Tag
1968, 1969, A Saucerful of Secret, David Gilmour, Live at Pompeii, Nick Mason, Richard Wright, Roger Waters, The Massed Gadgets of Hercules
6° brano dell’album
A Saucerful of Secrets fu composto da tutti i membri del gruppo Roger Waters, Richard Wright, Nick Mason, and David Gilmour. Il brano, dalla durata di circa 12 minuti, é un brano sperimentale, per il periodo in cui fu concepito era all’avanguardia; ha un feedback di chitarra, una sezione solista percussioni e cori di voci.
The track lasts 11:52 and was composed by band members Roger Waters, Richard Wright, Nick Mason, and David Gilmour. It is an experimental, avant-garde piece featuring guitar feedback, a percussion solo section, and wordless vocals.
“A Saucerful of Secrets” was originally known as “The Massed Gadgets of Hercules” in its earliest performance and became a Pink Floyd live staple from 1968 until 1972. A live version of the track is available on Pink Floyd’s 1969 double album Ummagumma, and the version seen and heard in the film Live at Pompeii: Director’s Cut is considered by many to be the definitive version. In 1969, its fourth movement, “Celestial Voices”, was incorporated into the live concept The Man and the Journey as “The End of the Beginning”. On the remastered Compact Disc versions of the album, the song is listed on the CD itself as “A Saucerful of Secret”.
‘The band felt we achieved something with the title track of A Saucerful of Secrets (1968). I can’t say as I fully understood what was going on when it was being made, with Roger sitting around drawing little diagrams on bits of paper. But throughout the following period I tried to add what I knew of harmony and bring it slightly more mainstream, if you like. And the way they worked certainly educated me. We passed on all our individual desires, talents and knowledge to each other.’
— David Gilmour
Live performances of the song differed significantly from the studio version. The closely miked cymbal sound that starts the piece was instead performed as a two-note drone on the bass. For the “Syncopated Pandemonium” section, Richard Wright usually had to be content with playing his Farfisa organ instead of pounding a grand piano with his fists as on the studio recording (the version on Pompeii being a notable exception). The “Celestial Voices” section started with just organ as per the studio version, but gradually added drums, bass, guitar and wordless vocals, provided by David Gilmour.
The Japanese release of this song was simply titled 神秘 (shinpi?), which translates as “Mystery”. The album A Saucerful of Secrets, itself, also carried this title.
The song was David Gilmour’s first songwriting credit with Pink Floyd. On the original vinyl, and early CD issues, his name was misspelled as “Gilmore”.
Although the song is listed on all pressings of the album as “A Saucerful of Secrets”, some pressings of Ummagumma break the piece into four different sections. Roger Waters once stated in a Rolling Stone interview that the song was about a battle and the aftermath. “Something Else” represents the setup of the battle. “Syncopated Pandemonium” represents the actual battle. “Storm Signal” represents the view of the dead after the battle has ended, and “Celestial Voices” represents the mourning of the dead.[citation needed]
