No one sings me lullabies

But I don't need that.As long as "Echoes" is around,I never want to sleep.Yea well,me back after a long hiatus,kinda self imposed cos whenever i sat down to choose between analysing a Floyd number and listening to it,I invariably and quite predictably end up choosing the latter.no wonder,really,cos the latter's the reason I would ever choose to do the former anyway.So I think i've made it pretty clear now that i've just had my Floyd dose and this time the number that rocked me off my rockers was "Echoes" from the album "Meddle".
It never ceases to amaze me how anyone could ever write a 23 minute number.I mean,did they plan it,or did they simply get carried away by their own music,cos that does happen to me very often(i mean with their music).perhaps that may be the reason why despite this one being one of their most critically acclaimed masterpieces,is nowhere in the league of the three mega albums,"DSOTM","WYWH" and "The Wall",as far as the ratings go.well,fuck the ratings!fuck critics too!just play the song.Now i've no friggin idea how it feels to be 'on a high'.Call me a sissy,a no adventure guy,or just plain uninitiated,but i don't think i'll ever venture far enough to try out dope,or even alcohol for that matter.but i've seen people who do that,and i don't think they're any higher than me-just-after-echoes.
Ok,Now about the song itself:According to wikipedia,"The song has a marine theme and starts with a sonar-like sound created by Wright, who sent his grand piano through a Leslie rotating speaker (this sound was created by Wright accidentally, and started the whole Meddle project)."Shiver me timbers and hang me from the yardarm!!!!Who starts an entire epic project along the lines of a freak accidental sound!well,Pink Floyd did that,and what a result!the song almost immediately places you on a beach where the sea is "green and submarine",and the effect is accentuated by the poetry(i hate to refer to such beautiful wordplay as lyrics,it places them in the league of lesser mortals).And while you're still not through enjoying it completely,the slow,marine rhythm is replaced by a fast-paced,disco type beat.you begin to curse them for breaking the rhythm and then Gilmour jumps in with his guitar.Now,what would you need to produce a slide guitar type sound?well,a slide guitar obviously.not Dave!he somehow manages it with his ol'Fender.anyway,the next thing you know,the song proceeds to windy sounds and shrill screams.what is it,you wonder?a group of whales,'course!and what does Dave need to produce the sound?well,again the ol'Fender,but this time accompanied by a custom effect pedal,of which only four exist,and three are owned by him.It's things like these which a prevent any neighbourhood run-of-the-mill rock band from trying to play Floyd.It's a fact i enjoy as much as i rue.
What next,there is the sea,so there must be Gulls,and this time it is another interesting play of the guitar to achieve this sound.now i'm not exactly sure what reversing the cables to a Wah-pedal means,but it sounds one helluva creative thing to do.Anyway,now you're in the middle of the song,and as the echo dies down,Wright's keyboard solo begins,which is pretty ordinary to me,but it is followed by a multiple guitar solo,which kinda wakes you up from the slumber induced by the intoxicating rhythm.It is the only part where the song sounds anywhere close to a traditional rock number,but it again jumps into the marine beat which started the song,and so you end at the same note as you started, very intoxicated,very "high".
Well,what can i say,
no one makes me close my eyes
And so I throw the windows wide
And call to you across the sky

Just another brick...

It's uncanny,really!my tendency to listen to this legendary Floyd number seems to synchronize well with mid sems and end sems.At times,I'm inclined to believe that probably I seek Floydian relief in every ominous situation,perhaps I've become too much of a Pink Floyd maniac.But then,this one is hardly my fave Floyd number.Far from it,in fact!I hardly ever listen to it otherwise,the band has produced much better music,and Waters has written far more mesmerising lyrics....
Perhaps it is the lyrics after all.No,its not at all the way it seems.I'm not in the least reminded of teachers " who hurt the children in any way they could".I'm long past that stage now.Profs hardly bother me any more,and they certainly don't "pour their derision on everthing we do".It's the later part of the chorus,"All in all,its just another brick in the wall".Every time I listen to it,I become more and more a passionate fan of Waters' sheer genius.The concept that he conceived,the mini-opera of an album that he created!Maybe not their best music,but definitely their most relevant concept album.This is exactly how it feels,another brick in the wall,yet another brick in the wall......