It All Started With A Vision

The English rock band Pink Floyd released their first debut single “Arnold Layne” which sparked their legendary Rock and Roll career. Pink Floyd performed for more than 30 years and sold over 200 million al- bums. This song “Arnold Layne” was not what they were famous for but it wastheir album that transfigured them in 1973, “The Dark Side

of The Moon”. Arnold Layne was a real life man who was a crossdresser in Syd Bar- rett(singer/songwriter) and Roger Waters’(bass/singer) neighborhood. The name Pink Floyd was created on the spur of the moment because another band at one of their shows shared the same name “Tea Set”. Barrett named their band Pink Floyd based off of two blues musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. In 1965 Barrett and Waters met well known sensational players Nick Mason (drummer) and Rick Wright (keyboardist/vocals). This collaboration of gifted individuals made up Pink Floyd and shortly after Barrett’s death came co-lead vocalist and guitarist David Gilmour. It all started with a vision which they applied.

Theme Based Albums that Correlate With Life Situations

Pink Floyd was known for their psychedelic rock which gained them a following and may have been stereotyped
to attract hippie fans.They were unique because of their philosophical lyrics, extraordinary live shows, and experimentation. Albums by Pink Floyd were theme based. For example their album titled “The Wall” was about isolation or alienation. “The Wall” was metaphorically used to keep away from society, pain, and sometimes family. Artists today still use this reference of “The Wall” in their own unique way. Another theme based album is “Wish You Were Here” which is about absence and for those not living in the present moment.

This album was made after the unexpected death of Syd Barrett and explains how the band came togeth- er and coped. Last but not least is “The Dark Side of the Moon”, their most famous album. This album is about a lot of things that can lead to a dark place in life. Reasons that can lead to that dark place would be not having enough money, time, homelessness, struggles, violence, and grief. All these things can lead to mental illness or depression which are topics still relevant today. Although these albums are over 40 years old current artists and people are still bringing up topics that are similar to Pink Floyd’s philosophical lyrics and shows us that despite generational gaps, we are all connected somehow or some- way.