This wonderful man died 30th october, 2003 (I didn't have time to write about it yesterday, and I'm sorry about that!). Anyway, this man were the band manager, after Syd's exit, and all the years till his death. He did follow as a manager for the band, even after Roger left. Steve O'Rourke was the executive producer of the 1982 film "Pink Floyd The Wall".
Steve suffered a stroke and died in Florida.. In the age of 63.
In his funeral, David Gilmour, Richard Wright and Nick Mason played "Fat old sun" and "The great gig in the sky" for the first time in over 15 years!! When the coffin was bearing towards his last place to rest, Dick Perry played the sax while walking behind. Dick Parry is the sax player who has played in many of the bands songs!
"On an Island", David Gilmours solo album, was dedicated to Steve O'Rourkes memory. Also, Nick Masons book "Inside out" was dedicated to his memory as well! It's amazing what influence he had on the band, making it into what it is.
Thank you Steve O'Rourke, for making the Pink Floyd brand what is it today! You will never be forgotten!
To honor his memory, I found this song perfect! The man loved car races, so he and Nick Mason had the same hobby! Gilmour were also in this race. A soundtrack album was not released, but the tracks are available on the A Tree Full of Secrets RoIO.
I know I have been writing about this song before, but I was listening to it all night long, since I could not fall asleep. So, fantastic song, yes we all know, BUT, do you know who is singing this song???
Don't think so. It might sound like David Gilmour, but it's not him.. So who could it be?
I remember the day I got to know who the lead singer in this song were! It was a time after the first Roger Waters tour, and after I listened to this song ALL THE TIME! Then I thought that this could not be anyone in the band who is singing. I couldn't recognize the voice at all! So I just got more and more frustrated.. Yes, I could have used the internet, but I wanted to try to find the owner of the voice on my own. And then I got tired of searching on my own, so then I started to look on the internet, and I found this one page who said it was David who was singing, and I felt so stupid.. :p Thought I had some control on the voices.. And then I forgot about it for about a year, and than, out of the blue, I got myself a Pink Floyd book, and there it was. black print on white paper. "The band had a guest vocal on "Have a cigar","... I KNEW IT!! He's name is Roy Harper, and he is a singer, of course. They were recording in Abby Road studio, Pink Floyd in studio 3 and Roy Harper in studio 2. Since David wouldn't sing this song (I'm still not sure why), Roy offered to sing this song. FANTASTIC!!!
Here's the man!! He actually hasn't got paid for his singing on the album... And he's not happy about it, since he means that the album OR song wouldn't been the same if he didn't help the band out!
"Have a cigar" is one of two songs that are not sung by anyone in the band!!! The other song is "The great gig in the sky". That's not even a mystery, since the vocals is sung by a woman... ;)
What can I say... It is indeed an amazing song, with a lovely melody and fantastic lyrics.The song is of course from the album "The division bell", and is written by David Gilmour, his wife, Polly Samson and Nick Laird-Clowes, who is a friend of David and he has been a co-writer on some of the songs at this album.
I put the lyrics at the top today, so you can think about the lyrics before I tell you more ;)
Did you know...it was all going to go so wrong for you
And did you see it was all going to be so right for me
Why did we tell you then
You were always the golden boy then
And that you'd never lose that light in your eyes
Hey you...did you ever realize what you'd become
And did you see that it wasn't only me you were running from
Did you know all the time but it never bothered you anyway
Leading the blind while I stared out the steel in your eyes
The rain fell slow, down on all the roofs of uncertainty
I thought of you and the years and all the sadness fell away from me
And did you know...
I never thought that you'd lose the light in your eyes
As you might think, and it will be correct as well, the first verse is about Syd Barrett and the second verse is about Roger Waters. At least, that is what Polly says! And it makes sense for me.. When Syd did bad and had to leave the band, David got to replace him, and he did really good. I think that verse does make good sense indeed! And I think its wonderful that he has been hiding it in the text. When you're only listen to a song, you may sing a-long, but you might not think about the meaning. I can honestly say that it's only I few years ago since I figured it out!
Very well, over to verse two! You can see here that it's about Roger, and I'm saying that because, as you all know, Roger and David didn't get along at the end of Pink Floyd.. It's been almost a disaster since "The Wall" and you can see it in the lyrics.. Roger didn't know what he had become, and the band didn't like him anymore. Roger ran away from himself, I think, but I won't go to deep into that now.. BUT, at the gigs this year, I've never seen Roger happier with himself! The three first times I saw him, it was all right, but this year, he was glowing! It was wonderful to see <3
So, for all you fans out there, here's a video with this lovely songs! And just think about the lyrics ;)
There is nothing else to say than this is an absolutely fantastic song with powerful meaning.! Damn, this song can make me smile ;)
Well, after some long months, I'm finally going to a Pink Floyd cover gig! Haven't heard PF music live since I saw Roger Waters in Berlin this summer. So it's been a while.. This saturday, I went to a Brit Floyd gig with my friends and family! I've been to a lot of cover band gigs, but I've never seen these guys before, so I had no idea of what they would play. Before the gig we all went out to try some new pubs in Bergen, so at the last place we went to, we had such a good time, that we almost ran out late, but when the clock turned 20.00 and we had just sat down, the lights went out, and the band started to play. Right on time!!!
Anyways, the band started off with a kind of meddle of all the different intros of songs they were to play. I must say, when they started to play, I was so surprised so many times! They played many songs that I didn't expect! They played "High hopes", "Learning to fly" and "Lost for words", which my sister love! I was so happy for her :) Other songs they played that suprised me a bit were "Pigs, three different ones", "Shine on you crazy diamond" and "Us and them". The other songs I had an idea about that they would play like "Comfortably numb" etc, but they are still great songs ;)
One thing that's not good, has nothing to do with the band at all, but it has got to do with the place they performed the gig. Yes, the sound is good, the seats are comfy and it doesent matter if you get a really tall person in front of you, cause you will see the scene anyways.. But the audience.. JEEEEZ! It seems like everyone don't like the music, cause they don't make a sound, even if their favourite song is played.. I'm not saying that people should talk, but they should be able to show their happiness during or after a song, but NO! They are just sitting there, waiting for me to make some noice, and then yell at me.. not cool.. In earlier years I've been the same as I am today when I listen to my favourite music, I give people the expression that this is my passion, and what do they give back? Lots of yelling and hush'es... Silly people makes me NOT want to go to gigs anymore.... And that sucks...
People who performe music made by these guys, are my heroes! I wish I had my own tribiute band <3
But all in all, no regrets that I went to this gig, cause it was freaking awesome :)
This is a song from the album "Wish you were here" and it's written by Roger Waters! The song is kinda' creepy if you listen to it in the night-time. The song has this scary intro, which sounds like a big boat is sailing through the fog.. It's sounds a bit scary. That's my opinion, but than again, I don't like scary things! Exept this song ;)
As you all know, David is the one singing this song, and he is singing it with a special voice, I reckon. A bit more screaming voice. Lovin' it!!
I think the lyrics is about a machine ruled world, or something like that. If you listen to the lyrics, they say "What did you dream? It's all right, we told you what to dream". This was just an example, and there's more of them in the song. So I think that it's about the world being ruled by the same persons, or whatever. Seems like no one has the right of their own opinion. I actually red somewhere that the song, in fact, is about the music industry. Maybe they means that the music industry only wants money, and doesen't care if the band is good or not.. or something like that!
In the song there is some instrumental parts which contains some weird sounds of machine sounding things.
In the music video, there is a machine who is walking around, and than it's from a industrialized city or something. There is also a man who get his head cut of, and it decays slowly to a skull, before there's a lot of blood floating all over. The video is brilliant, but not the best to watch a late night... 'Not smart Maria'.. Anyways, the music video is made by Gerald Scarfe, the same who made the animation for "The Wall" movie. You can actually compare some of the things from these two 'videos'. Three minutes in this video, you can see some similarities from the "The Wall" animation. Brilliant man!
Great, or what? :)
Here's the lyrics for ya'll as well!
Welcome my son
Welcome to the machine
Where have you been?
It's alright we know where you've been
You've been in the pipeline
Filling in time
Provided with toys and scouting for boys
You brought a guitar to punish your ma
And you didn't like school
And you know you're nobody's fool
[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/p/pink-floyd-lyrics/welcome-to-the-machine-lyrics.html ]
So welcome to the machine
Welcome my son
Welcome to the machine
What did you dream?
It's alright we told you what to dream
You dreamed of a big star
He played a mean guitar
He always ate in the Steak Bar
He loved to drive in his Jaguar
So welcome to the machine
