Revisting DSOTM's Concept 41 Years Later |
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SteveG
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 11 2014 Location: Kyiv In Spirit Status: Offline Points: 20497 |
Topic: Revisting DSOTM's Concept 41 Years Later Posted: August 20 2014 at 10:41 |
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In a chat last night with both The Dark Elf and And Dr. Wu, I dicussed my arguement for Aqualung being considered a concept album just the same as Pink Floyds DSOTM (Ian Anderson never said that that Aqualung was a concept album and my arguement is tenuous, to say the least, the cheeky devil), but both The Dark Elf and Dr. Wu brought up some very insightful questions regarding my perceptions of DSOTM.
In a fairly recent Roger Waters interview regarding DSOTM, he described its concept as a "journey through life". The Dark Elf corrected my statement, saying that all former members at one time or another regarded the album's theme to be centered around madness. I immediately recalled interveiws with both David Gilmour and Nick Mason making statements to that effect but not Rick Wright, who based the album's theme on his centerpeice song The Great Gig In The Sky, which is naturally about death. Dr. Wu later asked me for my impressions of the 'concepts' of both the Aqualung and DSOTM albums. Another revealing question as I had a set answer regarding Aqualung which, again, is not considered to be a concept album, but I struggled to come up with one for DSOTM. I always took it, along with a wink and a nod to the band, that DSOTM was simply about "The Dark Side Of Life". That, to me, was the theme of the album regardless of what Messrs. Waters, Wright, Gilmour and Mason contended. So, after 41 years, what did the band actually attempt to accomplish with DSOTM. What meaning did the band (or Waters) try to impart in the songs. And, last but not lest, just what is the concept of DSOTM? Edited by SteveG - August 20 2014 at 11:25 |
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Metalmarsh89
Forum Senior Member Joined: January 15 2013 Location: Oregon, USA Status: Offline Points: 2673 |
Posted: August 20 2014 at 11:04 | |
I'll skip to your last question.
I agree with the sentiments of Mr. Waters and others, but who am I to deny what they've said, lol. Anyway, I believe there's an obvious corallation from beginning to end that targets on the subjects of madness and insanity. Time and Money, two things in life that people waste in pursuit of more. Us and Them doesn't have many words, but the title and the lyrics seem to point to relationships between people. Brain Damage is obviously about lunacy, and self-induced madness. Eclipse is a brilliant close to the album that seems to sum up the ideas explored in the album. The concept in this album doesn't seem to be in the words, but in the music and atmosphere. You've got three (or four) instrumental tracks that need no words that speak for themselves. The album flows as well as any album you'll ever hear. And then there are all those extra spoken lines inserted in that seem to hit on a less-conscious level than everything else, but they are another crucial piece. They're like the little voice inside your head, one that drives some people insane, or just make you feel that way. |
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The Dark Elf
Forum Senior Member VIP Member Joined: February 01 2011 Location: Michigan Status: Offline Points: 12681 |
Posted: August 20 2014 at 11:30 | |
Excellent summation, MM. I also recall the instrumental "On the Run" was about Richard Wright's fear of flying, which makes sense because the background noise sounds like an airport with a breathless man trying to catch a flight. |
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SteveG
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 11 2014 Location: Kyiv In Spirit Status: Offline Points: 20497 |
Posted: August 20 2014 at 15:19 | |
Edited by SteveG - August 20 2014 at 19:07 |
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Rick Robson
Forum Senior Member Joined: September 03 2013 Location: Rio de Janeiro Status: Offline Points: 1607 |
Posted: August 20 2014 at 17:58 | |
^I would like some especialist explain me why THE CONCEPT has so much importance for the sake of the music. Because at least for me good albums almost never needed any kind of concept in order to keep forever alive as an outstanding work. Tbh I never mind about my favourite albums having or not having a concept at all.
Of course I'm making a generalization anyway, but oftenly the strenght of MY favourite prog music relies mainly in the instrumental parts of it - btw I´m really interested to know some fully instrumental concept prog albums, though I think there are not many of them, any suggests ?
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"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy." LvB |
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Michael678
Forum Senior Member Joined: June 02 2013 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2466 |
Posted: August 20 2014 at 18:25 | |
im not familiar with it, but the majority of people will suggest Camel's The Snow Goose if you haven't heard or know of it. so im doing them a favor without really knowing that lol.
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Progrockdude
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SteveG
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 11 2014 Location: Kyiv In Spirit Status: Offline Points: 20497 |
Posted: August 20 2014 at 19:16 | |
Edited by SteveG - August 21 2014 at 10:48 |
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Dean
Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: August 20 2014 at 20:51 | |
Dark Side of the Moon is about the voices in your head.
That's the concept in a nutshell. There's someone in my head but it's not me. You can expand on that to your heart's content: you can pour and paw over the lyrics as much as you like; you can identify the theme of each lyric readily enough the clue is in each song title; you can then try and construct a narrative that connects the dots between one song and the next just as the music segues seamlessly through the album; you can make it as allegorical or as literal as you like; it can be as linear as a journey, as regular as a heartbeat or as random as the sound-bites; you can incorporate George Hardie's cover graphic or you can ignore it; you can puzzle over the riddle of the pyramid and ponder the omission of indigo from the spectrum. The wide appeal of the album is that you don't have to think about it if you don't want to, it's the Forer Effect - the universal horoscope - one size fits all - anyone and everyone can identify with some part of the lyrics at some point or other. It's just the voices in your head.
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What?
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Metalmarsh89
Forum Senior Member Joined: January 15 2013 Location: Oregon, USA Status: Offline Points: 2673 |
Posted: August 21 2014 at 10:00 | |
You said it much better than I. |
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SteveG
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 11 2014 Location: Kyiv In Spirit Status: Offline Points: 20497 |
Posted: August 21 2014 at 10:42 | |
Edited by SteveG - August 21 2014 at 16:12 |
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Dayvenkirq
Forum Senior Member Joined: May 25 2011 Location: Los Angeles, CA Status: Offline Points: 10970 |
Posted: August 21 2014 at 13:20 | |
^ I don't understand the point you are trying to make. The voices in your head are reactions to how things are in real life. I think that's what Dean was trying to say.
The critics can think whatever they want. Leave them out of the picture. You don't always have to think what others think. You say it's a concept album. Why? Because other people told you? Or because you can make a case for it yourself?
Edited by Dayvenkirq - August 21 2014 at 13:25 |
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richardh
Prog Reviewer Joined: February 18 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Online Points: 26136 |
Posted: August 21 2014 at 14:10 | |
I always thought it was just about the rat race that is human life on this planet. Doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result.
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AlanB
Forum Senior Member Joined: January 19 2013 Status: Offline Points: 1133 |
Posted: August 21 2014 at 14:33 | |
I've always considered the album to be about searching for the meaning of life. Some find it in the pursuit of money, some in religion, but the message in the album is "all you touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be" and that the ultimate end of everyone is death. A bit like Ecclesiastes in the Bible "All Is vanity." |
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SteveG
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 11 2014 Location: Kyiv In Spirit Status: Offline Points: 20497 |
Posted: August 21 2014 at 16:07 | |
Edited by SteveG - August 21 2014 at 16:16 |
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Rick Robson
Forum Senior Member Joined: September 03 2013 Location: Rio de Janeiro Status: Offline Points: 1607 |
Posted: August 21 2014 at 16:17 | |
I agree with you if what you pointed out is one of the themes right there, as for instance "Money" reminds me of that people whose main purpose of life is to earn the most money they can, even becoming a Forbes magazine' top ten millionaire, whose purpose is completely the opposite to the purpose of someone - let's say hypothetically - who lived in Paris streets and got known for a beautiful music he sang which was transformed by Hector Berlioz in the French National Anthem "La Marseillaise. It is more than clear for me his purpose - there should be also a track called "Music" in the album DSOTM.
Edited by Rick Robson - August 21 2014 at 16:46 |
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"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy." LvB |
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Metalmarsh89
Forum Senior Member Joined: January 15 2013 Location: Oregon, USA Status: Offline Points: 2673 |
Posted: August 21 2014 at 17:31 | |
But there is The Great Gig in the Sky. |
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SteveG
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 11 2014 Location: Kyiv In Spirit Status: Offline Points: 20497 |
Posted: August 21 2014 at 17:45 | |
^I've grown bored with the threads in these posts my friend, but I throw out one last question before I permanently pack it in. Going by the logic of the member you quoted, AlanB, why wasn't the album concluded with the Great Grig In The Sky? Surely, that's where all of this is ultimately leading to? Or did you and I miss something?
Edited by SteveG - August 26 2014 at 09:04 |
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Dean
Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: August 21 2014 at 17:53 | |
^ The album is cyclic - it ends as it began so can be played in a loop that has no beginning or end. (Waters did this on a couple of albums, The Wall is another that ends as it began)
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Dean
Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: August 21 2014 at 18:21 | |
Voices In Your Head. part 2
Originally concept was to be the pressures of modern life (Nick Mason, Inside Out Page 186, it is also mentioned in other sources.), clearly Waters introduced some of his thoughts on madness into this concept so the concept changed and developed as the album was being written. The themes of the songs up to and including "Us and Them" are self-evident and most of them have self-descriptive titles just to make it abundantly clear and cover various aspects of modern life (relationships, money, time, death, conflict, travel etc). The final three tracks (together with the album cover) are related to insanity and madness with a bit of high school philosophy thrown in for good measure, and since they form the conclusion and denouement of the album then it is evident that to tie everything together they are the key element of the overall concept. {pressures of modern life} >> {insanity} >> {...} Looked at this way it we can consider the album to be about the pressures of modern life that lead to mental breakdown. Except when you read the lyrics it doesn't really work. As I said earlier, anyone and everyone can identify with some part of the lyrics at some point or other; some part of the lyric will resonate with some of us at some time in our lives. We all can and do experience every aspect of modern life as depicted in the lyric without going crazy. Simply observing that "I fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way" or "when I ask for a pay rise it's no surprise they're giving none away" doesn't exactly have me reaching for the Prozac, even the thought of an inevitable death at some unspecified time in the next 40 or so years doesn't tip me over the edge. It is only when we consider how the pressures of modern life prey on our minds can we make the connection to mental breakdown - the nagging doubt, the foreboding fear, the gnawing worry, the troubled conscience - that the pressure we feel is self-inflicted when we listen to these voices in our head (ie our inner voice). Now the lyrics to the first part of the album make sense in relation to the concluding part. That is not my concept, that is my interpretation of the concept as I understood it back in 1973 ...and it's disparate not desperate btw Edited by Dean - August 21 2014 at 18:24 |
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SteveG
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 11 2014 Location: Kyiv In Spirit Status: Offline Points: 20497 |
Posted: August 21 2014 at 18:26 | |
^So it really makes no difference if you start the album on side two then conclude it with side one then? it is cyclic, is it not? Give it it a try. Cheers mate.
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