Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find time. Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines. Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way. The time is gone, the song is over, thought I’d something more to say.
Who knew when the architects of Pink Floyd wrote those lines for the song, “Time” in 1973, they would be so prophetic in their nostalgia some 38 years later. It is in that spirit of celebrating the past that the group is opening up the faults with a series of remastered and previously unreleased product in the coming days and months, including two new editions of its album masterpiece, “Dark Side of the Moon.”
Also culled from old tapes are 1972 live recordings of the band trying out “Dark Side” material as well as a 1974 concert with the album played in its entirety – an approach popular in more recent years as evidenced by Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” LP tour and Pink Floyd’s complete live performance of “The Wall” as recently as last May.
Considering the record’s success – 45 million copies sold and a record 741 weeks on the charts (1973-1988) – is it marketing genius or merely a ‘no brainer’? As a longtime fan, I would argue it is both. In a YouTube era where anyone can post their own ‘take’ on artists and their music (i.e. bootlegged concert audio and video) when a legendary band such as Pink Floyd in essence ‘tells its own story’ with material unavailable anywhere else, it truly stands out from the clutter as something special.
I’ll see you on the Dark Side of the Moon.