the album, sit down, and enjoy the entire thing. Each album is a symphony. Each song is a movement
Mostly agree. These songs are from an era when bands carefully considered the writing, inclusion and order of each song an an album. A "Greatest Hits" album of a band like Pink Floyd is highly problematic.
@@donniev8181 Actually none of the members were cannabis smokers and that was never the intended point of the music, that's probably the biggest misconception among newbies like yourself and others unfortunately, most being American listeners 🤦♂🤦♂
Not saying they're my favorite but i do want to mention Final Cut and When The Tigers Break Free. Love those two and especially the solo on Final Cut. Beautiful.
I`m really surprised that the Great Gig in the sky wasn`t mentioned. It is for me not only Pink Floyd`s best songs, but one of the finest pop songs ever made. It has such a unique and distinct vibe that I haven`t seen being replicated by other songs/bands yet. Plus, the singular way the singer Claire Tory performs and the fact that this song has no lyrics gives it a crazy amount of drama, power and complexity that is mindblowing. A truly unique and timeless masterpiece.
@@aholder4471 I don't remember this story well, but didn't they ask her on take 2 to try materializing through vocal performance agonizing thoughts surrounding the subject of death? I heard this version of the story a while ago, so I'm not sure if it's true.
Comfortably numb never fails to get the fur on the arm standing. The guitar work is arguably (IMO) the greatest thing ever put to tape. Wish you were here is also up there. The acoustic intro and the story the song tells is phenomenal.
Division bell has a special place in my heart as it is the first album of Pink Floyd’s I ever bought/heard. I was 15 years old on a band trip (yep, I’m a band nerd) and our bus stopped at mall of America and I randomly bought it from a music store at MOA. I listened to it on my Walkman all the way to Chicago over and over and the rest is history! 32 years later I still listen to that album and all other albums of Pink Floyd! Going to see David Gilmour in NY in 15 days and since I’ve never seen him live before, it will be a dream come true. Impossible to pick a favorite song as I love them all but if I had to it would be comfortably numb just like Rick
So many great options but, for me, their greatest achievement is Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts VI-IX. That screaming slide part at the beginning all the way through the synthesized dirge at the end. Perfection.
"Comfortably Numb" is such an atmospheric song. I remember, as a 17 year old, going into a kind of trance every time I'd hear it. The opening melody is so dark and and has a sense of foreboding, and Gilmour's leads are other worldly . For me, their greatest song.
When I first played "The Wall", "Comfortably Numb" struck me as being the standout track from an already impressive album. That melody in the chorus is sublimely gorgeous.
Dark side of the moon is not just a number of songs to listen to its an album experience - to be immersed in from start to finish. In my opinion it’s the best album ever made
I'm an old guy....David Gilmore was the most influential to my own learning/playing. What a melodic soloist! First time I heard Time, I was blown away. He has so many other solos that are so good, it's hard to judge them. But my favourite is still Time. Other learning influences were Hendrix, Page,Terry Kath, Jeff Beck, Clapton, Larry Carleton........there were so many good players from the 70's! I've forgotten quite a few.
Wish You Were Here is easily one of the greatest songs ever written. The subject matter, the playing, the composition… everything….. makes me tear up every time.
Comfortably Numb is Pink Floyd's A Day In The Life, in that it was the latest and greatest manifestation of their two greatest songwriters genuinely working together. Sublime.
It was a David song that Roger took and wrote the lyrics to, unlike most of The Wall, which is almost a Roger solo album, so that is a reasonable take.
I've always felt Wish You Were Here was their best album but Dark Side of the Moon is also in there as well as many other albums. Two songs that grab me are: Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Wish You Were Here.
I was driving in my car, age 17, when Shine On came on the radio. I had no idea who it was by, but turned around and drove to the local record store and bought it. It's flawless. Then again, so is Animals...
Pink Floyd have a lot of great songs but there are two that just really stand out to me: Comfortably Numb and Wish You Were Here. They both have an uncanny ability to connect emotionally in a way that matches the greatest of all music.
Unfortunately my son was born stillborn. He had long arms like an albatross. When I hear Echoes I think of him flying above, having adventures and looking down on us.
@@softwareofexcellence Sounds like Echoes is blessing for you. To me it's like listening to one of the great composers like Beethoven. The truth of the matter is, your son is looking down at you smiling. Be blessed.
@softwareofexcellence no doubt he is! Pink floyd is about accepting God and believing in him and his paradise! Your son lives and he sings wish you where here to you through pink floyd every single time you listen to it!
Animals is my favourite album. No, it's not a singles album, but it feels like the most complete, most interesting record musically and lyrically. Some of the most scathing lyrics Roger ever wrote. But, I think the ending solo on Pigs is incredible. It's a great driving record. And even though Rick was without a credit, his playing was amazing. That electric piano intro to Sheep is iconic.
I agree with Rick that Animals is less about songs than pure 'listening'. That said, Gilmour's work on 'Dogs', especially the solo before the 'and when you lose control' part is unbelievable. The way he connects his phrases and caps it perfectly by leading right into the vocal melody gives me chills.
I read somewhere that the solo that made it onto the album was only the second-best recorded solo for "Dogs"! Somehow the best solo got deleted and they had to use the second-best!
Shine On : those three cords, and that drop when the drums come in-it's light dropping and scattering over the floor. Can't tell you or describe how it affects me. One of the greatest musical compositions ever. Along with Echoes from Pompeii, with those ethereal harmonies.
Haven't finished the video yet. I think The dark side of the moon had to be excluded from the list, it's over the top in its entirety and beats almost everything.
Thre are more better Pink floyd songs than comfortably numb imo My top 5 is 1.Echoes 2. SOYCD3. Atom Heart Mother 4.Wish you were here 5. Dark side of the moon comfortably numb is great too
My personal favourite: Dark side of the moon - Breath, Time, Great gig in the sky, Us and them, Any colour you like . Meddle - Echoes , pillow of dreams Atom heart mother - Atom heart mother, summer 68 Animal - Sheep, pigs. The wall - comfortably numb, in the flesh / thin ice, the trial. Wish you were here - Shine on you crazy diamond, Wish you were here pt 1-5 Honorable mentions: Dark side of the moon - speak to me, brain damage AHM - If, fat old sun Animals - dogs The wall - another brick in the wall (1-3), Mother. Saucerful of secrets : remember a day, saucerful of secrets. Wish you were here - welcome to the machine, shine on you crazy diamond pt 6-9
My favorite is "High Hopes" from the "Division Bell". It's just perfect from beginning to end. It's a symphony. It is one of the these rare songs that trigger a physical and/or emotional response you have no control over: "High Hopes" always gives me goosebumps and I begin to cry - always, even while watching this video. I have several thousand music tracks in my collection, but "High Hopes" is in that rare bunch of 10 songs from the thousands that trigger such a response.
Thank you. I haven't lived to Division Bell in years. "High Hopes" is an excellent work with maturity and depth. It's hard to describe, but the phrase "A world of magnets and miracles" for me are six words that describe what the _feeling_ of childhood memories are like, not what they actually are.
High Hopes is not my #1, but I agree that it's a wonderful, magical song. I especially like the live versions from David Gilmour's "Remember That Night" and "Live in Gdansk" DVDs, because he adds that haunting acoustic guitar outro.
That entire album is incredible… and High Hopes is my favorite PF song as well. And it kinda puts the recent Endless River album into proper context. “The endless River/forever and ever” are the last lyrics of High Hopes. If you listen to the albums back to back Endless River makes more sense.
I have always loved: “On the Turning Away” which I think as one of the most underrated PF songs ever. Another awesome song is Sorrow, both from a Momentary Lapse of Reason
In the 1980s, my then girlfriend, now wife, bought me my very first CD with this song on it. I still have it to this day. Funny, back then we asked how long a CD could last. The answer was, "we don't know."
All the ethereal productions are great, but if you were in a band, this is fun? (And it has never walk alone at the end, a “twofer”, if you will?). And, it has the magic gold top tone.
"On the Turning Away" is a beautiful song. Also a big fan of "Learning to Fly", if for nothing else just the repetative hook. It's just so relaxing to listen to!
@@dave4511 Err, not quite Dave. In 1974 Thatcher had amassed quite a bit of power in parliament and was the leader of the opposition party. While touring in 2016, Roger Waters replaced the inflatable flying pig with an inflatable flying baby Trump during this very song. What was Trump by then? The leader of the opposition party. When you come at the king, you best not miss!
He is the master of making every chord make you feel the the lyric . He makes his guitar , sing , cry , laugh, bark ! And no one sounds like him. They can try , but no. He played from the inner depths of his soul . He didn’t dance around the stage or go for the gimmick . He PLAYED . it is musical poetry.
I can listen whole PF discography on repeat and never get bored (at some point in my life I did so for about 3 years). But if you ask me for one essential song that has everything about PF condensed in perfect package, my answer would be "Echoes".
"High Hopes" - It's a song that anyone can relate to. Regardless of age, gender, nationality, background, etc. - It also resonates stronger the older you become. Maybe the greatest song ever.
Pink Floyd have so many great songs, it’s impossible to choose one! I started listening at 12 and now that I’m 60 I love their music even more. Greetings from Portugal ❤
"Learning to Fly" has lots of ways to grab you, too. Especially if you have any connection to aviation. Even without that, the fear of flying -- or worse: fear of failing, being grounded, feeling a fool, etc. -- is a very powerful generator of emotions. Maybe not as deep as "Two Suns in the Sunset", but...
100 percent agree. My favorite Pink Floyd song aside from Summer ‘68. Lots of people are quick to diss the post-Waters era of Floyd but seem to forget (or not know) that there are fantastic songs produced from that era, and On the Turning Away is their finest work from that era and one of their best overall.
On the turning away is definitely in my top 10. Is it only a dream that there will be no more turning away? Not a dream! It's up to all of us to make it real everyday. Don't turn away from the ones we love. Don't turn away from suffering strangers. And it has one of David gilmour's greatest guitar solos. It's my favorite song on momentary lapse of reason.
My top 4: 1. Comfortably Numb 2. Time 3. Mother 4 Wish You Were Here These are life stoppers that give me pause to reflect and make sure I'm not wasting away my life. The execution of these songs often brings tears.
Meddle is a perfect bridge between the psychedelia before and Dark Side of the Moon after. I love it. I first heard "Echoes" on an open reel top end system (not sure how they got the tape, words like "quad" were used....). My mind was blown, and I have loved the album every since.
I still don't get why a band like Pink Floyd would ever block you. It seems to me that with your huge following and incredibly engaging and comprehensive videos that you could be introducing Pink Floyds breathtaking music to hundreds of thousands of potential fans/customers. Thank you for all the hard work you put in to make these unforgettable videos.
A Pillow of Winds is my favorite of their songs that no one ever mentions, so I'm glad you mentioned it. I never thought of it as psychedelic, though it is. To me it's sort of impressionistic. Like it just floats like clouds, without seeming to "go anywhere," unlike most songs.
I never that of this song as psychedelic as a kid when I was exploring the whole catalog. Always loved it. Now that I’m older (and have heard more) it’s as English folksy psych as it gets.
Dogs is absolutely brilliant and although long does follow a song structure, albeit with many twists and turns. Gilmour’s accoustic guitar and vocals give me chills on that one.
My List would have to be #5 Us and Them, #4 On the Turning Away, #3 Great Gig in the Sky, #2 Wish you were here, #1 High Hopes. The reason for the number one because it encapsulates what once was and what is now. This song encompasses the description of life to anyone who listens to it.
Dogs still moves me every time I hear it. Chiming acoustic guitars to Rick’s keyboards to the vocal bounce off between Dave and Roger. I never get tired of hearing it.
Time is my favorite. I don't understand why it doesn't get more recognition. The rhythm part is amazing. The interplay between the four instruments is perfect, and it's done in a style that would be very easy to get wrong, but it's perfect. The guitar solo is the most subtly emotional perfect phrasing of any guitar solo ever and the best solo tone ever.
I can't say which is the greatest, but Comfortably Numb is my favorite. I never get tired of the music, and some of the lyrics really touch me personally, like they are reading my mind! "When I was a child I had a fever, my hands felt like two balloons", that really happened to me when I was a child, 60 years ago, and I never forgot that feeling!
The corresponding part of the later verse is (for me) one of the most powerfully poignant lyrics I've ever come across (by anyone, ever). "When I was a child, I caught a fleeting glimpse ..." up to "...the dream is gone".
Mine too, I like the DSoT version best, not the remastered, the good ol vinyl record version. The tempo is just spot on and leaned back, plus the sound of that whole live album just blows almost all other live albums out of the water.
Echoes is the greatest rock song ever composed. Not only rock but possibly the greatest song of all music genres. If you really allow yourself to totally let the music take you , it’s much more than a song. It’s an experience.
I remember watching the Pink Floyd at Pompei movie on TV in the early 70's (I was 18 in 1972) and upon hearing Echoes, I thought Humanity had reached a superior level of consciousness. LOL. To this day, it is still my all-time favorite prog song. A masterpiece.
Echoes truly was the true birth of Pink Floyd after a couple of stillborns and miscarriages. Wish You Were Here is the favourite child. You just can't think of Floyd without the human / life / death parallels that Waters was always prone to expressing. It's what defines Floyd for me, ''And I am you, and what you see is me''
@@jean-philippeperetti8463 Perfectly true. And what is interesting, the original version from the "Meddle" album is unfortunately much worse. The whole concert was amazing btw.
Meddle was recommended to me by my college roommate when we would play the alarms ringing at the beginning of "Time" on volume level 10 at 4 am in our dorm. We'd crank it for about 20 seconds, shut it off, then act sleepy when we stumbled out into the hallway to see who else we had rudely awakened. Jason asked me if I heard Meddle and lent me his CD. It grew on me and has become an all-time favorite. Super happy to hear people giving it the love it deserves.
I write a lot and listen to all sorts of music doing it, and my favorite PF track is Echoes. which still captivates me after 40 years, but I think you're looking for a song song.
~~ and David has a bunch of amazing lead guitar breaks - as PF records go "The Final Cut" obviously has it's deficiencies - but the solo Gilmour rips off on "Not Now John" is among his best efforts ..
I believe "Time" is Pink Floyd's best song. It's certainly the most profound. How you relate to it only becomes stronger the older you get. It's absolute truth in its words. The music used to tell its message is also quite powerful and sublime at the same time. I also think it's David Gilmour's best guitar solo.
@Jan Hammer ***fan only*** Yes, it is. Thank you.
Fully agree 👍
Definitely a hard one to beat
Nothing brings you into music like the alarms/chimes opening.
No one told you when to run. You missed the starting gun. How many does that refer to?
Shine On You Crazy Diamond had the most profound effect on me. It spells out the pain of the ‘loss’ of a dear friend in metaphorical but stark lyrics. Masterful writing.
Shine on
You
Diamond.
I forgot about that one
Love it
I'm not a huge fan of WYWH album as a whole but Shine on stands out as one of their peak moments. Profound, clear, and hits in the very heart. Masterpiece.
The keyboards and effects make this a special album for me.
That David Gilmore guitar intro is magnificent. My favourite too.
In my opinion, it’s Shine On You Crazy Diamond. The way that the whole band harmonize to tribute Syd is perfect.
Those iconic 4 bell-sounding notes of the introduction to Shine On and the stunning transition, the ethereal guitar solo, will never be equaled.
I also agree. But for me Mother is as close to perfection as we will ever hear in life.
Yes...so much emotion in the song...and the sax solo...that fade out reverb still gives me chills.
Yep
I agreer totally. Shine on is the funnest and most satisfying song to play on the piano, too. Really neat chord changes...You feel you're really doing something when you play that song... Mother is definitely right up there too...
Wish you were here, Will always be my favorite. My wife passed recently and we were both fans of Pink Floyd and I can not get through that song without thinking of her.
very sorry for your loss.
I'm so sorry, Keith. That song is one of my favorites too but unlike Rick, I don't feel it as "uplifting." It makes me feel nostalgic and sad. That's not a bad thing though. I really hope you can find solace in your memories of her and in music. She had to leave her body but her soul continues and she'll be there to help you transition when its your time. 💐❤️
😢❤❤
Tough tough call. For myself it depends on my mood!! Some days it's Echos, Wish You Were Here, Time & Comfortably Numb. All great tunes. Some days it's Pigs on A Wing. We all our songs and our why as Rick explains! As always Rick thank you for your insight & breakdown
Echoes from Pompeii is my all time favorite. I love the way that song reverses itself. Never heard anything quite like it before and it just had a lasting impression on me.
It’s a legendary feat in music history. It’s my favourite song of all time and the build with the climax around 3/4 of the way through the song gives me goosebumps every time.
That is number 2 for me after time
Hear hear! Could not agree more! A whole side of an album. but one complete song. And brilliant!
Every poser says that pretending to be a Pink Floyd aficionado
@@pauljones8801 Every self-proclaimed officionado belittling others' opinions in the belief that you are somehow superior. Go back to twitter.
IMO Echoes is the peak of music, 23 minutes of pure perfection in your ears, a hole experience that you would never forget
Underestimated work.
This one has always been one fo my favorites.
i think the rest of the album is so underrated, one of these days is awesome and fearless is probably in my top 15 favorite PF tracks.
How is it a masterpiece? Most of the song is nothingness or repeated instruments. The first 6 minutes is great though.
The long songives you in the trance. And that's what it's all about.
Echoes is probably their greatest song. It set the stage and template for everything that followed and was the moment when they really figured out where they wanted to go.
I would rather say Wish You Were Here, it is the best Pink Floyd's song because it is Pink Floyd in its purest form and its essence without synths or electric overloaded solos, just a band playing for an old friend.
Totally. A watershed song for their future and all of us fans who became lovers of Floyd.
Strangers passing in the street
By chance, two separate glances meet...
I totally agree. Epic
Echoes is such a ridiculously insane musical achievement. It’s an intense journey through time, space, and your own consciousness.
Pink Floyd is my favorite band of all times and I absolutely love so many of their songs…but High Hopes gives me chills every time. Glad you mentioned it here!
Echoes is my all-time favorite song from any band ever. It has it all.
YES !!
totally agree...i heard Dave Gilmour in an interview say Echoes is where things really "came together" and set the tone for things going forward.
Agree
Absolutely
Anybody who understands music will understand why. Echoes is the Rock & Roll equivalent of Beethoven, Mozart and Bach 🎶
It's "Time", plain and simple. It is profound, beautifully structured, and lyrically magical with a magnificent guitar solo. A work of art from the amazing intro through the "Breathe" reprise.
Absolutely.
Time is my all time favorite Pink Floyd song!
I really only focus on lyrics with country and folk, but this song has always struck me. I’m more into Waters’ lyrics now that I’m older. Time is the song for me.
In my opinion, Wish You Were Here and Comfortably Numb are perfect Pink Floyd songs, but Time is just a perfect song.
Hey, this thing is broken, it only let me upvote once!
I could never pick a favourite Pink Floyd song. There are too many equally brilliant masterpieces. Just too many. ❤
My thoughts exactly
Absolutely
Yeah, I was gonna say the first song of DSOTM, the last song of The Wall, and everything between. Best 4 album stretch in history.
I agree, picking just five is indeed a mission impossible...
Agree
Definitely the best song of Pink Floyd is Echoes, what a wonderful experience! ❤
Agreed 100%. Its the quintessential Pink Floyd song. An atmospheric journey for the ages...
100 percent agree. It’s one of the most extraordinary and epic things I’ve ever heard, so superb and preternatural.
After Meddle, Pink Floyd started with these bloated concept albums. I jumped. ship. They lost the quality to transport the listener to another place. Did not like DSOTM. Flame me.
Totally agree... and by a long way.... only song I have ever tripped on without doing and drugs at all... lisytened to it back then on a caseete through a walkman,,,,,, bouncin on clouds! A Masterpiece! See Emily play though will always stick with me.. I remember the day Relics was released , a dorm mate got it for his birtday and Relics got played relentlessly all year! An Abum/Collection for the ages... Meddle tough was the transitional Album and still had the Syd Effect to some degree,,,,, Brilliant Album
@Cap683 I think DSOTM is incredible. But man Echoes is miles above any other song in the history of the world.
For me, it's Comfortably Numb. So many of their tracks are on my all-time favorites list...but Comfortable Numb is, IMHO a total work of art!
Ditto. But in truth.they created so many timeless cuts that I couldn't do it in 5 songss.
I am with u
David Gilmour's incredible mind-bending solo at the end of this song is what pushes it to the top all by itself.
Second favorite for me. Wish you were touched my soul in ways comfortabley numb never could.
Absolute masterpiece... Sometimes it's fun to listen to punk or hip-hop but when you're in a mood for a masterpiece, you can't go wrong with CN.
Great Gig in the Sky is my favorite. The singer was told to sing how she thought it might feel like to experience death. Most times, when I listen to it, I end up in tears or close to it. What a brilliant idea they had with that one
Watch "The Dark Side of OZ"... It will make sense. Its right when the tornado comes
That and the flow from "Time" and its lyrics into Great Gig in the Sky....
Ooof. So powerful. It's an emotional roller coaster.
Listening to Bike is an unforgettable experience. You will fall in love with Syd Barrett. Forever.
That one is just incredible.. I first heard it in 1973 .. it amazes me still, always will
@@tomasvanecek8626 Have you heard Bike? People around then don’t get it but Syd’s stuff is literally almost even better remembered by the young. It takes a lot to realize how distinctive they were. Vegetable Man had it been a single wound have been unheard of until the arrival of new wave. Incredible. It’s like he was already in 1979 and skipped the entire Classic Rock period.
Wish You Were Here still gives me chills all these years later.
The entire album start to finish is unbelievable
I like listening to it now because it hasn't been worn out like Dark Side and The Wall. I love those two albums, but heard the too many times. Getting a buzz and listening to Wish You Were Here is very relaxing
So me too!
Always gives me goosebumps
I also agree this is my favorite, which was not too hard to choose!!
“Comfortably Numb”?? Gives me goosebumps every time I hear it, and I just can’t help singing along!!! Truly amazing song!
hell we even sings the solos parts😂
Comfortably Numb, is just an out of this world musical experience. I've been listening to it for forty plus years and never tire of it. Gives me goosebumps every single time. A truly brilliant song. So ethereal and beautiful.
Agree 100%
Same here, 100%
My personal favorite as well. The solo at the end is beautiful.
I agree 100%. A song about shooting dope. But it's a great song. That's the first song I learned guitar solos. You had the 1st easy sweet gentle guitar solo then you have the second bluesy outro solo which is soaring. Two very simple effective solos that say way more than a bunch of kids shredding. The groove in Meddle is also great
Love comfortably numb but would probably say shine on you crazy diamond (In it’s entirety)
"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is their greatest song for me. Quality and quantity in abundance. Amazing when you consider the struggle they endured to record it. "OK, who's been playing with the echo returns?" 🙂
Saw it live, so sad & Beautiful, 5-9 was just riveting, with that Diamond Center Stage shining facets of light on everone in the venue. 1977 Philadelphia
It’s not a song though, Shine on you crazy diamond is a 9 part 25 minute long symphony. It has more in common with a classical piece than a song within its structure.
@@caroleann_2142 I saw it live when Floyd 2.0 played Western Springs, Auckland NZ In Jan 1988. Great opener for show and the sun had only just set 😍
@@tarkett8529 You've been listening to Rick 🙂
Shine on you crazy Diamond,
Breathe,
Time,
Wish you were here,
Us and them.
It‘s so hard to pick just 5 Songs
When I listen to Comfortably Numb and Shine On You Crazy Diamond I literally get chills. 2 of the best pieces of music ever produced.
This song (Us & Them) is THE most impactful LIVE musical moment of my life. I was 16, in 1988 and I slept out overnight at the mall for Pink Floyd tickets for their show at Veterans Stadium in Philly in 1988. I got floor seats in section AA, but as someone who is was incredibly short then (and now) I couldn't see anything since everyone was standing on their seats. So I went up to a higher level hoping to find a seat I could see from, when a nice couple said they had an open seat in the front row of the 2nd level. When the chorus of Us & Them hit and all those lights circling the screen turn towards the audience and shine bright white...it was just such a moving moment. I will never, ever forget it. Best concert I've ever seen.
🙏
Always loved "When the Tigers broke free" no idea why just as much as "Us and Them" although "Us and Them" is obviously better.
It's Time of course. A universal song that grows more profound with every second that passes.
And every year after.
I listen to it every year on my birthday…
Start of that song is so irritating.
I can't believe he did not include this. Gilmours REAL greatest solo. Tight song form as Rick was talking about.
Rick needs to remake this video. He must have simply forgot it
In my top 10 for sure!
Alan Parsons deserves credit for how he put their music together on this album. The way one song flowed into the next, the sound effects, and the overall package was a major achievement for the audio / recording engineer. ❤
But how much did Parsons have to do with all that? I've read quite a lot about Pink Floyd, but I've never heard a definitive answer. I know that he put together the alarm clock sequence at the beginning of "Time." But beyond that, I just haven't heard. Interesting fact: When Pink Floyd started making Wish You Were Here, they asked Parsons to work on it. They gave him a lowball offer, thinking he would be privileged to work with them again. He turned them down and immediately went on to great success with the Alan Parsons Project.
~~ it's interesting how on the 2003 film; "The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon" - all band members have interview segments - and Parsons has a bit as well - David Gilmour seems to downplay any contributions Parsons made - he says (a bit dismissively) of Alan; "He had a few good ideas" - David knows well that Roger was the driving force behind that project - and he seems to not want to give anyone else much credit - perhaps for fear of any perception of reducing his own input on the record even further by comparison to Roger's ..
@@gregc8670Parsons had a great deal to do with this lp! He had the added responsibility of actually taking razor to tape! Imagine being responsible for a perfect take then having to edit it with a razor! The sound quality of DSOTM was and is the height of an audiophiles wet dream!
@@gregc8670 Not that much really, Waters had far more input and by some distance.
Fearless, Time, Mudmen, Echoes, Dogs, Learning to fly, Comfortably Numb, etc.... There are too many to choose from. From every album, not just singles...
Fearless. The song immobilizes me to this day.
Good call on madmen and dogs
Mudmen
Fearless, for sure!!!
DOGS!! When they're all howling over the acoustic guitar I get the chills every time
My top 10 - Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, Mother, Wish You Were Here, Paranoid Eyes, Brain Damage/Eclipse, Comfortably Numb, One of the Days, Sorrow, Astronomy Domine, When the Tigers Broke Free
Shine on you crazy diamond had taken me on an experience I’ve never felt in any other song, that’s why it separates itself from any other song of all time.
I can't believe it took so far into the comments to find Shine On. As my life goes on different Floyd songs become my favorite and this has been it for me for quite awhile now. The guitar work is some of the finest of any musician ever.
It's quite the composition. The band was in the studio recording the song which of course is about Syd Barrett. He was the brilliant, charming, witty, good looking young artist who started as front man for Pink Floyd. There was a party going on where he was slipped a huge amount of LSD. He was also in the early stage of schizophrenia. It is thought by most who were close to him that these conditions flipped the switch off in his brain. It is said that when he looked at you, rather than seeing his normal brilliant, charming, mischievous, almost child like demeanor, that his eyes were like "black holes in the sky", as described by the lyrics of Roger Waters in Shine On You Crazy Diamond. It's so sad how his mind transformed so darkly, and he came to resemble Uncle Fester of the TV series Adams Family, but only with a very morbid demeanor.
@@uversa7 I thought you were going to tell the story of him showing up during the recording of the Wish You Were Here album, shaved head and gaunt, looking nothing like the shining diamond of a man he was as the band leader just a few years before. Crazy story.
Agreed!
Shine On You Crazy Diamond is my favorite song ever, not just Pink Floyd. Along with Shine, I would include Hey You, On the Turning Away and Time
yeah man - "shine on..." is one of mine too. i've turned into my own ballad. . . for my ears only.
Shine on you crazy diamond is a piece of art...period❣️
Wish you were here is their best album as far as I’m concerned, and Shine on you crazy diamond is their best song.
I have to agree. Wish You Were Here would be second, followed by Money and Time.
Can I add “Comfortably Numb?”
Comfortably Numb is my favourite Pink Floyd song. The two guitar solos are probably the best ever and I love the lyrics. This is a historically brilliant song.
I was going to leave a comment saying Confortably Numb before even watching the video. And your comment is up there 👍
Every group worth it's salt has that one song that really resonates and like Stairway, November rain, bohemian, you can't always get what you want, home by the sea, telegraph road and comfortably numb. All of them are long songs that have slow starts and fast finishes.
I totally agree and it encompasses all the talents of each member.
Agreed!
👍👌
Meddle was the turning point for Pink Floyd. The band coalesced into the perfect example of what the true defintion of what "recording artist" is.
For me it’s Time. It includes a personal connection to general relativity and actually makes you feel the time that passed in your life just listening to the song. On top of that, the solos that include key change feel like a sad introspective journey. It’s one of my favorite songs of all time.
Time isn't a "song" if you knew anything about Floyd 🤭
Time, Fearless, Flaming, Summer 68', Julia Dream, Echoes, Us & Them, Interstellar Overdrive, Money, Nobody Home, Great Gig In The Sky.
Always loved Time. Originally, it was Gilmour’s guitar work that drew me to the song. Now in my 50s, the lyrics hit me hard every time I hear it. Given the fact that they were probably just shy of 30 when they wrote it, the concept of being young and in no hurry for anything, and suddenly realizing years have passed and life is now short, shows a ton of wisdom for such young men.
A great song about our journey here and the fraud which deals with debt and the initial cut. A song likely handed to them. Just to add, general relativity is a lie created by the dumb as a rock Einstein the actor to hide the Aether.
List of best Floyd without Time is unthinkable. It seems Rick discounted lyrics.
Does anyone else think the best things about Rick's videos are his reactions and enthusiasm?
Music is part of his soul. He's introduced me to some musicians I wasn't familiar with too.
To me it's funny watching this music teacher/producer who brings all this sophistication, and can instantly tell you every chord extension, key change and odd tempo, turn into a teenager listening to great music. "That's just... so great!"
His hype is to be hyped.
He knows good music, obviously as an Englishman I'm biased. I love Floyd and Tears for Fears, my heart skipped a beat when he covered them both.
@@shivaunt71I agree.
Dogs is a pure masterpiece, and a complete, structured song, which is an amazing song from beginning to end. Every instrument is perfect, and the guitar solos are just so good.
Those guitar parts evolve with the song.
Yes totally
Dogs is their #1 for sure.
that album is soo dark though
Hard to beat Dogs, think I crashed a car listening to Animals. There's an early version called "you have to be crazy" and a live recording of it if you search.
Great Gig in the Sky is the only rock song that has ever evoked a wave of emotion so strong that I have physically wept. I can't imagine a better qualification for quantification...
The only time that happened to me was when I saw King Crimson playing "The Court of the Crimson King" live at Rio de Janeiro.
Dude! I was looking for this answer!
I'm 64 now. I still remember the first time I listened to Shine On You Crazy Diamond. A friend at school had taped the album having just bought it. I came home, ate dinner, went to bed early and listened to the album lying in bed with headphones. The start of the album, with the early parts of SOYCD is still my favourite ever start to an album and my favourite Pink Floyd.
I'm also 64. I heard "Shine on" live twice before the WYWH album came out: at Wembley and Knebworth and at the latter gig, Dick Parry was used for more than just the two "Dark Side" songs: he played a knockout solo in the encore "Echoes" replacing the guitar break straight after verse 2. I bought a bootleg of "Shine on" soon after that so was really familiar with it by the time I heard the album version for the first time. When Parry's Baritone came in at the end of (again) verse 2, it knocked me out.
Right, and likely the really crappy Radio Shack headphones that we all had, that would leave your head a sweaty mess. I have nostalgic memories of that time.
yup…am 63 and rode my bicycle 14 miles round trip to KMart to buy Wish You Here in 1975 right when it was released. It took me a couple of weeks to realize that the shrink wrapper was an opaque flexible film that was covering the jacket…I thought it was the album jacket was a grey version of the Beatles White album design. Then, I noticed a perforated air hole in the shrink wrapper and saw color of the jacket picture through it and took a peek behind the shrink wrapper to my freaking surprise. Best Floyd album? Hard to say…my fondest one, though. Been dialed in to Floyd since an older brother’s initiation of UMMA GUMMA in 1969…
@@Maltloaflegrande ?
I'm 58 and growing up in an area where I only heard Top 40 music in my teens, I knew little about Pink Floyd other than The Wall. My older brother had a cassette with some songs, one of which was Comfortably Numb and that's the first Floyd song I got to know and that was probably about 1982 or so. When I went to college in the fall of 84 I found a radio station I couldn't get at home and that was KQRS out of Minneapolis. They played all of this awesome music I'd never heard like Floyd and Rush etc. In fact I'd never heard of Rush until then. The first Floyd Album I had, which I borrowed from a friend and recorded on cassette, was The Wall and it was certainly different than anything I had heard before. College student living frugally so it was a while before I had a library of Pink Floyd CDs. And yes, the headphones. I really should give a listen to both WYWH and DSOTM with headphones. I don't know when the last time I used headphones.... What would the teenagers, or even 30 year olds think of headphones today? lol
Shine On is their greatest song. Not just musically, but those have to be Roger’s best-ever lyrics. Plus the subject matter, harkening back to the band’s very origin. Just perfect. THAT SAID, Animals is my favorite album by them and contains Roger’s best-ever singing.
This.
It’s 2 songs though
Shine On is their best song and Dogs is Gilmour's best song
I love the long intro to Shine On You Crazy Diamond, but the song proper (the vocal part) isn't that great. I think Floyd's greatest song is "Time"... It has the fantastic long cinematic intro which Floyd do so well, and the song is great, Waters's best lyric, his most important message.
@@carlmarks8170 Yep,completely agree.
Hard to put them by order, but I'm gonna try to list a few sngs I love: Julia Dream, Paint Box, Remember a Day, Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, See Emily Play, Cirrus Minor, Green is the Colour, Let There Be More LIght, Embryo, Echos, Breathe, Pillow of Winds, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Astronomy Domine, Jugband Blues, One Of These Days
Man, who wouldn't just love to sit down with Rick, have a few beers, and talk about music? He's so knowledgeable, yet so unassuming, without a trace of arrogance, and his love of music is contagious. Love ya, Rick!
One of the most underrated aspects of Pink Floyd is the space in between notes, what they do not play, the amazing atmosphere they create for each song. Unparalleled.
Exactly
That makes no sense. The stuff they do not play sounds exactly like the stuff other bands do not play. Exactly, exactly the same.
@@qqw743 you obviously do. not. get. it.
In visual arts it's called "Negative Space". It works the same in music. And Floyd are one the masters of Negative Space in music.
surprised Welcome to the machine is not even being considered
One doesn’t simply listen to one song from Pink Floyd. You start the album, sit down, and enjoy the entire thing.
Each album is a symphony. Each song is a movement
Not really, The Piper of the Gates of dawn-, Saucerful of secrets aré very song based, and so Is Obscured by clouds.
Mostly agree. These songs are from an era when bands carefully considered the writing, inclusion and order of each song an an album. A "Greatest Hits" album of a band like Pink Floyd is highly problematic.
This is the only music that makes me consider smoking some green.
@@donniev8181 Actually none of the members were cannabis smokers and that was never the intended point of the music, that's probably the biggest misconception among newbies like yourself and others unfortunately, most being American listeners 🤦♂🤦♂
@@pauljones8801 didn't say anything about the members of the band?
Not saying they're my favorite but i do want to mention Final Cut and When The Tigers Break Free. Love those two and especially the solo on Final Cut. Beautiful.
finally an interesting response
yes that solo is just astonishing to listen to it
I`m really surprised that the Great Gig in the sky wasn`t mentioned. It is for me not only Pink Floyd`s best songs, but one of the finest pop songs ever made. It has such a unique and distinct vibe that I haven`t seen being replicated by other songs/bands yet. Plus, the singular way the singer Claire Tory performs and the fact that this song has no lyrics gives it a crazy amount of drama, power and complexity that is mindblowing. A truly unique and timeless masterpiece.
Have you heard the story about when they were in the studio and she asked the band what she was supposed to sing over it?
Absolutely Great Gig in the Sky! It’s of course an individual thing but this song should have made the discussion.
It's my number 1.
@@aholder4471 I don't remember this story well, but didn't they ask her on take 2 to try materializing through vocal performance agonizing thoughts surrounding the subject of death? I heard this version of the story a while ago, so I'm not sure if it's true.
My number 1 as well.
Comfortably numb never fails to get the fur on the arm standing. The guitar work is arguably (IMO) the greatest thing ever put to tape.
Wish you were here is also up there. The acoustic intro and the story the song tells is phenomenal.
Division Bell is so underrated. It's an incredible album.
High Hopes is an awesome song
@@nicholasjohnson6724 Yep my favorite song after all is said and done. That song is pure magic.
Division bell has a special place in my heart as it is the first album of Pink Floyd’s I ever bought/heard. I was 15 years old on a band trip (yep, I’m a band nerd) and our bus stopped at mall of America and I randomly bought it from a music store at MOA. I listened to it on my Walkman all the way to Chicago over and over and the rest is history! 32 years later I still listen to that album and all other albums of Pink Floyd! Going to see David Gilmour in NY in 15 days and since I’ve never seen him live before, it will be a dream come true. Impossible to pick a favorite song as I love them all but if I had to it would be comfortably numb just like Rick
So many great options but, for me, their greatest achievement is Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts VI-IX. That screaming slide part at the beginning all the way through the synthesized dirge at the end. Perfection.
Right on!
Shine On pts 6-9 Live in Oakland 1977 is an incredible achievement and my favourite piece of music ever
100% agree
Although it's an impossible feat to narrow a Floyd song down to one, Shine probably gets the nod.
"Comfortably Numb" is such an atmospheric song. I remember, as a 17 year old, going into a kind of trance every time I'd hear it. The opening melody is so dark and and has a sense of foreboding, and Gilmour's leads are other worldly . For me, their greatest song.
Remember when you were young,
You shone like the sun.
Comfortably Numb hasnt carried with time in my humble opinion,i cant stand it now,the guitar solo no longer sounds stand out
When I first played "The Wall", "Comfortably Numb" struck me as being the standout track from an already impressive album. That melody in the chorus is sublimely gorgeous.
Dark side of the moon is not just a number of songs to listen to its an album experience - to be immersed in from start to finish. In my opinion it’s the best album ever made
I agree
Agreed! :)
Played starting with the beginning of The Wizard of Oz.
I'll have to agree with that. Such a masterpiece.
Yes
I'm an old guy....David Gilmore was the most influential to my own learning/playing. What a melodic soloist! First time I heard Time, I was blown away. He has so many other solos that are so good, it's hard to judge them. But my favourite is still Time. Other learning influences were Hendrix, Page,Terry Kath, Jeff Beck, Clapton, Larry Carleton........there were so many good players from the 70's! I've forgotten quite a few.
Alvin Lee, Mick Taylor, Dick Taylor and Gallagher!!!!
Jimmy Page!
Wish You Were Here is easily one of the greatest songs ever written. The subject matter, the playing, the composition… everything….. makes me tear up every time.
To me, 'Time' is my favorite PF song. That solo is timeless and gives me chills every time I listen to it.
Comfortably Numb is Pink Floyd's A Day In The Life, in that it was the latest and greatest manifestation of their two greatest songwriters genuinely working together. Sublime.
Lol that’s an interesting take! 🤙
Perfect mix between two pink floyd egos…
It was a David song that Roger took and wrote the lyrics to, unlike most of The Wall, which is almost a Roger solo album, so that is a reasonable take.
Omg. You are completely right!
I've always felt Wish You Were Here was their best album but Dark Side of the Moon is also in there as well as many other albums. Two songs that grab me are: Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Wish You Were Here.
I was driving in my car, age 17, when Shine On came on the radio. I had no idea who it was by, but turned around and drove to the local record store and bought it. It's flawless. Then again, so is Animals...
Animals isn't just Floyd's most underrated album, it may be rock's, too.
@@joxyjoxyjoxy1 Animals, especially Pigs and Sheep total masterpieces.
and Dogs too
@@shreyasr7469 The keyboard intro to Sheep is some of my favorite Floyd. Put it up there with the Comfortably Numb solo.
Pink Floyd have a lot of great songs but there are two that just really stand out to me: Comfortably Numb and Wish You Were Here. They both have an uncanny ability to connect emotionally in a way that matches the greatest of all music.
Those are my favourites as well
For me it's Mother. The time changes as the narrator changes, the solo is solid, and the lyrics are so vulnerable. What a song.
"Why'd it have to be so high?" Brilliant
From the very first line... absolutely gripping.
Mine was always Comfortably Numb but after listening to the live version of Mother many many times I am leaning towards Mother.
I’m with you! Mother, in the flesh II, Nobody Home, Vera, so under rated. But I’d have to say mother as well. I really like nobody home too.
Echoes… plain and simple as a musician/guitarist myself …this is when they found their sound!
Most people dont wanna say it because its one of the most popular songs, but its comfortably numb. It just has it all. Masterpiece.
Echoes (live at Pompeii) and High Hopes are my 2 favorite Pink Floyd songs of all time
“Echoes” at Pompeii is the most appropriate forum and context for that composition.
This is a fact
Yes Echoes , special and epic
Echoes for sure!
Echoes is the ultimate Pink Floyd song.
The "Echoes" is pink floyd's masterpiece,it just takes you somewhere you have never been specially when you're high
Unfortunately my son was born stillborn. He had long arms like an albatross. When I hear Echoes I think of him flying above, having adventures and looking down on us.
@@softwareofexcellence Sounds like Echoes is blessing for you. To me it's like listening to one of the great composers like Beethoven. The truth of the matter is, your son is looking down at you smiling. Be blessed.
@softwareofexcellence no doubt he is! Pink floyd is about accepting God and believing in him and his paradise! Your son lives and he sings wish you where here to you through pink floyd every single time you listen to it!
Animals is my favourite album. No, it's not a singles album, but it feels like the most complete, most interesting record musically and lyrically. Some of the most scathing lyrics Roger ever wrote. But, I think the ending solo on Pigs is incredible. It's a great driving record. And even though Rick was without a credit, his playing was amazing. That electric piano intro to Sheep is iconic.
yes i love the piano intro in sheep too
I agree with Rick that Animals is less about songs than pure 'listening'. That said, Gilmour's work on 'Dogs', especially the solo before the 'and when you lose control' part is unbelievable. The way he connects his phrases and caps it perfectly by leading right into the vocal melody gives me chills.
I read somewhere that the solo that made it onto the album was only the second-best recorded solo for "Dogs"! Somehow the best solo got deleted and they had to use the second-best!
I had it on vinyl and listened to this album over and over in the late 90s and yes, that solo used to be the goosebump moment so so good
Shine On : those three cords, and that drop when the drums come in-it's light dropping and scattering over the floor. Can't tell you or describe how it affects me. One of the greatest musical compositions ever. Along with Echoes from Pompeii, with those ethereal harmonies.
Shine on (Part 6-9), phenomenal build up to the lead break.
My thoughts exactly 💯
So come on you raver , you seer of visions.
Come on you painter , you piper , you prisoner and shine......
Three chords?
Who didn’t know it was going to be comfortably numb? An absolute masterpiece
20+ better songs by Floyd for many fans.
I didn’t know until I saw your post. 0:39. Do I bother watching?
Haven't finished the video yet.
I think The dark side of the moon had to be excluded from the list, it's over the top in its entirety and beats almost everything.
Thre are more better Pink floyd songs than comfortably numb imo My top 5 is 1.Echoes 2. SOYCD3. Atom Heart Mother 4.Wish you were here 5. Dark side of the moon comfortably numb is great too
My personal favourite:
Dark side of the moon - Breath, Time, Great gig in the sky, Us and them, Any colour you like .
Meddle - Echoes , pillow of dreams
Atom heart mother - Atom heart mother, summer 68
Animal - Sheep, pigs.
The wall - comfortably numb, in the flesh / thin ice, the trial.
Wish you were here - Shine on you crazy diamond, Wish you were here pt 1-5
Honorable mentions:
Dark side of the moon - speak to me, brain damage
AHM - If, fat old sun
Animals - dogs
The wall - another brick in the wall (1-3), Mother.
Saucerful of secrets : remember a day, saucerful of secrets.
Wish you were here - welcome to the machine, shine on you crazy diamond pt 6-9
My favorite is "High Hopes" from the "Division Bell". It's just perfect from beginning to end. It's a symphony. It is one of the these rare songs that trigger a physical and/or emotional response you have no control over: "High Hopes" always gives me goosebumps and I begin to cry - always, even while watching this video. I have several thousand music tracks in my collection, but "High Hopes" is in that rare bunch of 10 songs from the thousands that trigger such a response.
Thank you. I haven't lived to Division Bell in years. "High Hopes" is an excellent work with maturity and depth. It's hard to describe, but the phrase "A world of magnets and miracles" for me are six words that describe what the _feeling_ of childhood memories are like, not what they actually are.
I agree 100%. The other one is, “On the Turning Away”. Another one that has such emotion.
High Hopes is not my #1, but I agree that it's a wonderful, magical song. I especially like the live versions from David Gilmour's "Remember That Night" and "Live in Gdansk" DVDs, because he adds that haunting acoustic guitar outro.
The last studio track from Floyd.
I do find it quite spine tingling, especially the rising pitch of the guitar solo as it fades away.
That entire album is incredible… and High Hopes is my favorite PF song as well. And it kinda puts the recent Endless River album into proper context. “The endless River/forever and ever” are the last lyrics of High Hopes. If you listen to the albums back to back Endless River makes more sense.
I have always loved: “On the Turning Away” which I think as one of the most underrated PF songs ever. Another awesome song is Sorrow, both from a Momentary Lapse of Reason
Sorrow has one of my favorite guitar intros. Just instantly creates an odd, unsettling atmosphere.
In the 1980s, my then girlfriend, now wife, bought me my very first CD with this song on it. I still have it to this day. Funny, back then we asked how long a CD could last. The answer was, "we don't know."
“Time” will always be mine!!! Love the solo, love the words, love all of it. You can’t go wrong with Dark Side Of The Moon!! Love High Hopes as well.
Wots hu the deal” is one of my loved songs of Pink!
My vote is for Fearless...
That open tuned guitar crushes and I really dig Gilmour's vocals. He brought the 🔥
Tremendous, Tremendous tune and one of my faves too
👍🙏👍🙏
With Liverpool fans interpolated throughout the song with "You Never Walk Alone" puts the icing on the cake. Come On You Reds!
Basically always the first track that comes to mind when talking about my favorite Floyd songs
All the ethereal productions are great, but if you were in a band, this is fun? (And it has never walk alone at the end, a “twofer”, if you will?). And, it has the magic gold top tone.
I have to agree...one of the most uplifting, beautiful songs ever written imho 😊
40 minutes of Rick Beato going nuts listening to the greatest band of all time, can't ask for more. Pink Floyd rules!!!
Great Gig in the Sky has brought me to tears many o times. It's beautiful
yes, one of my top 5 for sure; amazing voice
❤
The unbroken and continuous selling of the Dark Side Of The Moon-album even decades later proved its outstanding quality simply.
One of my favorites is On the Turning Away. It’s a beautiful song with great lyrics and one of the best solos from David Gilmour.
I'm with ya.
100%
Love “On the Turning Away”, but “ Wish you Were Here” and “Comfortably Numb” are just such masterpieces. Roger’s bass is so good in Numb and Money….
"On the Turning Away" is a beautiful song. Also a big fan of "Learning to Fly", if for nothing else just the repetative hook. It's just so relaxing to listen to!
@@wallyman292 man the whole a momentary lapse of reason album is masterpiece..
The entire Animals album is brilliant. Just listen to Dogs and the deceiving simplicity. My all time favorite.
Dogs is my favorite song of pink Floyd and I love alot of there music but that album is amazing
Me too.
Yes, and then the original dis track, Pigs 3 Different Ones. The take-down of Thatcher was brutal.
@@dave4511 Err, not quite Dave. In 1974 Thatcher had amassed quite a bit of power in parliament and was the leader of the opposition party. While touring in 2016, Roger Waters replaced the inflatable flying pig with an inflatable flying baby Trump during this very song. What was Trump by then? The leader of the opposition party.
When you come at the king, you best not miss!
@@sonador777oh wow you’re so cool you hate thatcher how cool and unique 😐
He is the master of making every chord make you feel the the lyric . He makes his guitar , sing , cry , laugh, bark ! And no one sounds like him. They can try , but no. He played from the inner depths of his soul .
He didn’t dance around the stage or go for the gimmick . He PLAYED . it is musical poetry.
I can listen whole PF discography on repeat and never get bored (at some point in my life I did so for about 3 years). But if you ask me for one essential song that has everything about PF condensed in perfect package, my answer would be "Echoes".
"High Hopes" - It's a song that anyone can relate to. Regardless of age, gender, nationality, background, etc. - It also resonates stronger the older you become. Maybe the greatest song ever.
No.
Agree. The lyrics really hit hard on us a bit older. Amazing chorus and solo.
Agree 100% - best one by Pink Floyd.
I love High Hopes
Agree the grass was greener
All of their music is so perfectly good, how does one pick a favorite? My all time fav band.
Honourable mentions to Poles Apart and Lost for Words from Division Bell. Truly beautiful works.
David's voice adds so much to every song.
Yes. David coming in with “There is no pain…..” is one of my favorite musical moments.
Pink Floyd have so many great songs, it’s impossible to choose one! I started listening at 12 and now that I’m 60 I love their music even more. Greetings from Portugal ❤
Started at 13 here.
Any Thumbs Up for "On The Turning Away"? The song is just so different from their typical cynical lyrics. Very uplifting, very triumphant.
Great track!
"Learning to Fly" has lots of ways to grab you, too. Especially if you have any connection to aviation.
Even without that, the fear of flying -- or worse: fear of failing, being grounded, feeling a fool, etc. -- is a very powerful generator of emotions.
Maybe not as deep as "Two Suns in the Sunset", but...
100 percent agree. My favorite Pink Floyd song aside from Summer ‘68. Lots of people are quick to diss the post-Waters era of Floyd but seem to forget (or not know) that there are fantastic songs produced from that era, and On the Turning Away is their finest work from that era and one of their best overall.
Chachi - Note my “handle” is …
On the turning away is definitely in my top 10. Is it only a dream that there will be no more turning away? Not a dream! It's up to all of us to make it real everyday. Don't turn away from the ones we love. Don't turn away from suffering strangers. And it has one of David gilmour's greatest guitar solos. It's my favorite song on momentary lapse of reason.
My top 4:
1. Comfortably Numb
2. Time
3. Mother
4 Wish You Were Here
These are life stoppers that give me pause to reflect and make sure I'm not wasting away my life. The execution of these songs often brings tears.
Meddle is a perfect bridge between the psychedelia before and Dark Side of the Moon after. I love it. I first heard "Echoes" on an open reel top end system (not sure how they got the tape, words like "quad" were used....). My mind was blown, and I have loved the album every since.
I still don't get why a band like Pink Floyd would ever block you. It seems to me that with your huge following and incredibly engaging and comprehensive videos that you could be introducing Pink Floyds breathtaking music to hundreds of thousands of potential fans/customers.
Thank you for all the hard work you put in to make these unforgettable videos.
It's not Pink Floyd's members in person, but whoever they hired to manage IP enforcement.
Shine On is #1. Not just as a second but example of the unique british blues. A bit of jazzy sound, rock, it's a masterpiece.
Rick, I just love your engagement when you listen to and speak about music😂😊
A Pillow of Winds is my favorite of their songs that no one ever mentions, so I'm glad you mentioned it. I never thought of it as psychedelic, though it is. To me it's sort of impressionistic. Like it just floats like clouds, without seeming to "go anywhere," unlike most songs.
One of my top five Floyd songs. I couldn't believe it either!
Yessir. Is that on Relics? I believe it might be.
@@erichanhauser3190 Meddle.
Such a beauty.
I never that of this song as psychedelic as a kid when I was exploring the whole catalog. Always loved it. Now that I’m older (and have heard more) it’s as English folksy psych as it gets.
Dogs is absolutely brilliant and although long does follow a song structure, albeit with many twists and turns. Gilmour’s accoustic guitar and vocals give me chills on that one.
You meant not long enough.
@@EdwardAndersen👌🏽
that second solo is easily his best guitar work on tape
Animals period, most days my favorite Floyd album. Certainly in my top ten all time.
My favorite Floyd song & album.
One thing I love about Wish You Were Here is how the mix on David's guitar makes it sound like a friend sitting next to me showing me a song he wrote
yes, it has such an acoustic sound and vibe
My List would have to be #5 Us and Them, #4 On the Turning Away, #3 Great Gig in the Sky, #2 Wish you were here, #1 High Hopes. The reason for the number one because it encapsulates what once was and what is now. This song encompasses the description of life to anyone who listens to it.
Dogs still moves me every time I hear it. Chiming acoustic guitars to Rick’s keyboards to the vocal bounce off between Dave and Roger. I never get tired of hearing it.
Dogs is such a sad song but what a masterpiece 😢😢
Animals is my ALL Time Favorite Album and as soon as I read the title of the video I said …Dogs, of course
@@JoelligerentTV Yeah! and it's really all about WHOLE ALBUMS with Pink Floyd, so yeah... Animals.
D O G S \o/
@@thomassicard3733 Spot On
Time is my favorite. I don't understand why it doesn't get more recognition. The rhythm part is amazing. The interplay between the four instruments is perfect, and it's done in a style that would be very easy to get wrong, but it's perfect. The guitar solo is the most subtly emotional perfect phrasing of any guitar solo ever and the best solo tone ever.
Dogs of War
I think it has a lot of recognition, it's literally Time by Pink Floyd
@@ErickGarcia-qs2yh I meant in comparison to their other songs.
Agreed
@@travishill75 Not even close.
I can't say which is the greatest, but Comfortably Numb is my favorite. I never get tired of the music, and some of the lyrics really touch me personally, like they are reading my mind! "When I was a child I had a fever, my hands felt like two balloons", that really happened to me when I was a child, 60 years ago, and I never forgot that feeling!
The corresponding part of the later verse is (for me) one of the most powerfully poignant lyrics I've ever come across (by anyone, ever). "When I was a child, I caught a fleeting glimpse ..." up to "...the dream is gone".
Mine too, I like the DSoT version best, not the remastered, the good ol vinyl record version. The tempo is just spot on and leaned back, plus the sound of that whole live album just blows almost all other live albums out of the water.
I really can't say there's one song for me, there are three songs I find very moving. Time, Mother and Comfortably numb.
Echoes is the greatest rock song ever composed. Not only rock but possibly the greatest song of all music genres. If you really allow yourself to totally let the music take you , it’s much more than a song. It’s an experience.
I remember watching the Pink Floyd at Pompei movie on TV in the early 70's (I was 18 in 1972) and upon hearing Echoes, I thought Humanity had reached a superior level of consciousness. LOL. To this day, it is still my all-time favorite prog song. A masterpiece.
agree on Echoes. most inspirational single piece of music I've ever come across
Echoes truly was the true birth of Pink Floyd after a couple of stillborns and miscarriages. Wish You Were Here is the favourite child. You just can't think of Floyd without the human / life / death parallels that Waters was always prone to expressing. It's what defines Floyd for me, ''And I am you, and what you see is me''
@@jean-philippeperetti8463 Perfectly true. And what is interesting, the original version from the "Meddle" album is unfortunately much worse. The whole concert was amazing btw.
The Echoes branch of the comments. Best place to be 💚😊
My personal top 5
1. Wish You Were Here
2. Echoes
3. Shine on You Crazy Diamond Parts 1-5
4. Us and Them
5. Fearless
I love when Rick does this kinda stuff... going through a bands catalogue to pick the greatest songs.
I couldn't pick a favourite from pink floyd, they're all great
Echoes part 1, especially the version at Pompeii with the images of The Roman city...echoes of the past
Different days, different favourites
I agree I can't pick one
Meddle was recommended to me by my college roommate when we would play the alarms ringing at the beginning of "Time" on volume level 10 at 4 am in our dorm. We'd crank it for about 20 seconds, shut it off, then act sleepy when we stumbled out into the hallway to see who else we had rudely awakened. Jason asked me if I heard Meddle and lent me his CD. It grew on me and has become an all-time favorite. Super happy to hear people giving it the love it deserves.
Richard Cranium….😂
'Time' is on Dark Side of the Moon.
I write a lot and listen to all sorts of music doing it, and my favorite PF track is Echoes. which still captivates me after 40 years, but I think you're looking for a song song.
My favorite Pink Floyd tune is "Time" a very prophetic tune from them and arguably one of Gilmour's greatest guitar solos!
~~ and David has a bunch of amazing lead guitar breaks - as PF records go "The Final Cut" obviously has it's deficiencies - but the solo Gilmour rips off on "Not Now John" is among his best efforts ..