Text by Leonardo Orletti
In the world we live in today, it's not easy to analyze and/or critique an album like Pink Floyd 's debut . Five decades after Syd Barrett , Roger Waters , Richard Wright , and Nick Mason entered the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, my impression is that, for the four of them, psychedelia was paramount!
The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn exudes psychedelia! The album cover itself is the epitome of the colorful, exaggerated, and psychedelic 70s, which would arrive three years later. I imagine that in 1967 (the year of its release) the world was already haunted by the trends of the golden years.
The year 1967 was a period of explosive creativity around the world. In January, the American band The Doors invested in the poetry of Jim Morrison . In May, also in the USA, Jimi Hendrix elevated the guitar to a stratospheric level. That same month, the English band The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , which needs no introduction.
In the same month that Sgt. Pepper was released, Pink Floyd was leaving the same studio, and a few months later they would present Europe with a new level of psychedelia and progressiveness.
Then-guitarist and lead vocalist Syd Barrett was the creative force behind the group. He was responsible for composing ten of the album's eleven tracks; the two instrumentals were co-written with the entire band, while the others were credited solely to him. One of the songs was written and sung by bassist and vocalist Roger Waters.
“Astronomy Domine” is the title of the opening track. The lyrics are mysterious, nonsensical, totally psychedelic and practically spoken, accompanied by an equally strange instrumental. That's all.
“Lucifer Sam” clearly has more of a “musical feel” and presents a more constant tempo, without losing the progressiveness of its sound. The song title suggests something controversial, which is not explicitly confirmed. According to Syd Barrett, Lucifer Sam is a Siamese cat that always sat next to him. Something quite strange, but not controversial.
“Matilda Mother” is also a progressive composition with some changes in rhythm throughout the song. The lyrics tell the story of a mother telling another story to her son or daughter, who shows interest in this tale, which is more progressive than the music itself, due to its apparent abstractness. The song also features an interesting solo by keyboardist Richard Wright.
In “Flaming,” psychedelia returns to its peak, as in “Astronomy Domine.” The instrumental is once again nonsensical, and the lyrics use expressions like sitting on a unicorn and sleeping on a dandelion. From this, it's possible to get an idea (or not) of Syd Barrett's ideas.
Track five is an instrumental called “Pow R. Toc H.” It's introduced by samples and keyboards from Richard Wright, who then shares the work with Roger Waters and drummer Nick Mason. It's nothing special. The track can't be considered simple, though, because it's full of very different sounds, like birdsong. Its composition is credited to all four members of the band.
In “Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk” I see the influence of the early Beatles years. It’s the only one composed by Roger Waters and sung solely by him. It’s not an instrumental, but a good part of the song brings together guitar, bass, drums and keyboards, each at its peak. This is where I see a touch of virtuosity on the part of the four.
“Interstellar Overdrive” makes the listener pay closer attention to what’s happening. It’s an instrumental piece almost ten minutes long, composed by the entire band. The introduction suggests a more straightforward song, but before two minutes have passed, that theory falls apart. The guitar and bass at the beginning remind me of The Who , and bringing the context to contemporary music, I can’t shake the feeling that the introduction to Slipknot was inspired by a section of this song.
In "The Gnome," Syd Barrett returns to the forefront of songwriting and vocals. In it, Pink Floyd tells the story of a gnome named Grimble Crumble. He wore a scarlet robe and a blue and green hood, and he ate, drank wine, slept, passed the time, and nothing else of note.
“Chapter 24” makes the psychedelia meter almost explode again. Those lyrical and instrumental practices that only Syd Barrett himself could understand return. I strongly believe that I don't have the maturity to understand this type of music. Things like Chapter 24 are inexplicable.
"The Scarecrow" doesn't stray too far from that line, although it tells a more concrete story, but not by much. It basically talks about the emotions of a scarecrow that didn't think or move, except when the wind blew. Seriously.
And finally, “Bike” takes another path. As one English critic said, it sounds like a lullaby, but it has a disconcerting strangeness. It has its simple part, if it makes any sense to associate that word with something from Pink Floyd, and its part with strange and mysterious sounds.
Another interesting piece of information is the variety of instruments used in the recording of "Piper." There are almost twenty, in addition to some sounds taken from some other device, but I highly doubt that's actually an instrument. Richard Wright alone plays six different types of pianos and organs, besides contributing vocals.
I suppose it's become clear enough how complex this work is. That was indeed the intention. But one must also consider that listening to this material today is a completely different experience from listening to it at the time of the album's release, given the extremely different contexts of the two eras. Therefore, The Piper becomes more comprehensible, or rather, less incomprehensible.
*This text was written by a Wikimate and does not necessarily represent the opinions of the site's authors.