This song is about the experience of dying. Disbelief, panic, anger, pleading, sadness, acceptance. The more you hear it and the older you get, the more powerful it becomes. Clare Torrey went into the recording booth and just went for it. Let rip. Awesome performance. 50 years on and I tear up every time.
The great gig in the sky is passing on to whatever is next...the song takes you through the steps of realizing you are dying ..denial anger and fear bargaining fighting again then acceptance and finally fading away to the great gig in the sky. What is interesting about this song Ive listened to it since it was released. It has changed it's meaning for me through various changes in my life and age. Im old now and this has a whole new meaning. Was interesting seeing a young lady just kinda shrugging and say "Is that it?" when im sitting here with tears in my eyes
I'm just at beginning -- Does Millie understand this is about dealing with your DEATH? -- Denial, Rage, Resignation, Acceptance ....... we're ALL headed that way
No live performance I've ever heard of this song comes remotely close to the intensity and emotion of the studio vocal. Clare Torry did only two takes of this and it tells a complete story with zero words. Amazing and beautiful.
A very brave thing to put on a rock album for sure. They were brave to do the long ROTOTOM drum solo in the song TIME as well. This whole album was an experiment in innovation and bravery. The planets aligned themselves perfectly, every note, every sound, every song, PERFECT
This would be one of my favorite pink Floyd songs. because there are no lyrics makes the song that much better you can feel the pain and emotion in her voice as she's realizing she's dying and eventually comes to terms, this is it.The live video from the pulse concert is amazing a must watch.👍👍👍❤️❤️❤️
This is essentially an instrumental with a woman's voice as the main instrument. The one thing you should expect from Pink Floyd is the unexpected. They will often surprise you but as you stated, they never lose that iconic Floydian sound. That unidentifiable almost mystical thing that makes them Pink Floyd.
Someone from Floyd called this woman in the middle of the night. She went to recording studio, listened to the song and she came up with this in one take leaving everyone in shock! Glorious moment in recording history
Not true, there's an interview with Clare Torey where she explains the whole thing, she was asked to attend the studio by Alan Parsons, the producer, she said she was busy so they would have to wait until Sunday, she didn't even know it was for pink Floyd, she turned up, and did 2 takes and started a 3rd, she didn't know she was featured on the album untill she read her name in the credits, a court case later and she was given royalties
I love it when young people discover Pink Floyd or many of the great bands of that era. They always pick up on what makes them great. I predict a Renaissance in music where it becomes "real" and resonates again.
It's absolutely imperative to listen to Time then this. In fact to just sit back and do the whole of Dark Side of the Moon non stop and allow no interruptions. Lock the door to your room, your highest quality headphones on and lean back into a comfy chair. Then let it happen and be mindful of the music, nothing more. You don't need drugs.
to really "get" this song, you have to listen to the song right before it, "Time," and let them play together. Time is all about how before you know it your life has passed you by and then Great Gig is the realization that it's too late to live your life, because you're about to die. this makes the impact of what death really means hit you all that much more. this is why everyone says you have to listen to this album in its entirety in one sitting. do that and it will leave you speechless.
Clare Torrey finally got a writing credit in 2004 and is deservedly much richer. Originally ask to create the emotions , did it three hours and received standard union rates for backing singer of £30.
You can read how this Clare Torry vocal came about by chance. Of the dozens of takes, the very first one was included in the album. There is a video where Claire talks about it. Yes, and Alan Parsons himself (the sound engineer then, and today a popular performer of his own projects) talks about this in another video. Their stories complement each other. It was he who found this vocalist, who worked part-time at various studios for modest money. Claire didn't even know that her voice would be on the album - nobody told her anything. She sang and forgot about this incident. And only her neighbor surprised her when he asked if her voice sounds on this album and her name is on the back cover. She had long forgotten about this vocal session. She was very surprised and decided to go to the nearest store to buy this vinyl and listen to what everyone is talking about, what kind of Pink Floyd group is and where is her vocals.
In essence the Dark Side of the Moon album deals with death. Great Gig in the Sky Death??? An event that all of humanity is destined to experience at one point or another, in one way or another be it our own death or the death of a loved one. Depending on each individual's level of compassion and acceptance of death persistent, traumatic grief can cause us to cycle (sometimes quickly) through the 5 stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. These stages are our attempts to process change brought along by the loss of a loved one or the acceptance of ones own mortality and to protect ourselves while we adapt to our new reality. Pink Floyd's Great Gig in the Sky is about such a journey. The opening lyrics start with denial and end with acceptance.
2 and a half takes. The singer thought it was a type of sound test at first. She was shocked when it ended up on the album. She later got a writing credit.
Always amazes me how certain songs and music go over some people's heads. This was music and expression in it purest, but people want and expect something trivial and, quite honestly, a more modern addition to what has become common in music anymore...lyrics. The title, along with the short spoken part at the beginning, and the music say everything needed.
Most of us have seen the Clare Torry video interview where she talks about this song , but I remember an interview she gave long before RU-vid ,Google etc.(Possibly in The NME) where she specifically says that Dave Gilmour took her to one side and asked her if she could improvise her singing to envisage how she would imagine what dying would feel like. After the recording was finished, she also said how completely embarrassed she felt when she realised how far she'd let herself go. Clare only sang on this one song. .(P.S.The other 4 females on the rest of TDSOTM were all session singers and the one who has the most prominent voice on the tracks "Time, Brain Damage/Eclipse was a lady called Doris Troy who was born in The Bronx).
Hi Millie. Look the the meaning of this song. The struggles of dealing with somebody you know dying or know you're about to die. It follows Time on the album beautifully Keep up the good work Byeeee
When I first heard this as a teen, ,I didn't get it. It requires a set of experiences nobody that age should have been through. 40-something years later, I feel every note. Talking about Pink Floyd's creativity, the iconic vocals are the creation of session singer Clare Torry, who was brought in at the suggestion of engineer Alan Parsons. That's a story of its own, which Clare tells in an interview here:: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mIW7xZSlZoM.html Richard Wright (who has since, sadly, gone to his own great gig in the sky) gave a rare interview in which he made a few comments about his composition here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZZfHONa5L_I.html
You look perplexed, read the other comments, they are dead on. One of the most beautiful tracks ever, look at it in the context of the album, it makes much more sense. You need to Hear the whole album by yourself sometime, as a musician, you owe it to yourself. Enjoy! 🎵🎸🎤🎹🎷🎶
Back in the day this was considered Psychedelic, or Acid music because of all the sound effects that literally took a person on a trip while being high. At 69 years old this brings back a lot of memories.
Hi Millie... Pink Floyd albums are concept albums... You should listen them in their continuity... From 1st tune to the last one, in " one shot "... THere is an album you should try to listen, called " Ummagumma" double album, one part studio work, other live record... I think you could be surprised, and then understand what was Pink Floyd... It 's about years70/71...Not sure about the real moment... But what I 'm sure about, is that you could like it... I'm a french old guy, 65 years old, from France... Hope you will enjoy it... I love the way you react to this music... Your mom is right : you are psychedelic,indeed...! Kisses ! 😊
Yes, Pink Floyd always kept their identity that shone through their songs, from the Syd Barrett days all the way past the Roger Waters days. It made them who they were, and how you knew it was them, even if the songs were very different.
Clare waited for decades before she got credit for her contribution to the making of this track. She improvised in a way that was beyond "composing" or "writing". She just created it with the band in real time.
No she didn't. She was credited (and paid) at the time like any other backing singer. She just saw an opportunity years later to make a (financial) killing. Did her performance turn out to be iconic? Yes. But could anyone (including her) know that the album was going to be as popular over many many decades? No. If someone is an employee at a startup company that went on to become massively successful can they then turn round decades later and claim a portion of that success? No, not in the real world. In the entertainment industry though people can cash in on all this guilt porn we have now. I hope it made her happier because it was a great performance. As for the "wasnt composed or written", - the tune was written and she riffed on that tune. They just picked out the best take. I don't want to understate her contribution but neither do I want to mythologise it. Pink Floyd went on to be one of the most successful bands of the last 50 years. She didn't. But she had her day in the sun. One might say she was more of a Supernova :-)
This is a song about the final truth of death. At the beginning you get the narrative of not minding about death. That's the thing that we all tell ourselves. But then the vocalist comes on and lets us experience her truth about dying. The anguish, the fight and then finally the exhausted acceptance. Most young people don't catch this as they're not thinking about death that much.
Oh you're Spanish! Hola! I wondered what was going on with your accent... I didn't arrive at Spanish! But you're right... Pink Floyd were already amazing 50 years ago.. and pretty much stayed that way all the way.
""I'm not frightened of Dying Any time will do, I don't mind Why should i be frighten of Dying ? There's no reason for it you got to go sometime ."" If you can hear this whispering your dying " Pink Floyd The Great Gig In The Sky ,
I'm just at beginning -- Millie, did you understand this is about dealing with your DEATH? -- Denial, Rage, Resignation, Acceptance ... we're ALL headed that way & Clare showed us what it will be like -- a "happy accident" in the studio as Roger Waters later said, as Floyd had no idea what they wanted from her that day - But you're right, it IS MAGICAL
Well, I hope you read the comments and listen again with some context. As many have said before, Dark Side is meant to be listened to as an album to experience the journey properly.
You've probably never considered the things this song is speaking to in a personal way. You're still so young. Give it time, it'll mean more later on. Love ya.
You were not expecting this because you don't realize that when this song was made people were getting very high at the sound of music, not by the music. People can say whatever about this song but not even the singer could say what she was thinking, and there's a interview. I read The Great gig in the Sky as in the Stars, but I could see other people thinking about Heaven. Personally I think is much more majestic if was reflecting the great gig of the universe, outside of the human condition.
Todays youth may never understand the cosmic conditions of this song coming to fruition. As an Athiest it is the closest thing to evidence of a divine intervention. To think of all the factors that cosmically needed to happen is crazy. To think Clare Torre did 2.5 takes, one the first doing scat with words that they did not want at all, the second being the take you hear now, then the last a half track she stopped and said there is no way to improve her previous track. Then the actual interviews of the couple that was used in the sound bites of the track, absolute gold. The fact that they almost didn't put it on the album to begin with. Clare Torre is undoubtable the greatest vocalist of Her generation.
I love your reviews Millie. An observation/suggestion here...on this one it seems your voice is quite loud relative to the music. I'm very ignorant of your process creating your videos, but if it's possible to adjust that after the fact you might want to take a look at it. I especially enjoy how you appreciate Pink Floyd - at 65 I grew up with them (especially "Dark Side") and I was lucky enough to see them live twice in Milwaukee in the '70's. The first time I heard them at all was "Dark Side" from beginning to end. It also happened to be the first time ever I smoked weed! Talk about "One giant leap!" ))
You may want to check your volume modulation. Your mic is very loud compared to the music, so listeners can't turn up the song very loud as your voice booms back...
Listening to this on it's own is one thing. Listening to it in context with the rest of the album is quite another! Amazing performance by Clare To try though.
I am sure many have already said, you should listen to the entire album, start to finish...then it all starts to make more sense, Please just try it, then you will understand...or at least have the complete picture
"Is that it?" No, the album keeps going. Pink Floyd albums are just a.collections of song. They are albums. You really need to listen to them in their totality...
Hello Millie. Nice to see your confused and surprised face. 👈Tip - the explanation is hidden in a few spoken sentences at the song's beginning. Peace! 😊
Great reaction. Please equalise the volume of your reaction with respect to the volume of the recording. I bumped the volume to hear the song, then you would nearly blow my eardrums with your comments :)
Hey, side note. Pink Floyd is a band not a he. They got their name from two blues artists, Pink Anderson and The Floyd Council. Love your reactions!!!!
Your mic is real hot so when you speak it comes out really loud whereas the music is not as loud and I/we have to adjust back and forth. It's kind of frustrating. You need to adjust that mic. I know I know if I don't like it I can go see someone else's video...yeah yeah
There are different versions of the story. One take is Waters' version. All the other members plus Alan Parson recall multiple takes even if they don't agree on the exact number.
Try some music by YES one of the greatest progressive rock groups of all time. You haven't reacted to them at all. They have many long songs that are masterpieces. Not your usual music. Some good ones include "Roundabout", "Close to the Edge", "The Gates of Delirium". "Awaken", "Turn of the Century"... Loads of good ones.
