It’s 1968. As Pink Floyd fans everywhere sat around ready to listen to the band’s new song, ‘Point Me at the Sky’, grins of anticipation turned to looks of confusion, as the track wasn’t what people had come to know from the psychedelic rock outfit they loved.
Roger Waters has no problem admitting that the single wasn’t much of a success, but why was it such a flop? One of the most important factors within the band that had changed was that Syd Barrett was no longer working with them. Pink Floyd’s chief songwriter had parted ways with the band, and as such, Waters wanted to try and write something experimental in the same way that Barrett did, only to learn that it was a lot harder than Barrett’s volatile ways had made it look.
When reflecting on the track ‘Point Me at the Sky’, Waters had no shame admitting that it hadn’t worked. He described the song as “One notable failure when Syd left the band”. Most other musicians would likely grow nervous about the ability of a band to be able to continue without such a vital factor. Led Zeppelin had to draw its curtains once John Bonham passed, letting the loss call the shots. However, Waters didn’t let Barrett’s departure faze him. Instead, he just focused on his own talents and making the kind of music that he knew he could deliver on.
Now, when Waters talks about the Pink Floyd albums he’s not a fan of, he references some of their very early work, such as The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. This is because the sound he went on to develop and implement within the band became such an intrinsic part of who he was as a writer that the experimental approach Pink Floyd were going for in the early days almost began to look alien to him. It was to the extent that ‘Instellar Overdrive’ was no longer the name of one of the band’s songs but was an accurate map that Waters would draw on to describe their music.
He started focusing less on individual songs and being overly experimental, but instead took a step back and zeroed in on the album as a whole. He became obsessed with the idea of making elongated concept records that explored different themes and storylines within them, crafting characters and universes within his music, as time was no longer a factor. He had a whole record to play with rather than the runtime of a single, and you just know that he was going to use this newfound hour on the clock efficiently.
One of Waters’ (and Pink Floyd as a whole) most famous concept albums is 1973’s The Dark Side of the Moon. Yes, Waters managed to go from directionless confusion to a well-thought-out and layered album in just five years. It’s a truly exceptional turnaround, especially when you consider the fact that Dark Side is still hailed a classic within psychedelic rock.
People don’t tend to listen to individual songs from the album; instead, they put their earphones in, the album on, and allow themselves to get lost. There are, of course, some standout tracks such as ‘Time’ and ‘Money’, but for the most part, people are drawn to the record as a whole rather than the individual components, which is quite a rarity these days. While this is a compliment to the concept of the album, it does mean that some songs are often glossed over, as people remember them as a few minutes out of an hour-long piece of art rather than a specific piece of music.
So, which track gets overlooked the most?
I would argue it has to be ‘Any Colour You Like’. This track is so perfectly placed in between ‘Us and Them’ and ‘Brain Damage’, taking over from and flowing seamlessly into the other before you even realise what’s happened. That seamlessness is both its greatest strength and its downfall, as when you’re embarking on a much-needed The Dark Side of the Moon listening sesh, the track is basically blink and you miss it.
It deserves much more attention than this, however. The way it flows on the album already makes it an integral part of the record. On top of that, as an isolated piece, you can’t deny that it’s a true masterpiece. That funk-infused and wah-impacted guitar solo that runs throughout would make even the coolest of hands mime along. The fuzzy bass that runs through as well, one note, hit unrelenting, booming enough to make the room in which it’s played shake; it all comes together to form three and a half minutes of musical excellence.
It’s often the case that you struggle to name the songs on your favourite album. It’s no slight on the album, but instead is the result of loving the whole record so much that you only ever consume it in its entirety: one big listen, no time to think about what’s happening. This is what happens with Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, and there are plenty of overlooked songs on there as a result. It’s time we gave one of the most neglected the flowers that it very much deserves. Everyone say thank you to ‘Any Colour You Like’ for its seamless existence in a record of greats.
