Eclipse

I think this song is in order today... Oh and long live Pink Floyd. The greatest rock band ever.

Eclipse

We cannot see the solar eclipse from here, not much of it anyway, but I thought I needed to mark it on the blog somehow... And then decided that this song from Pink Floyd was perfect for the circumstances.

To warm my bones beside the fire...

Picture taken at my wife's friends' place in Derbyshire. It illustrates my state of mind and what I long for: a warm fire. It happens to me sometimes. Because, while winter is not often cold in this country, it is often cool and wet and rather unpleasant and, while you would still rather stay home, you are forced for whatever reason to go out. When I am home, I wish I could just lit a fire and just sit down and keep myself warm, wrapped up in a blanket. But there is no fireplace here. So I have to use hot (very hot) showers instead and well, a blanket. Also we don't have the Peak District surrounding us, so a fire would be slightly less romantic. All the same, I wish I had a fireplace now. And so accompany this post, I have decided to add a bit of Pink Floyd music, the last segment of Time. Because it is magnificent. And because it is my state of mind.

The Dark Side of the Moon

I thought I would blog tonight about the upcoming Easter, as it is the Holy Week and all, but I discovered today, one day late, that it was the 40th year anniversary of the UK release of The Dark Side of the Moon. So I ditched my Easter post. But not quite, I guess, as my intention was/is to show Easter in a different light. Or a different darkness. Pink Floyd made psychedelic music that could easily be considered religious or spiritual. Psychedelic is, in essence, spiritual. Or as spiritual as something can be for a Godless heathen like me. Pink Floyd is also, maybe more so, existentialist. And existentialism is what replaced Christianity in my way of seeing the world in my late teen. And it mentions a rabbit in Breathe, so it is sort of Easter related. Okay I am stretching things here. I could also say it has ten songs, like the Bible has Ten Commandments. Stretching again, but not nearly as much as saying it is linked to The Wizard of Oz. I have decided to upload tonight Brain Damage and Eclipse. Maybe Breathe would have been more appropriate, what with its rabbit digging holes to catch the sun (son?), and this verse about an early grave. But I did upload Breathe on Vraie Fiction before and these two tunes have, well, the dark side of the moon and the eclipse. So enjoy.

Money by Pink Floyd

I did not upload a song of Pink Floyd on this blog since September 2012. I thought it was time to put some more. Because Vraie Fiction needs some sound and music as it sometimes needs some colour. And just because I love Pink Floyd. There is plenty I did not upload yet, I decided it is Money this time. Why Money? Why not? It is short enough to listen to on a Thursday night and it has that pleasurable, cynical, borderline nasty beat. Like a YouTube commenter said, it is an anthem to capitalism. ironic since the group made a lot of money with it. But I guess it is part of the interest of this song. I don't want to comment too much on it, I think it is already getting long. The best way to appreciate it is to listen to it. This is both real music and real poetry. So enjoy.

Pink Floyd and Sisyphus

I am feeling quite tired these days, trying to deal with a jet lag that never really seems to dwindle and at work I feel a bit like Sisyphus (never a good sign).And well, for some obvious reason I had this Pink Floyd Song in the head when I got home. I had noticed it before: it does have allusion to the myth of Sisyphus, what with the rabbit catching the sun and digging holes repeatedly. With the other existentialist themes oftene xpressed in Pink Floyd's music and this piece in particular, I wonder if they read Camus or if it is just a coincidence. Anyway, this is my second post this week about a Memento Mori. A more profound, poetic one this time. A more beautiful too. Unlike me, Pink Floyd is ageless and immortal.

Every year is getting shorter

"And then one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun"

Time, Pink Floyd

I have decided to blog on Pink Floyd inspired by my brother's comment on this post. I was thinking about the quote he put there and it got stuck in my head. The Dark Side of the Moon is the first Pink Floyd album I listened to back to back and it is still my favourite one.

I put Time on the blog when Richard Wright died. As it says on the Wikipedia entry, the song is a Memento mori (something I sometimes blog about) and I am in a mood to think about such things because July is almost gone and I have barely seen it. August is starting tomorrow and August often gives me melancholia (as mentioned here). But is started earlier this year, in this July month that was so busy and which I could barely feel because I got so busy. The last few days, I have been listening to The Dark Side of the Moon over and over again and this song in particular, looking at the sunset, wondering where the year has gone. I find the last lyrics particularly poignant:

"Every year is getting shorter
Never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to nought
Or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desparation is the English way
The time is gone
The song is over
Thought I'd something more to say "

I don't hang on in quiet desperation because that is not quite me (I guess I am not English), but I do think if I do all the things I want to do in a year, or even a day. Funny how a song one listened countless times still find new meaning when one reaches a certain maturity. I was a teenager and just loved the music and barely understood the lyrics. I mean, I understood English enough to know what they meant, but not quite what it was about. So I know I put the song here before, but I will put it here again nevertheless, to share my mood. There might be a hint of cruelty in this, but take it as a catharsis.

The Great Gig in the Sky

Not quite a feel-good Friday song (and I guess I could have given you Learning to Fly, which I grew to love and is quite upbeat), but this is a great song, from probably their greatest album, and it is about death in an exhilarating way. Rest in Peace Rick, you are missed.