Pink Floyd was an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an ea… Read Full Bio ↴Pink Floyd was an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics and elaborate live shows. They became a leading band of the progressive rock genre, cited by some as the greatest progressive rock band of all time.

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)

Prélude
Pink Floyd Lyrics

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Daddy's gone across the ocean
Leaving just a memory
A snapshot in the family album
Daddy, what else did you leave for me?

Daddy, whatcha leave behind for me?
All in all it was just a brick in the wall
All in all it was all just bricks in the wall

Overall Meaning

In Pink Floyd's song "Prelude", the lyrics describe a feeling of abandonment and loss. The singer's father has left, and the only thing that remains is a memory, captured in a snapshot in the family album. The singer is left wondering what else his father left behind for him, and he questions the worth of what he has left, calling them "just bricks in the wall".

The lyrics speak to a greater theme of the album, "The Wall", which tells the story of a rock star's descent into a mental breakdown and subsequent isolation from the world. The "wall" refers to the barriers that the singer has built up in his own mind to protect himself from the pain and trauma he has experienced in his life. The bricks symbolize the different traumas and experiences that have contributed to the building of this wall.

The lyrics of "Prelude" can be interpreted in a few different ways. On one hand, it is a commentary on the sacrifices that parents make when they leave their families to pursue their own goals and careers. The singer is left wondering if these sacrifices are worth it, or if they ultimately just become bricks in the wall that separates them from their families. On the other hand, the song can also be seen as a criticism of the education system, which can often be seen as just a series of bricks in the wall that students are expected to memorize and regurgitate without any real understanding or application.

Line by Line Meaning

Daddy's gone across the ocean
Father has gone away to a faraway place

Leaving just a memory
Leaving behind only a recollection of the past events; a memory

A snapshot in the family album
A picture that encapsulates a moment in time, which appears in the family album

Daddy, what else did you leave for me?
A rhetorical question asked by the singer, questioning what his father's legacy was

Daddy, whatcha leave behind for me?
Repeating the question and emphasizing the singer's curiosity about what his father left behind

All in all it was just a brick in the wall
Reflecting on the insignificance of the individual when compared to the conformist society

All in all it was all just bricks in the wall
Further emphasizing the message that conformity can lead to an individual being lost in the crowd.

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: George Waters

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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