Pink Floyd's First Masterpiece 

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Having the song playing through the whole video with no slips or cuts was amazing. This was one of the best made videos I've ever seen. Such a fantastic production bravo

The way he was able to write and record the script to sync with the actual song is very impressive.

This isn´t just a video essay anymore. This is just a stand alone piece of art and this is one my favorite channels on RU-vid.

In my humble opinion, the best track they ever wrote, recorded, and performed. A masterpiece. Gilmour's and Wright's voices blend together flawlessly.

I just wanna point out how fuckin well written this is. He perfectly articulates exactly what the music is invoking, it’s actually amazing.

This man had made me think about music completely differently

Echoes makes me sad. The whole band is firing on all cylinders. So much genius pouring out from each member. And that’s when Pink Floyd is at it’s best. No egos. Just pure beauty

This is very well-written. I've never understood Echoes like this before. Is this like a general consensus among Pink Floyd fans? Also, explaining the song while it plays without cuts is awesome. I feel like I'm attending a very interesting literature class.

When I was a teenager, I had a friend that got into a rough accident. He had to take painkillers because of it, and got addicted. One day, he sent me a message telling me he wanted to stop taking them. To help him stop, we would listen to this song every time he had a strong urge. Instead of getting high on painkillers, we would listen to this song. I'll never forget that, even though we parted ways years ago.

This song is perfected at Pompeii. It just hits different. Every other performance I've heard just doesn't hit as hard as that.

So basically, this song is just a 23 minute majestic whale jump

me and my close friends came to the conclusion that echoes is the best music ever composed by humanity. The melody, progression, lyrics, rhythm and everything in this song fits perfectly. I am a huge fan of the band's early years and without a doubt after the piper at the gates of dawn, meddle is my favorite album.

Just wanted to point out that Waters doesn’t sing on Echoes. You mention Roger singing at 12:45 . It’s all Wright and Gilmour, which they performed together shortly before Wright’s death. Gilmour said he would never play the song again, because he couldn’t imagine doing it without harmonizing with Richard Wright.

I'm 67 now and bought Meddle when it was released in the US. As so many here have already said, Echoes became my favorite song back then, one that makes my eyes get moist. It's still is my favorite song 50 year later. And yes, I still have that 50 year old vinyl.

That slow build-up from the purely atmospheric part back to melody is one of my favorite parts of music ever ❤️

The harmonizing between Dave and Rick is what makes the song great for me. It sounds like it should have been on Darkside. I agree, it's absolutely their first masterpiece.

Echoes is one of the most beautiful songs in human history. If aliens ever want to get put on to human music, Echoes should be the first suggestion.

Commenters: Do yourself a favor and listen to "Echoes: Live in Gdansk" on Gilmour's YT channel or on your streaming service. Echoes is a conversation between Richard Wright and Gilmour and Live in Gdansk is the last time they played the song together before Rick died. It hits me harder than any other performance/track I have ever listened to, and all PF fans have to give it a listen.

This might just be my new favourite video essay. The decision to narrate the whole song in real time was absolutely genius. Like there's only a handful of songs I can think of where this idea would've worked. It conveys the power of the song so much more clearly than a traditional analysis ever could. The visuals were absolutely juicy as well. You've outdone yourself, my dude.

Obscured by Clouds (1972 - between Meddle and Dark Side) is highly underrated and probably my personal favourite Floyd album for anyone still diving into their deep rabbit hole. You can absolutely hear the evolution and transition to Dark Side.

This video did the impossible. Made me love Echoes even more.

Your videos need to have a platform like Netflix, more people NEED to see the quality of content you put out, with ZERO compromise on art and articulation of what you are portraying. I'm gonna go recommend this to 10 of my friends. Thank you so much of this.❤️

This video drove me to tears. I was on a shroom trip when I first heard this song, and it was a completely surreal experience. But I haven’t been able to put to words what that experience meant to me until now. From the bottom Of my heart, thank you.

Almost 50 years later, and it’s still the greatest piece of music ever recorded.

I'm so sorry that the RU-vid algorithm makes videos like this so hard to produce, because this is absolutely magnificent.

Actually CLEARLY their first masterpiece was Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict

You've just outdone yourself, man. One of the best video essays I've ever seen. Respect!

The narration: poetical, informative, insightful, inspirational. The visuals: hypnotic, drop dead stunning. I think you must already know that this is quite simply one of the very best works you have made. Bra. Fucking. Vo. Wow.

The Albatross truly mates for life, returning to the same spot and mate every year, where they kiss and celebrate each other in a clearly emotional way. Their beaks clattering together, they take turns squawking their affection for each other before settling down, heads side by side pressed together.

I didn't realize the Meddle cover was a human ear until recently.

The way the music and the script play hand-in-hand at 7:48 is just beautiful

I've never seen a more perfect tribute and background explanation for one of the most underrated songs on history. Thank you for making this.

I don't know if i'm saying this just because Echoes is my favourite Pink Floyd's song, but IMHO this video is a masterpiece. From the writing, to the way your words flow through the song, from the first second to the last. Really a great job with this one man. Congratulations!!

Polyphonic singlehandedly convinced me to listen to all pink floyd albums

This is the first time I've ever commented on a yt video, but this is an absolute tour de force: informative, beautiful. It helps that I deeply love the song. I hadn't listened to it for a decade, but I've gone back to it again now of course.

In Pink Floyd's 1966-1983 golden years, Pink Floyd did a lot of emotional, profound and beautiful songs and albums but Echoes is in my honest opinion one of Pink Floyd's best ever singular suites. I love that you also mentioned the influences on Echoes of Pink Floyd's then previous albums Ummagumma and Atom Heart Mother. I've always believed that Meddle overall together with Pink Floyd's other masterpieces such as Dark Side Of The Moon and Wish You Were Here owe a lot to those very underrated gems.

I think it's funny how this song was changed to not be about space as Pink Floyd didn't want to be known as space rock band, but then people started noticing how this song matches up really well with the last 23 minutes of 2001: A Space Odyssey

Their greatest song, period. Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Dogs are certainly close, but Echoes just rises above them all. For a long while it was my favorite song of all time.

I’ve been waiting on someone to talk about Echoes this deeply for the longest. I knew I wasn’t the only one who would literally be taken on a journey every time I listen to it.

At this point, I'm not sure how much more I can praise Polyphonic for the work he does. I thought I knew everything there was to know about Echoes, yet still I learned so much from watching this it gives me renewed joy. Fantastic work good sir

Today, I took a few hours to skateboard to the Atlantic here in Maine. The day was perfect, the skies were clear, the wind was calm, and the air crisp. As I skated through the trees, my mind began to drift to Echoes. It just came to me. When I arrived at the ocean, I was rewarded with totally calm waters and a view all the way to the edge of the horizon. I sat on the rocks and just watched the world in front of me, taking in life around me. I began to play Echoes. For all 24 minutes, I sat alone and observed, watching the albatross' fly and the kelp drift. I watched a family at play, the daughter chasing their dog and the parents walking behind. I was at peace. Life for a brief moment was calm and made sense. All that is Echoes was in front of me. When the song ended, I was overcome with a feeling of calm and clarity. The world around me made sense. And when I left, I left more complete. We all find our way back to the sea. Echoes captures all of this unlike anything else. It is spiritual and moving. Without hearing Echoes today, I would be a little less complete of a human.

I was fortunate enough to have seen them perform this on Halloween '71 the day after it's release in the u.s.

I an a 72 year old , Pink Floyd fan , while listening to this video ,my memories expressed themselves by a few tears .

Echoes is Pink Floyd's greatest song, bar none. You've explained it in a way even the most die-hard fan wouldn't have been able to. And like so many others have pointed out, the fact that you were able to get such impeccable timing between your narration and the song deserves an ovation of its own. Polyphonic, I salute you!

People who have never heard Echoes before, to this day, are still blown away. They are blown away not only by the brilliant music and sounds but by the fact that people find themselves FEELING various emotions they were not prepared for. I don't know how many times I have seen people react to Pink Floyd and find themselves in tears-again-to this day. Pink Floyd, with their genius and brilliance, creating masterpiece after masterpiece grab you, pull you in and make you feel.

As someone who is familiar with Iqbal's poetry and a huge Pink Floyd fan, I am shocked that I never picked up this correlation between the two....

I didn’t think it was possible, but you just made this song even more beautiful

I intimately know this song. You did a brilliant job of walking us through this masterpiece. The video is spot on too. Your choice to describe re-introduced the Ping around the 16:00 mark was exceptional! Seriously well done dude.

Atom Heart Mother is also a masterpiece.

Ditto to everyone saying this is their favorite song of all time

I remember watching this video when I was first getting into Pink Floyd. Now they're my favorite band, AND Echoes is one of my favorite songs by them

As a fellow massive Pink Floyd fan i notice your dedication to the band. This video in itself is a piece of art. Pink Floyd keeps spreading inspiration in all kinds of media! And it's just wonderful.

Creation > life > human > recognition > life > death > rebirth > acceptance That’s what I feel this song is communicating

im a simple man: i see a polyphonic video about pink floyd and i click

Do the The Shaggs "Philosophy of the World"

My favorite song. It's strange to explain that, "oh yeah, my favorite song is 23-minute epic with [insert ambient section for five minutes]," but if you hear Echoes, you'll know why. I haven't heard anything that makes me feel quite like Echoes does. I don't even know if I can call it a song anymore; it's more like a symphony. It's unique. You hear it slightly differently every time you listen to it. It has this ethereal quality mixed in with this level of epicness I can't put my finger on and can't be explained with words. I can't articulate why I love it so much, but I know it's special. There's nothing quite like it. It's the exact reason I love Pink Floyd. It sucks I was born after their glory days (I'm a child, teenager specifically), but I know one thing: it doesn't subtract from the fact of the matter - their music is awesome.

The Pompeii version brings a masterpiece out of a masterpiece.

I think he’s done it, you have started the new genera of psychedelic video essays. Not an essay about psychedelics but a video essay that is in itself trippy. The images, music, voice over, thoughtfulness, and conciseness is itself trippy

Your documentaries and videos are the best! This is one Pink Floyd album that still doesn’t get the praise it deserves

Thank you. I was born the same year the band was in- 1967, but the Floyd defined not just the generation of the 60s and 70s, but continued into my generation and beyond to this day. Finding meaning in the music has been something I’ve watched countless videos on and read every scrap I could find. Until the day I watch this video I didn’t truly understand them or the music as I did afterward. The texture and context you bring to one of the greatest tracks ever recorded is priceless. Keep up the great work.

I remember being 12-13 and hearing echoes live at Pompeii for the first time. Still is my favorite version.

Used to put this song on, smoke, and lay in my bed pretending I was a in a sensory deprivation tank. Awesome piece.

Pink Floyd has been the absolut first one for me. I am not even 24 but there is such an emotional and special bond between their masterpieces and me listening to them. I mostly start crying and dive deep in myself. It's almost like I have fell love with audio. I watched your Led Zeppelin video and the automatic youtube player dropped this video after that. I was telling myself "yeah why not", even though I know how I mostly react to Pink Floyd's music. Now, I just finished this masterpiece, made about an another masterpiece and m tears are falling like crazy. Thank you. I have to be honest with all of you: I was barely informed about the meaning of this bands music. Even just the melody made me fall deeply in love. But now, knowing the story behind... made me never leave them again.

This song is a truly trancendant experience. I will never forget the first time I listened to Echoes, It took my breath away in a way few pieces of media ever did

4:52 - Correction: The next studio album after Echoes was Obscured By Clouds, not Dark Side.

I have literally no idea how you managed to get this on RU-vid but i'm really happy you did. Fantastic breakdown of one of the greatest songs ever made.

This was the first Pink Floyd album I stumbled upon when I was 13 or 14 years old. After that, it was on, I found everything I could find on Floyd, I'm 65 now and I am still finding things like this video for instance. Echoes was the first piece I listened to, it was my favorite piece of music from Pink Floyd, and still is today. Thank you for making this video, I really appreciate your work on this and the explanation of the story and on the way they progressed.😊

This is one of the most masterful video essays on music I have ever come across. Insane how well you've pulled it off considering the legendary status of the song. Kudos.

I started listening pink floyd because of "the dark side of the moon project". They're easily my favorite band. Now i have the honor of seeing a polyphonic video about them after i listened to this song hundreds of times

If you ever feel doubtful about your abilities as a creator, know that I’ve just seen 25 minutes of one of the best pieces of analysis on this platform. The editing, writing, the way in which you delve into the creation of the project as well as its themes. It made me look at the song that made Pink Floyd finally click for me in a new light. Here’s to hoping you continue making videos, as this one is honestly kind of unreal

I gotta give you props for things people don't notice. The fact you do your video and graphics at 23.976 and add specific grain and the kicker that I just 'effing love is your addition of gate weave on separate layers that simulates optical printing. It really matches the material and gives the video a feel of the sort of film making of the period. Bravo.

This gave me shivers man, great work. A song I’ve listened to hundreds of times or more and know the lyrics and how to play it myself and this was a wonderful analysis

Strongly recommend Echoes as the soundtrack to the last act of 2001: A Space Odyssey. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rn7MmS3vazU.html

In my humble opinion the greatest song of all time.

Man .. I’m truly glad and grateful this channel exists…

hey @Polyphonic , just found you two videos back and now i subbed because i now love you . thanx for existing

Meddle was Pink Floyd at its most essential level. While many albums that came after it could be considered better, Meddle will always be THE Pink Floyd album.

The single greatest Polyphonic video, celebrating the single greatest composition in modern music.

Beautiful video edits, very befitting psychedelic effects, wonderful choice of font. Just, amazing.

Okay the timing of the phrase "transitional point in the band's career" with the transition to the 2nd movement of Echoes was absolutely perfect

The bottom of the ocean IS as trippy as outer space and Roger just proved the whole iceberg point right. Great video as always

What an amazing video! This is the birth of the 2nd phase of Pink Floyd. "One of these Days" and "Echoes" are the beginning of the new Pink Floyd sound in my opinion.

I'm sure you read over 100x how great this video is and that's cause it is! The continuous music with the narration and visuals are astonishing! Keep up the great work!!

Echoes is such an auditory masterpiece that it is able to give visuals in your mind of the deep dark ocean, conjuring up long forgotten emotions and bringing you to tears.

As soon as I start making actual adult money, you're going to be the first channel I support on Nebula. I love your content, I've been subbed for a few years now and you've only gotten better. Thanks for making these awesome video essays

Outstanding overview. The first time I heard Echoes, it was the late 90s and I was at my then boyfriend's house; we had all dropped acid. Eric put the album, Meddle, on and we all sat in the living room on couches and cushions, ambient and colored lighting making it feel like we were on another planet. I had no idea what I was in for. The album crescendos with Echoes and if you've never experienced this then you totally should because it is Incredible, frightening, ominous and otherworldly.

i feel like i should' ve paid to watch this. now THIS is a masterpiece itself holy shit.

totally phenomenal video that somehow managed to succinctly capture everything about this piece of music that makes it to transportive, deep and hypnotic. instant subscribe

Echoes is my favorite song of all time

Echoes is the finest piece of recorded music, as far as I'm concerned, in the history of humankind. It spans the genesis of a human life with the ping sounds, to its very end, with the dolly zoom-like sound effects of voices in the end serving as the voices of our ancestors, which the consciousness fades into.

In the ambience section, when organ come back to "tonality" with a single note, marks the golden ratio of the song.

I can only thank you for putting this much effort in creating an essay about one of the greatest songs of all time (and my absolute favorite).Thank you, really.

This is the best video essay from you yet (especially because of how it synchronized to the whole song) - and I’ve seen a lot of them.

I'm very glad there's a well-made video discussing Echoes. Echoes is my favorite Pink Floyd masterpiece and It's often overshadowed by Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall. I love those albums, but I feel a very close connection to Echoes. Hopefully, others here feel the same. Very well done video.

This song and this video is just fascinating.

the "looking through the knotholes of granny's wooden leg" was just a one off joke and a callback reference to their 1964-1965 days (pre-Syd) of The Abdabs and The T-Set and the various other names they went under and the vocalist they had then (whose name escapes me at the moment) who apparently would introduce songs with these joke names and on one occasion (or maybe more) would introduce every song they did in a set as "looking through the knotholes of granny's wooden leg"

Rolled a fat joint just for this video great stuff

If you ask me their first Masterpiece was Jugband Blues because that song makes me feel a sadness like no other with those lyrics that put you right into the sad mind of a collapsing Syd Barrett...

Just found your channel today and I have to say it’s one of the most fascinating channels I’ve ever seen on RU-vid. Your music knowledge and ability to break things down is absolutely Incredible