Pink Floyd were founded in 1965 by Syd Barrett (guitar, lead vocals), Nick Mason (drums), Roger Waters (bass guitar, vocals), and Richard Wright (keyboards, vocals). Under Barrett's leadership, they released two charting singles and the successful debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967). Guitarist and vocalist David Gilmour joined in December 1967; Barrett left in April 1968 due to deteriorating mental health. Waters became the primary lyricist and thematic leader, devising the concepts behind the band's peak success with the albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977) and The Wall (1979). The musical film based on The Wall, Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982), won two BAFTA Awards. Pink Floyd also composed several film scores.
Following personal tensions, Wright left Pink Floyd in 1979, followed by Waters in 1985. Gilmour and Mason continued as Pink Floyd, rejoined later by Wright. They produced two more albums—A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) and The Division Bell (1994)—and toured in support of both before entering a long hiatus. In 2005, all but Barrett reunited for a one-off performance at the global awareness event Live 8. Barrett died in 2006, and Wright in 2008. The last Pink Floyd studio album, The Endless River (2014), was based on unreleased material from the Division Bell recording sessions. In 2022, Gilmour and Mason reformed Pink Floyd to release the song "Hey, Hey, Rise Up!" in protest of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
By 2013, Pink Floyd had sold more than 250 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time. The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and these albums and Wish You Were Here are among the best-selling albums of all time. Four Pink Floyd albums topped the US Billboard 200, and five topped the UK Album Chart. Pink Floyd's hit singles include "See Emily Play" (1967), "Money" (1973), "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" (1979), "Not Now John" (1983), "On the Turning Away" (1987) and "High Hopes" (1994). They were inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In 2008, Pink Floyd were awarded the Polar Music Prize in Sweden for their contribution to modern music.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Floyd
Studio albums
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
More (1969)
Ummagumma (1969)
Atom Heart Mother (1970)
Meddle (1971)
Obscured by Clouds (1972)
The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
Wish You Were Here (1975)
Animals (1977)
The Wall (1979)
The Final Cut (1983)
A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987)
The Division Bell (1994)
The Endless River (2014)
Crumbling Land
Pink Floyd Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In a smile I saw a single eagle in the sky
Wheeling, soaring, gliding high
On a hill there lived a man with many shining things
Shiny gold, shiny car and shiny diamond rings
Wining, dining, shining king
Now the eagle flies in clear blue skies
Drinking in the clear blue well
But fifty more come rolling off the floor production line
Then a man commuting like a village on the sand
In his hand a moving picture of the crumbling land
Screaming, dealing, movie man
Here we go, hold your breath to see if something blows
Close your eyes, count till ten and see the sunrise rise
Gliding high into the sky
By the holy mansion, let the guardian rise
Upon the finger of the king
On high the eagle flies, that glitter all of gold
Then wheeling in a cloudy sky, he flies into the sun
The lyrics of Pink Floyd's "Crumbling Land" seem to describe a world in a state of decay and decline, perhaps as a result of human greed and exploitation. The first stanza seems to suggest a desire to take control of one's own destiny, to "make the sunshine mine" and find joy in life. The image of the eagle soaring overhead represents a sense of freedom and possibility, a brief moment of lightness in an otherwise bleak landscape.
The second stanza, however, introduces a character who represents the opposite of this freedom and possibility: a wealthy man who has amassed material wealth and status through "shiny gold, shiny car and shiny diamond rings." The use of the word "shiny" emphasizes the shallow, surface-level nature of this kind of success. The man is a "wining, dining, shining king," but this success ultimately feels hollow and unfulfilling. Meanwhile, on the ground, other people continue to suffer and die as a result of the corrupt societal structures that enable the man's wealth.
The third stanza continues this theme of decay and decline, as the singer observes a man who seems to be consuming and profiting off of this destruction through a "moving picture of the crumbling land." The language becomes more chaotic and frenzied as the singer describes this man as "screaming, dealing, movie man." The final stanza brings us back to the eagle, now "glitter all of gold" and "wheeling in a cloudy sky." The imagery here suggests a transition from the corrupt, earthly world to a more divine plane of existence, where the eagle can "fly into the sun."
Overall, "Crumbling Land" seems to be a commentary on the destructive nature of human desire and greed, and a warning about the consequences of valuing material wealth over spiritual well-being.
Line by Line Meaning
In a while I'll find the time to make the sunshine mine
The singer hopes to find time to improve their life and create their own happiness
In a smile I saw a single eagle in the sky
While happy, the singer sees freedom and possibility in the world
Wheeling, soaring, gliding high
The eagle symbolizes the freedom and soaring spirit the singer desires
On a hill there lived a man with many shining things
A wealthy man who has many material possessions
Shiny gold, shiny car and shiny diamond rings
The man has valuable and expensive items
Wining, dining, shining king
The man enjoys an extravagant lifestyle and is viewed as a successful king of his domain
Now the eagle flies in clear blue skies
The eagle still represents freedom, but is now viewed as separate from the wealthy man's world
Drinking in the clear blue well
The eagle represents purity, as if drinking from a pristine well
Back here on the ground another dealer coughs and dies
A drug dealer dies, showing the consequences of the greed and corruption in society
But fifty more come rolling off the floor production line
More drug dealers will continue to emerge, due to the ongoing demand
Then a man commuting like a village on the sand
The man is crowded and looks helpless, like a village on a small strip of land
In his hand a moving picture of the crumbling land
The man is aware of the societal decay around him
Screaming, dealing, movie man
This man, like the drug dealer, is contributing to the decay in society, but in a different way. He may also be a metaphor for media and entertainment that distracts people from the decay.
Here we go, hold your breath to see if something blows
The singer is warning us to brace ourselves for the worst, to be ready for whatever comes next
Close your eyes, count till ten and see the sunrise rise
Try to find peace amidst the chaos
By the holy mansion, let the guardian rise
Ask the higher power to help protect and guide you
Upon the finger of the king
The artist asks the higher power to help the powerful and influential, too
On high the eagle flies, that glitter all of gold
The eagle still represents freedom, but now it is seen as something to aspire to, to reach for and claim, like gold
Then wheeling in a cloudy sky, he flies into the sun
The eagle reaches great heights of freedom and possibility, where the sun is the limit
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: DAVID GILMOUR, NICHOLAS MASON, NICK MASON, ROGER WATERS, RICHARD WRIGHT, RICHARD JOHN WRIGHT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jamesfloydspfbootlegs3432
Lyrics:
In a while I'll find the time to make the sunshine mine
In a smile I saw a single eagle in the sky
Wheeling, soaring, gliding high
On a hill there lived a man with many shining things
Shiny gold, shiny car and shiny diamond rings
Wining, dining, shining king
Now the eagle flies in clear blue skies
Drinking in the clear blue well
Back here on the ground another dealer coughs and dies
But fifty more come rolling off the floor production line
Then a man commuting like a village on the sand
In his hand a moving picture of the crumbling land
Screaming, dealing, movie man
Here we go, hold your breath to see if something blows
Close your eyes, count till ten and see the sunrise rise
Gliding high into the sky
By the holy mansion, let the guardian rise
Upon the finger of the king
On high the eagle flies, that glitter all of gold
Then wheeling in a cloudy sky, he flies into the sun
@TAJMofficial
@@jamesfloydspfbootlegs3432 "Wheeling, soaring, gliding high" should be "Wheeling, soaring, gliding by"
"Shiny gold, shiny car, and shiny diamond rings" should be "Shiny pool, a shiny car, and shiny diamond rings"
"Now the eagle flies in clear blue skies" should actually be "AND the eagle flies in clear blue skies"
"Drinking in the clear blue well" should be "Breathing in the clear blue air"
"But 50 more come rolling off the floor production line" should be "And 50 more come rolling off the Ford production line"
"Then a man commuting like a village on the sand" should definetly be "Then a man appearing like a mirrage on the sand"
"Here we go, hold your breath and see if something blows" should be "Here we go, hold your nose and see if something blows"
"By the holy mansion, let the gaurdian rise" is actually "By the ornamental lake, a diamond lies"
"On high the eagle flies, that glitter all of gold" should be "On high the eagle spies the glitter of a gun"
And "Then wheeling in a cloudy sky, he flies into the sun" should by "Then wheeling in a climbing turn he flies into the sun"
@mrgrey361
Floyd has so many of these little obscure gems from their early days
@pineapple8055
are there any other early Floyd songs that weren’t put on album?
@DarkShroom
by the end of the 70s they'd morphed away from pyscadelic folk rock to a tighter more funky form.... i still love both eras, it's amazing they really cross genres and evolve many bands play the same sound forever
@melting94
What are some others similar to this one?
@MrSilkySweat
A TON!....
@andreazavareei6548
@@melting94 A few songs off of Obscured By Clouds have this vibe.
@terrypussypower
Rick and Dave’s harmony vocals is THE sound of Pink Floyd from this era!
@plasticweapon
yep!
@craneeater46
I still contend (with a bit of indignation because I love all eras of the band) that the period between More and Obscured By Clouds was the best Floyd, and honestly some of the best music ever created. Floyd trying to find itself is so much more musically satisfying than Floyd after it became a dictatorship.
@frankmccarthy1779
Three or four soundtracks no?