'Let there be light': The Dark Side of the Moon

And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.

In the summer of 1666, Newton conducted the prism experiment, decomposing seemingly pure white sunlight, revealing the seven colors hidden within. Light gives us everything, and that’s when humans began to understand it.

Scientists estimate that our Moon formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago. Light made the Moon into "the Moon," forever giving humans light after the Sun set.

Gravity governs celestial rotation. While some bodies spin independently, others form resonant systems where mutual gravitational pull synchronizes their orbits. Earth's gravity achieved tidal lock with the Moon, equalizing its rotation and revolution periods. As a result, we on Earth, in our long history, have never seen the far side of the Moon – the dark side of the Moon.

The Dark Side of the Moon

More than an album, The Dark Side of the Moon is a cultural landmark. Its fusion of avant-garde soundscapes, philosophical lyricism, and technical mastery redefined the possibilities of rock music. 

With over 50 years of resonance, 900+ consecutive weeks on the Billboard charts, and its status as one of history’s best-selling albums, it achieved profound artistry and timeless appeal. It marches into the dark corners of our collective consciousness.

In the years leading up to this album, as the band's soul figure, Syd Barrett, left to address his mental issues in 1968, Pink Floyd was in a period of transition and constant exploration. The band underwent changes in its creative direction, musical style, and internal collaboration, gradually shifting from psychedelic rock to more conceptual and experimental prog rock.

Over the course of five years, they successively published A Saucerful of Secrets, Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother, and Meddle as their new style and aesthetic forms gradually matured and gained recognition. 

These works, especially the success of Meddle, provided them with the foundation and blueprint for subsequent creations, until The Dark Side of the Moon, with its more precise narrative and sharper social criticism, pushed all the exploration of the preceding five years to their peak.

When creating this album, their bassist and lyricist, Roger Waters believed:

"The album deals with the pressures that drive people mad... modern life, the fear of dying, the tension between stillness and chaos, greed, and the empathy we owe to each other."

The band abandoned many previous obscure lyrics and ideas, and instead headed towards the true depth and dark corners shared by all mankind.

-The Dark Side of the Moon-

The overture, "Speak to Me," begins with a heartbeat depicted by bass drum, growing increasingly distinct. Around 30 seconds in, motifs related to the album's themes begin to reverberate one after another: pendulums ("Time"), cash registers ("Money"), a helicopter's noise ("On the Run"), maniacal laughter ("Brain Damage"), and screams ("The Great Gig in the Sky")...  

Within, a monologue appears accompanied by a neurotic laugh:

"I've been mad for fucking years, absolutely years. I've been over the edge for yonks, been working with bands so long. I think 'Crikey'. I've always been mad, I know I've been mad, like the most of us are. Very hard to explain why you're mad, even if you're not mad."

At the end of the overture, amidst reversed piano chords and a hysterical human scream, it seamlessly transitions into the first song, "Breathe."  

The keyboard plays a beautiful D7#9 chord (The imaginative use of Dorian chords is also a signature melodic feature of Pink Floyd), accompanied by a melody with psychedelic color from the guitar and a soft vocal, evoking something feeble, hazy, illusional:

"Breathe, breathe in the air,

Don't be afraid to care…"

As the opening track of this great album, Waters, the lyricist of "Breathe", considered its lyrics: “...a little adolescent and naïve in its preoccupations... like a rather wonderful, naïve painting.” This is, of course, not belittling it; it's inspiring for me to think of the way that "Breathe" reflects the most natural reactions and feelings for our life of mundanity, alienation, and absurdity. 

I feel this song strongly evokes feelings of incredulity and absurdity in living in the existing world:

“And all you touch and all you see,

Is all your life will ever be.

Run, rabbit, run,

Dig that hole, forget the sun…”

There might be a reference here to the novel "Rabbit, Run!", published by American author John Updike in 1960, which tells the story of the protagonist, Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, who runs away from home due to dissatisfaction with his mediocre job and family life by repeatedly ruining the relationships he has with the people closest to him . Rabbit’s four escapes were his rebellion against the mainstream ideology of society at that time, challenging the traditional values in the concept of the nuclear family. However, his return after escaping precisely indicated that his attempts to subvert were restrained.

Then, the album rather abruptly transitions from the gentle and slow "Breathe" to the fast, frantic "On the Run". Originally titled "The Travel Sequence," this song was inspired by the band's terrifying in-flight experience flying through a storm on their return from a Japanese tour.  

This is a highly experimental, electronic-infused track, a piece of suggestive sonic information – amidst the backing track of swirling synthesizers and sequencers, we hear footsteps, gasps, an airport boarding announcement, rushing air currents, chaotic human screams, and laughter. The backing track features reversed cymbals and guitar, combined with shifting synthesizer frequencies that pans between left and right channels, creating a powerful sense of shuttling.  

Finally, the plane crashes: sound of an explosion, then silence, leaving only the sound of the wind.  

Then, the sound of clocks ticking, alarms, and a chaotic, unnerving chorus of chimes rings out in the silence, transitioning to the next song: "Time."  

The opening clock chimes were the brainchild of Alan Parsons. During that period, he went out daily "field recording" capturing many environmental sounds for the band, including the "sounds of time" – different clocks chiming in clock shops.  

In the intro, Nick Mason uses extensive tom-toms and percussion, and the bass, powerful as a bell, gradually advances, piling up emotions, creating a strong, uneasy tension of “time”.

The vocals come in with guitars playing bluesy riffs over a reggae rhythm:

“Ticking away, the moments that make up a dull day.

Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way…”

After the first section, as harmonies with a soul flavour come in, it suddenly drops back into an impression of the very first song – actually, it's a reprise of the "Breathe" section. This is an imaginative interweaving, as if it’s watching and telling me: “Keep breathing, keep living, until the end, softly and numbly.”：

“Tired of lying in the sunshine, staying home to watch the rain.

You’re young and life is long and there is time to kill today…”

Then comes one of my favorite parts of the entire album: a beautiful guitar solo, as if its the cry or answer of a person who is lacking words to answer the question of “time”. There are some things words can never express, but music can.

We could, actually, we always have to, watch our time be wasted and pass by, but there is never a thing we can do about it. We know eternity is there, but we are not a part of it. Roger Waters adapted a line from Thoreau's “Walden” in the lyrics: 

“The sun is same in a relative way, but you are older.

Shorter of breath, and one day closer to death.

…

Home, home again,

I like to be here when I can…”

Fascinatingly, in the last couple of lines, this remorse and question of time finally leads to the face of death, and, what I think, is a reference to religion (faith), which entirely shapes our view of both our life and our death:

"Far away, across the field,

The tolling of the iron bell,

Calls the faithful to their knees,

To hear the softly spoken magic spells.”

This suspended ending was then attempted to be answered by the next song that carries a strong gospel color: "The Great Gig in the Sky," which depicts the fear of life facing the arrival of death.  

The song develops from piano and guitar chords , and enters with a short, unflappable monologue. Based on the theme of fear of death, the band interviewed multiple members of Abbey Road Studio during the album recording, asking questions such as "Are you afraid of dying?". The reply of the doorman Gerry O'Driscoll was adopted in this song, as below:

“I am not frightened of dying, you know.

Any time will do, I don’t mind.

Why should I be frightened of dying?

There’s no reason for it, you’ve gotta go sometime.”

Then, it evolves into an experimental, unscripted, incredibly powerful scream from Clare Torry (who, by the way, only got paid 30£ for recording this piece and complained later since its phenomenal success), portraying the drastic emotions and struggles facing death with her desperate, penetrating high-pitched voice. The band asked her to think about "death and fear" and "go in and do your thing”.

The song uses a lot of suspended chords to depict a feeling of fear and uncertainty. Since they hold back a key note, the feeling is never settled until the end, always hanging, like a question instead of an answer, which allows the singer to answer with her cries and soar. Clare Torry later said in an interview, "And that's when I thought, 'maybe I should just pretend I'm an instrument.'"

I believe depicting death is always another way of depicting life; therefore, the scream in the face of death is a strong interpretation of life itself, and that’s what appeals to me the most.

Across the first half of the album, Pink Floyd begins with a heartbeat, then gasps for air and sprints forward. Amidst lamentations with time, they gradually approach the terminal station of death – a complete life journey. 

In the second half of the album, more profound themes concerning the shadowed side of human life and heart gradually emerge aesthetically and piercingly, gradually perfecting and bringing the concept of "the dark side of the moon" to its great climax.

“Money” opens this half. As I'm both a bassist and saxophonist, the song that most prominently features these two instruments is absolutely my favorite off the album music-wise. 

The song begins with the sound of coins crashing and cash registers chiming with a strong sense of rhythm, and then the bass enters: a large part of this song adopts the extremely rare and distinctive 7/4 time signature and contributes one of the most infamous bass riffs in the history of rock music. This amazingly funky groove, combined with the sound of "money", creates a feeling that is addictive, urgent, and charming, with no end in sight. This might precisely correspond to people's attitudes towards the matter of “money”. 

“Money, get away.

You get a job with more pay and you are ok.

Money, it’s a gas,

Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.

… Money, get back.

I’m alright Jack, keep your hands off my stack.

Money, it’s a hit.

Don’t give me that do goody good bullshit…”

The lyrics of "Money" are very colloquial and vivid, clearly expressing the theme of this song: satirizing consumerism and people's obsession with money. 

After repeating a period two times, a totally crazy saxophone solo comes in. Dick Parry (the saxophonist of the band) first plays bluesy phrases in this funky 7/4 groove with great looseness. His tone has a raspy edge, and he leans heavily into bends, growls, and dynamic swells, giving the solo a conversational feel. At the climax of his solo, as bass and drums lock into a more driving groove, the rhythm transitions into 4/4 at 3:06, and the saxophone passes his solo off to the guitar. As the guitar’s solo builds up, a large amount of bends, double-stops, and dynamic shifts are used to create a feeling of complexity and chaos. By the climax, the solo feels expansive, almost soaring above the steady bass and drums. Worthy of notice, David Gilmour (the guitarist) said he used the dryest tone to do his solo at 3:49, turning off all echo and reverb effects, to create a feeling of "playing in a small room”, which created a strong contrast with the later parts where hard mix is used. 

As the solo ends and the rhythm goes back to 7/4, the third period comes in and leads the song to its end:

“Money, it’s a crime.

Share it fairly but don’t take a slice of my pie.

Money, so they say.

Is the root of all evil today

…

Away, away, away, away…”

The next song, “Us and Them” is another song with strong blues flavour. It is a slow, soft song that gives a strong sense of sadness, differentiating itself from all the previous songs in the album. This is a song about relations between people, but also about war, division, and sorrow:

“Us, and them And after all we’re only ordinary men. Me, and you. God only knows it’s not what we would choose to do… Black and blue And who knows which is which and who is who. Up and down. But in the end it’s only round and round…”

Rick Wright (the pianist of the band) arranged this song: piano was extensively used, and bluesy saxophone melodies were played in both the beginning and towards the end, together building a strong emotion. The saxophone’s solo at 5:20 is one of my favorite parts in the album, following an interview audio sample from Roger "The Hat”, which is extremely touching: 

“Out of the way, it’s a busy day I’ve got things on my mind. For the want of the price of tea and a slice The old man died.”

Softly and seamlessly, the album transitions to the next song, “Any Colour You Like”.

This is an entirely instrumental track, mainly built from the interweaving of keyboards, synthesizers, and guitars. It shares the same chord progression with “Breathe”, and is sometimes referred to as the “Breathe reprise”. It bridges “Us and Them” and “Brain Damage” perfectly, making the concept and theme of The Dark Side of the Moon even more complete.

The song’s title came from Roger’s experience at Cambridge, “...seeing these guys who came from London selling crockery from a lorry. They’d shout things like, ‘You can have ’em any colour you like, they’re all blue.’” It subtly presents a question about freedom: do we truly have the freedom we believe we have, or is it merely self-deception? In reality, have we been deprived (or have never really had) of the right to choose and the freedom to live?

“Brain Damage” is the second-to-last track on the album, and its theme is derived from the mental health issues of the band’s former member Syd Barrett. The song’s original title was actually “The Dark Side of the Moon”. The album title, The Dark Side of the Moon, also appears in the lyrics at the end of this song.

The song features a simple guitar riff as accompaniment, with a fairly typical “Pink Floyd” style chorus in the refrain, and a synthesizer solo at the end. Musically, it is not particularly extraordinary overall. What stands out more are the ‘lunatic’s laughs’ interspersed throughout the song and especially at the end, which emphasize the song’s theme of “mental illness.”

“The lunatic is on the grass,

The lunatic is on the grass.

Remembering games and daisy chains and laughs

Got to keep the loonies on the path.”

The “mental illness” theme of the song directly alludes to the experiences of former band member Syd Barrett. Within the song, multiple lyrics refer to psychological issues suffered by someone experiencing an unbearable amount of pressure due to their rising fame.

The lyric “The lunatic is on the grass” refers to those who violate the “Keep off the grass” signs, suggesting they are very likely mentally unstable (with a somewhat joking tone, as Waters later considered that not allowing people to play on those wide lawns was the real “madness”). 

“You lock the door

And throw away the key.

There’s someone in my head but it’s not me.

And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear

You shout and no one seems to hear.

And if the band you’re in starts playing different tunes

I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon.”

The most notable lyric in the song is “And if the band you’re in starts playing different tunes,” which clearly alludes to the times when Syd Barrett’s mental health issues led him to play different music from the rest of the band.

Aside from the obvious topic of “mental issues”, what I think this song hints at, is human alienation. This alienation stems from everything external: society, interpersonal relationships, wealth, emotions, freedom, in short, all the themes mentioned in this album. These things are constantly piling up in the dark corners of our hearts that we can’t see, changing us and turning us into an absurd creature that we don’t even know: a lunatic, a psychopath.

But hey, it’s so normal to feel that way, to be impulsed…

“I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon.”

Finally, this desperate call leads us to the last song of the album: “Eclipse”. This song is only two minutes and ten seconds long, yet it brings a historic and great conclusion to this infamous album. (Fun fact: This song was played as the background track when the Olympic flame was lit at the 2012 London Olympics.)

It uses 19 sentences that all start with “all that” to conclude all the themes discussed in the album, and all that humankind would encounter:

“All that you touch,

And all that you see,

All that you taste,

All you feel,

And all that you love,

And all that you hate,

All you distrust,

All you save,

And all that you give,

And all that you deal,

And all that you buy,

Beg, borrow or steal,

And all you create,

And all you destroy,

And all that you do,

And all that you say,

And all that you eat,

And everyone you meet,

And all that you slight,

And everyone you fight,

And all that is now,

And all that is gone,

And all that's to come.”

And in the soul-stirring chorus, the last two lines emerge:

“And every thing under the sun is in tune,

But the sun is eclipsed by the moon.”

We all seem so normal, we are all disguised so well, even to ourselves. Water explained these two lines :

“The album uses the sun and the moon as symbols; the light and the dark; the good and the bad; the life force as opposed to the death force. I think it's a very simple statement saying that all the good things life can offer are there for us to grasp, but that the influence of some dark force in our natures prevents us from seizing them. The song addresses the listener and says that if you, the listener, are affected by that force, and if that force is a worry to you, well I feel exactly the same too.”

At the end of the song, there is also a rather interesting vocal sample: 

“There is no dark side of the moon. Matter of fact, it’s all black.”

And at the very end of the album, when everything settles down into silence, we hear the heartbeat from a distance, growing increasingly distinct. A new cycle begins.