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It's time to talk about this work by Pink. Let's be honest: "Obscured by Clouds", the soundtrack of Schroeder's film "La Vallée", is perhaps the least known long-playing of the English group, the most bland work of the early Floyd production, a work in the shadows, but not for this to be thrown away, quite the opposite.
It is an important work from an etiological point of view, given that, for those who do not know, only a year later a certain "The Dark Side of the Moon" would be released, and it is impossible to expect there not to be at least a minimal point of contact between the two works. Let's say, however, that, like the previous "More", it is a mostly atypical album, not genuinely Floydian like the others because it was subordinate to cinematic needs, tied to conformist schemes that make it an interesting work because it is suspended between freedom of expression and dogmatism.
Full of pop and soft-rock sounds, through the instrumentals "When You're in" and "Obscured by Clouds" it gives a hint to what, like "Time" and "Money", will be Gilmour's splendid guitar performances, while Wright's keyboard diversions ("Mudmen") will be echoed in "The Great Gig in the Sky", a masterpiece of the next album. But above all, there's a little masterpiece, an unsettling product forced to overshadow all the others due to the strident contrast between musical danceability and lexical harshness, that half-hit that is "Free Four". The most significant track of the album, it references the "Riding the Gravy Train" that would become the flagship of the masterful "Have a Cigar" three years later, the risk of "riding the wave" typical of Pink Floyd, an autobiographical reference where putting yourself at stake can mean failure or apotheosis.
Between the lines, the repeated references to death, and specifically to the figure of Waters' father, who, as an upcoming subject of "The Wall" and "The Final Cut", would already give important clues about Roger's imminent appropriation of the group's ambitions, even before "Dark Side". Important clues, therefore, from an often sacrificed work, a nonetheless musically valid and reassuring work.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
03 Burning Bridges (03:29)
Bridges burning gladly
Merging with the shadows,
Flickering between the lines.
Stolen moments floating softly on the air,
Borne on wings of fire and climbing higher.
Ancient bonds are breaking,
Moving on and changing sides.
Dreaming of a new day,
Cast aside the other way.
Magic visions stirring,
Kindled by and burning flames rise in her eyes.
The doorway stands ajar,
The walls that once were high.
Beyond the gilded cage,
Beyond the reach of ties.
The moment is at hand.
She breaks the golden band.
04 The Gold It's in The... (03:07)
Come on, my friends,
Let's make for the hills.
They say there's gold but I'm looking for thrills.
You can get your hands on whatever we find,
Because I'm only coming along for the ride.
Well, you go your way,
I'll go mine.
I don't care if we get there on time.
Everybody's searching for something, they say.
I'll get my kicks on the way.
Over the mountains, across the seas
Who knows what will be waiting for me?
I could sail forever to strange sounding names.
Faces of people and places don't change.
All I have to do is just close my eyes
To see the seagulls wheeling on those far distant skies.
All I want to tell you, all I want to say
Is count me in on the journey.
Don't expect me to stay.
05 Wot's... Uh the Deal (05:07)
Heaven sent the promised land
Looks alright from where I stand
Cause I'm the man on the outside looking in
Waiting on the first step
Show where the key is kept
Point me down the right line because it's time
To let me in from the cold
Turn my lead into gold
Cause there's chill wind blowing in my soul
And I think I'm growing old
Flash the readies
Wot's...uh the deal?
Got to make it to the next meal
Try to keep up with the turning of the wheel.
Mile after mile
Stone after stone
You turn to speak but you're alone
A million miles from home you're on your own
So let me in from the cold
Turn my lead into gold
Cause there's chill wind blowing in my soul
And I think I'm growing old
Fire bright by candlelight
And her by my side
And if she prefers we will never stir again
Someone sent the promised land
And I grabbed it with both hands
Now I'm the man on the inside looking out
Hear me shout "Come on in,
What's the news and where you been?"
Cause there's no wind left in my soul
And I've grown old
07 Childhood's End (04:31)
You shout in your sleep.
Perhaps the price is just too steep.
Is your conscience at rest
If one's put to the test?
You awake with a start
To just the beating of your heart.
Just one man beneath the sky,
Just two ears, just two eyes.
You set sail across the sea
Of long past thoughts and memories.
Childhood's end, your fantasies
Merge with harsh realities.
And then as the sail is hoist,
You find your eyes are growing moist.
And though the fear is never voiced
Still you have to make your final choice.
Who are you and who am I?
To say we know the reason why?
Some are born, some men die
Beneath one infinite sky.
There'll be war, there'll be peace.
But everything one day will cease.
All the iron turned to rust,
All the proud men turned to dust.
And so all things, time will mend.
So this song will end.
08 Free Four (04:15)
(One, Two, Free, Four...)
The memories of a man in his old age
Are the deeds of a man in his prime.
You shuffle in gloom of the sickroom
And talk to yourself as you die.
Life is a short, warm moment
And death is a long cold rest.
You get your chance to try in the twinkling of an eye:
Eighty years, with luck, or even less.
So all aboard for the American tour,
And maybe you'll make it to the top.
And mind how you go, and I can tell you, 'cause I know
You may find it hard to get off.
You are the angel of death
And I am the dead man's son.
And he was buried like a mole in a fox hole.
And everyone is still in the run.
And who is the master of fox hounds?
And who says the hunt has begun?
And who calls the tune in the courtroom?
And who beats the funeral drum?
The memories of a man in his old age
Are the deeds of a man in his prime.
You shuffle in gloom in the sickroom
And talk to yourself till you die.
09 Stay (04:05)
Stay and help me to end the day.
And if you don't mind,
We'll break a bottle of wine.
Stick around and maybe we'll put one down,
Because I wanna find what lies behind those eyes.
Midnight blue burning gold.
A yellow moon is growing cold.
I rise, looking through my morning eyes,
Surprised to find you by my side.
Rack my brain to try to remember your name
To find the words to tell you good-bye.
Morning dues.
Newborn day.
Midnight blue turned to gray.
Midnight blue burning gold.
A yellow moon is growing cold.
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Other reviews
By zaireeka
"It's terrible the moment you realize you're on that shadow line that separates the truest part of you from the age of compromises."
"Many of the ideas of Dark Side (but also of Wish You Were Here) are already present here."
By Fausto91
Whether one likes it or not, the approach to a certain pop dimension is nonetheless fundamental for the future of the band.
Instrumental passages are by far the most successful: a couple of simple riffs are worth more than a thousand-note solo.
