Album: Meddle (1971)

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• Overhead the albatross
  Hangs motionless upon the air
  And deep beneath the rolling waves
  In labyrinths of coral caves
  The echo of a distant time
  Comes willowing across the sand
  And everything is green and submarine
  
  And no one showed us to the land
  And no one knows the where's or why's
  But something stirs and something tries
  And starts to climb towards the light
  
  Strangers passing in the street
  By chance, two separate glances meet
  And I am you and what I see is me
  And do I take you by the hand
  And lead you through the land
  And help me understand the best I can?
  
  And no one calls us to move on
  And no one forces down our eyes
  No one speaks and no one tries
  No one flies around the sun
  
  Cloudless everyday
  You fall upon my waking eyes
  Inviting and inciting me to rise
  And through the window in the wall
  Come streaming in on sunlight wings
  A million bright ambassadors of morning
  
  And no one sings me lullabies
  And no one makes me close my eyes
  So I throw the windows wide
  And call to you across the sky Writer/s: David Jon Gilmour, George Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Rick Wright
  Publisher: T.R.O. INC.
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 127

• Wial from CaliforniaKerem from Turkey I think you're right and they're not even trying to hide it -- perhaps even the title alludes to that.
• Ace Bookoo from NhI'm 52. I listen to echoes everyday
• Robert A. Anderson from Indianapolis, IndianaAs I write this it is early in the year 2022 and have to face the fact that this song has been knocking my dick in the dirt (pardon the crude expression, it's a throw back to my early years) for more than fifty years.The more I research and learn about this wonderful composition the more full I feel. Thank you a thousandfold to P F for this contribution to the world of music. I'd like to add my respect and admiration to David for his reticence to ever perform the song without Rick, it never could be the same.
• Henry from Portland Orone of the greatest songs of all times, a solid 7/8 time beat throughout the song, sung in an open harmony. I will sometimes watch the documentary of this concert in Pompeii just to recognize a particular instrument. few realize that at the 8:19 mark in the song there are wind chimes playing behind David Gilmours guitar solo. fantastic use of percussion. I wonder if there were people sitting in the amphitheater when the band recorded this video documentary. that would be something to tell your children's.
• Rick from DallasMarcus, we are all seeking the truth, whether it's science based or religious based. Drake was only giving an opinion through his perspective. I have been a scientist for many years studying evolution, and have my own beliefs as to whether God exists, but music should flow through your mind and/or soul if you believe in that, so just because you feel Nietsche killed God, that's one's opinion. Like the late great Carl Sagan once said, "We are all seeking the truth and must respect everyone's view in order to find the truth. Music can open may doors. Your attack had no logic. Study some basic modus ponens.
• Kerem from TurkeyFirst i must say this song is one of the greatest songs of all time but i realized something;some lyrics and the way David sings sounds a lot like across the universe by The Beatles.I realized this while i’m singing along the across the universe and when on the third verse i accidentally started with “cloudless everyday...” and i compared them and there is a lot of similarity like in echoes there is a line ‘inviting and inciting me’ and in across the universe there is ‘inciting and inviting me’ .And echoes end with ‘...and call to you across the sky’ of course all of them might be coincidence but like i said earlier the singing style sounds pretty similar.I suggest you compare them as well this is just an observation i don’t know if anyone in the comments said this before me i didn’t look all comments.
• Robert from Why?Dear Taylor from Toledo, mind blowing, just...mind blowing. I don't know how I saw this song before, but now I can't see it any other way.
• Marcus from Leiden, Netherlands@Drake: please stop polluting the comment box with your religious babble. As a Christian? Come on! God has been dead since Nietsche explained why mankind has no use for him anymore. The lyrics of this song are based on the music itself. It's a mood rather than a story. The number of slides in this song (pedal steel, slide guitar solos, slide on bass for wind sound) is staggering. As a Christian, I mean as a slide player I love this, of course.
• Drake from Huntington Beach, CaHeres my view, since im a Christian I see God as 3 forms (you might know them) but I also see him as a form of nothingness, like air.First verses says, Overhead the albatross, hangs motionless upon the air, and deep beneath the rolling waves is Labyrinhs of coral caves. The echo of the distant time, comes willowing across the sand and everything is green and submarine. This possibly shows that God could be nature? And no showed us to the land, and no one knows the wheres or whys, but something stirs and something tries, And starts to climb towards the light. This could show a man's journey closer to God by there being no form to show him the way physically, but mentally. Theres thoughts shooting around his head wondering how to get closer to understanding, and the light could be Christianity. The next verse says, Strangers passing throught the streets , By chance when two seperates glances meet, And I am you and what I see is me. And do I take you by the hand, And lead you through the land, And help me understand the best i can. There are many beleivers out there that need help getting closer to The Lord and dont know who to talk to about it besides preachers. Perhaps, this is when two Christians see eye to eye to each other and both help each other undestand there real purpose in the world. And no one calls us to move on, And no one forces down our eyes, No one speaks, And no tries, No one flies around the sun. This part is tricky to me, I think it means when we believers are tried to be compared to each other, that either way we are only men and woman and not better nor more powerful than the other. the last few verses says, Cloudless everyday you fall upon my waking eyes, Inviting and insiting to rise, And through the window in the wall, comes streaming in on sunlight wings, A million bright Ambassadors of morning. Say that one day this man is killed somehow and when he wakes up next he expects God to be formless in his vision. Then an Angel (or multiple of them, which is a Million bright ambassadors of morning) greets him as he rises up, he seems curious. And no one sings me lulabys, And no one makes me close my eyes, So I throw the windows wide, And call to you across the sky. This can be reference to the end of Revalations in the Bible, where if your name was in the book of life, you where given eternal life that you would never have to worry about sleep or tiredness. So he opens the window from where he is reborn at and calls to God across the sky, since it says that, Now that you're living with God now, you can hear his response to yours in Echoes. God could be Echoes, since that he has no form and yet you could hear him everywhere you go.
• Oscar from Puebla, MexicoThis is sync with Space Oddysey movie.
• Crash from Falmouth, MaDavid Gilmour's "Live in Gdansk" has a fantastic version of Echoes... I've only listened to it a few thousand times now... Wonderful, Brilliant Song!
• Ken from Vancouver, BcThis is the best song I know of. It takes me through to another dimension. I find myself in rural England at least 2,000 years ago. The Rooks and shrooms take me through a sosmic door into a nearby dimension and back again. It's fantastic and mystical. I love it.
• Nishant from Toronto, OnNice Song Yo!
• Katya from London, United Kingdom'Strangers passing in the street
  By chance two separate glances meet
  I am you and what I see is me'
  My favourite part of the entire song. There is so much to infer from here. And I felt this when I was on LSD.
  Every person I saw, I felt like I had known them from somewhere, in some time! I know this may seem like rubbish to a lot of you, but don't judge if you don't know.
• Chilcox from Atchison, KsWhat always amazes me about Pink Floyd is their patience. They will allow a piece of music to build and grow. This was a time when people actually listened and appreciated music. "Meddle" in a lot of ways was a transition album which acted as a bridge from the purely psychodelic adventures of the early stuff to the 1970's AOR classic stuff everyone knows. If I had to pick one song that captured everything that was great about Pink Floyd, "Echoes" would be right up there.
• David from London, United KingdomNot only is it the best song ever, but Echoes is the best thing that will ever exist in this universe. In all universes and all that exists and all thats to come.
  Heil Pink Floyd
• Tommy from Windsor, OnTaylor. I feel so enlightened. After reading that description. 100% agree.
• Taylor from Toledo, OhI was listening to this song last night and i had a vision with my 3rd eye of what this song REALLY means. Its simply about us humans and love.
  
  Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air
  And deep beneath the rolling waves
  In labyrinths of coral caves
  The echo of a distant tide
  Comes willowing across the sand
  And everything is green and submarine. ( How life on Earth started, beneath the ocean however many years B.C. ago)
  
  And no-one called us to the land
  And no-one knows the wheres or whys
  But something stirs and something tries
  And starts to climb towards the light ( No one made anyone do anything, everyone had their own life to live on this planet, no one to ask any questions of who are we and why are we here. Then we started to climb to the shore and begin living on the land. Life outside of the ocean evolved and we began to become our humanoid body with a soul, conscious - whatever you may call it)
  
  Strangers passing in the street
  By chance two separate glances meet
  And I am you and what I see is me
  And do I take you by the hand
  And lead you through the land
  And help me understand the best I can ( This is about seeing our soul-mate. When you first make eye contact you can feel the connection with each other like you knew each other your whole life, but you are strangers. Do you begin to talk to them? Want to find out what love is? Because when you do that is when the journey beings. You become one with each other and you start to become who you really are, your higher selves. That is us in the 5th density. You start discovering the universe together)
  
  And no-one calls us to move on
  And no-one forces down our eyes
  And no-one speaks and no-one tries
  And no-one flies around the sun ( No one tells us what to do, we tell ourselves what to do. We make the paradise we want here on planet Earth. We don't have to be forced to see what others views on reality are because all that matters is what WE make of what reality is. We begin to communicate telepathically with one another and we loose our ego. We begin to see beyond this 3rd density world we live in today, the material world where our biggest problem is how much "money" we are making. Money dose not have to exist, its a tool to control us and keep us in this box we call life. "Life isn't fair" ever wonder why cant it be fair? Why dose it have to be like this? It dose not have to be like this.
  
  Cloudless everyday you fall upon my waking eyes
  inviting and inciting me to rise
  And through the window in the wall
  Come streaming in on sunlight wings
  A million bright ambassadors of morning (The sun, our giver of life on Earth, wakes us up everyday when its time. The light it emits are just millions of particles of just pure LIGHT. Light is what makes up life, without light, it would be complete darkness and the universe would not exist)
  
  And no-one sings me lullabies
  And no-one makes me close my eyes
  And so I throw the windows wide
  And call to you across the sky (When reality sinks in of who we are, we are one with the universe. No one has to care to us and no one says what you can and cannot do with your life. You are ready to open your window that has been closed your entire life, call to your soul-mate and evolve spiritually into the 5th density)
  
  This all came to me when i was listening to this song last night with the girl i love(telepathically). When i say my third eye i mean my eye that sees in the 5th density, where we all will be soon. Just start loving yourself and everyone around you so this can happen that much quicker. Meditate to talk to your higher-self, they are waiting for you. Wake up and realize this world we live in dose not have to be the way it is.
• Ron from East Aurora, NyI have a Pink Floyd tribute band called Hey You (heyyoutribute.com) and so far we have done Echoes once. It went really well. It is a great song. I'm looking forward to doing it again. The only problem with it is that it is 23 minutes long so it really takes a long part of our show to do. We have to pick and choose where to do it carefully.
• Joey H from Fredericksburg, VaThis is one of the greatest, if not greatest, songs of all time. It's like telling a story that no one can comprehend, but at the same time telling a strange tale of human contact through the mind and soul.
• Doug from Twin Falls, IdThey squeeze every possible variation musically all the way thru the song parts. Fun to try to play along with on guitar. I'll never quite understand what the middle part is about. Sounds like freak-out stuff to me.
• Jake from Oklahoma City, Okive only heard the 16 minute version.
• Ani from Yerevan, ArmeniaGuys, it's not "sUn of nothing", it's "sOn of nothing" :/
• John from Beltsville, MdOne of the coolest things about this song is the way you can hear the beginnings of the sound(s) they perfected for their next record: Dark Side Of The Moon.
• Terry from Wickford, RiEchoes was indeed called "Nothing, parts 1 to 24" before it had a proper title, but I don't think it refers to the length of the track. It refers to the number of individual bits they had come up with while working in the studio. They were just trying to write new material and eventually picked what fit together and could fit within the confines of an album side. Longer than about 22-23 minutes and you started to lose fidelity, particularly in the bass registers, so you really only had 20-odd minutes to work with in the pre-CD era. And as far as the Kubrick thing. They had felt that Kubrick overlooked them for '2001' when, in 1968, they were fast on their way to becoming the masters of "space rock" (they were chosen to soundtrack the BBC live footage of the Apollo moon landing the following year). So, the synching issue may or may not have had validity to it, especially given the earlier space-motif of the lyrics, but I'm in the coincidence camp on all of that stuff. To think that they actually projected the segment onto a wall and played along to it seems daft, especially considering how layered the track is. But it's a nice thought to think that Floyd were "proving' how effective they could have been on the soundtrack. Not true, but fun...and then, for Clockwork Orange, Kubrick did approach them and ask for the rights to Atom Heart Mother but only if he could chop it up and use it how he wished. Floyd said no - it's all or nothing - and refused permission. So Kubrick places a copy of the album in plain sight in the record shop scene as his response. Later, on 1992's Amused to Death, on the song "Perfect Sense" Roger's backward message is a direct stab at Kubrick for not letting him use an audio clip from 2001 on the track. After Kubrick's death, Roger used the clip he wanted during live performances. And someone also stated here that there was a backwards message in Echoes? Nope. He's thinking of "Empty Spaces" from The Wall.
• Kevin from Yes, Ny"surely the greatest song ever written. and if you can sit back and listen to all 23 mins in the early hours of sunday morning, in silence, with someone special to you, it's better than the best sex. everything suddenly becomes clear, clear as a diamond."
  imagine if the dude who said this had the best sex with someone special to him on a sunday morning while listening to the song.
• Mem from Melbourne, Australiapompei is the best version for me i love the vibe you get when you hear & watch it
• Chloe from St. Louis, Moid noticed that too, zep, i thought i was the only one! i dont think there are words to describe this song- it takes you into a different world for a while.
• Cory from Altoona, PaDoes anybody else see the similarities between this song and the PULSE cover art? There's the submarine theme and it also conveys that we and all life have come from the sea. Just a thought
• Craig from Kingwood, TxThis song is probobly one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have ever herd. The entire song is so brilliently done. I first herd this song not too long ago when I began listening to Pink Floyds song from before Dark Side of the Moon. My perception and respeciveness of the Floyd have grown ever since I bought Meddle. Although DSOTM is my favorite album of all time, Meddle deffinantly comes in a close second b/c of this song.
  This song is deffinantly not about drugs ...actually a majority of their songs aren't about drugs. Probobly some songs from Piper at the Gates of Dawn are but thats because of Syd Barrett (R.I.P and Shine On), not saying that he wasn't brillient.
  All in all Pink Floyd is the best band who ever lived. Please keep this bands msuic alive !
• Peter from Townsville, AustraliaFrom http://www.allfloyd.com/echoes/echoes2.html#21, an attempt to reconstruct the missing Echoes verse...
  
  Planets sitting face to face
  Sun to the air and land how sweet
  In every single lighting place
  The planet here in dreaming space
  
  Perfect night this was so grand
  And give us leave to share as one
  Our two lights in the land
  For one light can
  
  And in that coming to the one
  The parting sighs sound as one
  I see you've got to travel on
  And on and on around the sun.
• Russell from Corona, CaGreat Song - I'm always amazed that there are people who consider themselves "Huge Pink Floyd fans" but have never bothered to listen to anything before DSOTM.
  Echoes is a poetic tale of Consciousness itself. The story starts with someone contemplating the beach & then letting their imagination roam to back (the echoe of a distant tide) to the beginings of life when its starts its climb to the light of consciousness. Why does this happen - the Narrator declares no one knows & is right because the will to consciousness happened before consciousness itself. Later the Narrator comes upon the realization that this source of life consciousness is a part of everyone he meets & that ultimately we are here to serve one another and no one entity is directly in control of this process. After the Jam which seems to reflect the the first verse (where life is formed beneath the waves (consciousness) and breaks free triumphantly into self-realization - the Narrator sees the Creator (or will to be) as Infinite or Cloudless Everyday & who is calling him to be - this connection with the Creator is seen as Light itself. But the seperation from the source is there & while we seek comfort from the Creator against the Horrors of the world were in - it does not come & so by fully intergrate with All That Is (throwing the windows of perception wide) and calling (which is known in religious circles as Prayer or Meditation) to the creator through the void of this seperation - or more specifically - this Echoe we are of conscious being - ever in contemplation of the Creator. Or maybe the songs about drugs....
• Mariah from Fort Worth, Txremember how i said the only connection between my dad and i was pink floyd?
  i had gone without speaking to him for 4 months.
  the day i spoke to him again was the
  day that Richard Wright passed away.
• Zep from Cape May, NjWoah! I just realized the lyrics
  "Inviting and inciting me to rise"
  Sound like the Lyrics from the beatles song 'Across the Universe'
  'Exciting and inviting me'
  Still love this song!
  I LOVE PINK FLOYD!
• Tony from Chicago, Il"Rick Wright told Mojo magazine December 2008 that he wrote the music for this. He explained: 'The whole piano thing at the beginning and the chord structure is mine, so I had a large part in writing that. But it's credited to other people of course. Roger obviously wrote the lyrics.'
  
  didnt he die in september? anyways kick ass song
• Thrill from Halifax, Nsthe Floyds best song -even with out space oddessy : ), though I think Barrett is probably the great artest involved with floyd, this song takes the cake esp with the funky bit in the middle... heak the whole thing is beutifully composed and one of the best things to come out of avant gaurde influences in rock
• Piers from Bogota, Columbiasurely the greatest song ever written. and if you can sit back and listen to all 23 mins in the early hours of sunday morning, in silence, with someone special to you, it's better than the best sex. everything suddenly becomes clear, clear as a diamond.
• Oldpink from New Castle, InI remember back around 1986, when I first bought a viny copy of Meddle.
  I was already familiar with the better known song "One of these Days" from the album, so I dropped the disc onto my turntable, slipped on my headphones, and enjoyed the next twenty five minutes.
  Then, I flipped over the disc, astonished to see that the ENTIRE flip side was this one song, and what a great song it was, too!
  This song, possibly more than any other before or since, was the most collaborative effort from the boys ever.
  Oh, there are some errors in the info.
  The band worked up the basic structure of this in the STUDIO before they took it live.
  The ORIGINAL title was "Nothing Parts 1 through 24," an obvious bit of tongue in cheek that references the approximate length in minutes.
  Also, although the Crystal Palace performance under the title "Return of the Son of Nothing" was the first performance of it to be captured by a taper, it was performed at one earlier venue that (sadly) was not taped.
  Also, the original lyrics for the piece had a space theme for the first two stanzas, with only the third being as on the finished version.
  Later, Roger changed those lyrics to have a submarine narrative, since he did not want to reinforce their reputation as a "space rock" band with space rock lyrics in such an ambitious song.
• Mike from Boulder, CoAbsolutely right, G. Here's another one. Echoes was released in 1971. Atom Heart Mother was released the year before, and there are two tracks on which all 4 members get writing credit. So while it lists "this was the first one in awhile they wrote together" as a fact, anyone familiar with the music of Pink Floyd knows this is not the case at all.
• Mariah from Fort Worth, Txim only 15, but i know amazing music when i hear it, so i would appreciate it if you could get your facts straight BEFORE you post something in the internet that you OBVIOUSLY know nothing about. that sounds foolish because of my age, but pink floyd just makes my brain click. i havent spoken to my father in two months and i still feel close to him by listening to pink floyds beautiful and melodic songs. its my only connection to him. oh by the way (niko),
  echoes is 23 minutes long and (everyone that said otherwise)echoes is on the SECOND half of the meddle vinyl.
• Jeremy from Ventura, CaR.I.P. Richard Wright
  
  1943-2008
  
  he passed today
• Anthony from San Antonio, TxThis song makes me feel small, like I am just a spec in the universe. And this feeling continues through out the whole 23 minutes and 28 seconds. But there is times, at the last 4 minutes of the song where I feel like I have finally found the answers I have been looking for.
  
  This song is the second in line to sound really beautiful to me, Lateralus by Tool is first.
• John from Clacton On Sea, United KingdomThis might sound a bit bizzare. Does anyone know of a shortened version, say 3-5 minutes. I would love to have this music at my funeral. Take your time replying. I'm not planning to go yet!
• Derrick from Nowere, WiThis song is a Briliant peice of art
• Ozzy from Fresno, Caomg so pretty
• Tadeo from Montreal, QcTo me this song always gave me an image of the world fading away. You just watch everything fading away almopst happily, because you know everything is finally going to rest at last. Everything just crashing down along with the music, then when it fades into the middle part, it's like there's nothing left. Like a thick fog envelopping you. It's the sound of an eerie, scared, loneliness. Like the kind of feeling you get when you think you're being followed and there is nobody around you that could possibly help you. After that it sounds like creation. How the song fades back in slowly and majestically, saving you from the seclusion. It's the cycle of life. This has got to be one of the most beatiful songs I have ever heard.
• Alina from Karlstad, SwedenLove this song. It creates a special feeling inside me everytime I listen to it.
• Kevin from Warren, MiThere were no samples used in the middle portion of the song. The bird like sounds were made by plugging in a stratocaster into a VOX 847 wah pedal backwards(that is going into the output. By varying the tone controls and volume it changes the pitch of the squeal. Combined with the Binson Echorec, this created the "other-worldly" sounds. I have tried it and it does work. This only works with passive pickups.
• Ozzy from Fresno, Cayea i just listened to Across the Universe by the beatles for the first time and i noticed a lot of lyrical similarities
• Ranjit from Madras, Indiai first heard echoes on vinyl - the b-side of Meddle. it was long and extended piece with beautiful lyrics. it conveyed the mood of being spaced out (which i indeed was then)
  
  some years later, someone gave me a bunch of bootleg CD's of pink floyd - one of them was titled - FROM OBLIVION - which in my opinion is the most incredible collection of spaced out Pink Floyd songs (pre-DSOTM/WYWH days) - long moody instrumental passages of songs such as Atom Heart Mother, Set the Controls for the heart of the sun, Fat Old Sun. Most of the songs are over 8 minutes long. And coming to Echoes - this is the most beautiful version of Echoes that I've heard thus far - it is incredibly atmospheric, and i enoyed listening to it in the late hours of the night...
• Liyon from Greenbelt, Mdsure do is elevated cool masterpiece,i don't care much about d lyrics, but the music architect are amazing.
  - Liyon Fanai
• Manuel from Santo Domingo, OtherOne of Pink Floyd's most inspired songs, Echoes, is more complex than meets the eye. The very first verse in this song is difficult to interpret, unless taken literaly, in which case the song is just describing a scene, with catchy and smooth lyrics. The "Strangers Passing in the Street by chance...." line probably sums up what most of this song is about, just like the "fact" in this page says: its about understanding humanity with empathy, not antipathy. In this sense, I can further expand and argue that the rest of this song, including the first verse, has to do with appreciating the very simple things in life which we so often forget to even ackwoledge how they enrich our lives. Wether such thing be an ocean and coral caves, or simply appreciating and aknowledging the fact that other people in this world are alive and you take the time to even think about it makes Echoes an amazing song. Listen to it,perhaps your opinion of the meaning of this song will differ from mine, in which case, Pink Floyd succeeds in using music as a vehicle to understanding the deeper things in life.
• Yavar from Tehran, IranThis is the Best of their songs.i just can say that me and my friends are living our lives with this song!
• Jaime from Smalltown, MiThis first verse is the most beautiful of the song... it explains how life before it evolved had nothing to leave but "echoes" of their eternal struggles to survive.
  
  Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air
  And deep beneath the rolling waves in labyrinths of coral caves
  The echo of a distant tide
  Comes willowing across the sand
  And everything is green and submarine
  And no one showed us to the land
  And no one knows the wheres or whys
  But something stirs and
  Something tries
  And starts to climb towards the light
• Scott from Portland, OrMeddle is the first time Pink Floyd got to record on a 16 track recorder. Finally they were able to record layers of sound without wasting time and sound quality by bouncing tracks. We finally got to hear Mason's drums in a full stereo mix instead of coming out of one speaker! The recording wasn't as rushed as Atom Heart Mother since there were no orchestras or choirs involved. It showed what Pink Floyd could create during those brief moments when they collaborated.
• Michael from Oxford, EnglandI did say I love this song, didn't I?
• Steveb from Spokane, Wa1. You do not need drugs to appreciate music.
  2. If you've never done drugs, you shouldn't judge anybody who chooses to, and try smoking a joint a few times and listening to music you've only heard "straight" before. Erowid.org lists increased appreciation for music as a proven side effect for the use of marijuana and many psychedelics. Most people wouldn't get many kinds of non-cookie cutter music without drugs. A bit sad? Yes. Are drugs a useful tool in this instance? Definitely.
  3. There have been several long masterpieces in rock history, its called progressive music. Stop listening to the radio and you'll discover them some day.
• Michael from Oxford, EnglandKoirala, you must be joking! The weird bit (you know, the messed-up wah-wah pedal feedback and sampled crows) is scary enough without the influence of pot. I don't have to get stoned to feel the power of this track - but then again I don't do drugs at all [are you laughing at me?] so maybe I'm just used to experiencing everything "normally". Oh, and by the way, I love this song!
• Koirala from Kathmandu, Otheryou gotta get stoned and listen,then you'll feel all the waves flow inside you veins,its really awesome
• Michael from Oxford, EnglandTo some the very thought of a 24-minute song is just repulsive. I can only suppose that they're thinking of someone like the Arctic Monkeys jamming for 24 minutes straight... no, that is not what this song is like! The opening is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard, and it continues as a great song. Potential listeners: just beware of the weird bit.
• Lester from New York City, NyAmazingly, this is the song that I can make love to (for an extended period of time), yet I can also fall asleep to.
  
  What's amazing is that I don't like music during sex (find it distracting), nor can I fall asleep to music (find it distracting and annoying).
  
  But 'Echoes' is just different. And fantastic.
• Joseph from Victoria, CanadaThis song is my favourite song by Pink Floyd followed closely by Voodoo Child by Henrix. This song for me is a journey through to another dimension and back again. The birds you hear are actually rooks, not seagulls, but they are gulls, if you want them to be. :o) Hehe, I agree, a trip on it's own, a mind orgasm with a little help from our "friends". Hello Sid.
• Beavis from Alberquerque, Aki notice no one really mentions the evolution concept present and the implication of fundamental human similarity (energy).
• Jorge from Manchester, EnglandHas anyone noticed this: Echoes apparantly is meant to sync up with the last part of 2001 A Space Odyssey . In 2001 a Pink Floyd Compilation was released called ECHOES. Wierd
• Echoe from Conversano, ItalyAnother ingenious piece of literature written by the brilliant Pink Floyd!!
• Sina from Memphis, TnI literally get goosebumps when I hear this song. Though it's not my favorite Floyd song, the feelings I get from listening to Echoes are unlike any other...
• Scubers from A Place In, MdNo Quarter is in the key of c# (as is echoes) which might explain why it sounds like echoes, Jerry 619.
• Giorgi from Milan, Italythis peace of music is most harmonic thing i ever heard
• Bill from Erie, PaLee from Waco: The reviewer who called this song "a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing" was making an allusion to Macbeth.
• Gilmour from Lockport, NyEchoes is the second side of Meddle. Not the first side.
• Peter from Chicago, IlI won't ever say something is the best song ever, but pink floyd is the best band ever. one thing i will say - the lyrics are much much less deppressing than anything on the wall. and thats always good in my book.
• Nader from Durham, NcDefinitely references Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" in the first verse. Oddly enough, that's a product of, in part, an opium addiction. Love Echoes, especially that first verse.
• Chris from Everett, Wawhat are you joking the lyrics are the most important part of the song
• Jack from Oak Ridge, NcIncredibly atmospheric finish to the album "Meddle". Which in my opinion stands on equal footing with dark side of the moon, the wall, wish you were here, and animals, as one of pink floyds best albums
• Ryan from Plano, TxThe live version from the highly obscure '71 bootleg "Atom Heart Mother Goes on the Road" is even better. It outlasts the studio version by about 3 1/2 minutes and generally sounds more pronounced in live form. Also, the studio version was considerably trimmed down on the Floyd's greatest hits compilation released in 2002. It should've stayed intact.
• Jerry619 from San Diego, United Statesthis song is amazing,this band is amazing! is it me or does zeppelins no quarter sound a lot like echoes? this song is so inspirational the sudden shift to the funk just jumps right out at you,and i disagree with an earlyer comment by lee, the lyrics are just as powerfull as the music i tell u what thats poetry thats description in full detail the lyrics are defentaly in the category of lennon,mccartney,morrison
• Ashley from Moncton, CanadaImagine if you were a human, just floating up in outer space and you just fell out of the sky, not knowing anything at all about Earth or anything on it. All you've ever seen in your life was black all around you. And you see everything on Earth, only like it must have looked say, a million years ago, when everything was still fresh, and waterfalls and canyons, and crazy plant life and stuff. And you arrive on the rocky beach, and you look around, in awe. And you look in the water and see your reflection, like the line "i am you and what i see is me" and you think it's gotta be another person or something. That's pretty much the imagery I get from it- amazement that results from really seeing the world and being totally blown away by what it really is.
• Aaron from Tigard, Orthis song is just amazing
• Anonymous from Dixon , CaThere is a backtracking message in this song. Basically, it is some address, and the first 90 people who mailed a letter to that address got sent back a letter from the band, with $20 and lots of Pink Floyd merchandice. My friend's dad mailed into it, but he was like, #92, so really close.
• Kenneth from Dallas, TxKubrick asked to use part of Atom Heart Mother Suite in A Clockwork Orange, and the Floyd denied permission.
• Kane from Truro, EnglandI found that with the 2001/Echoes synchronization only worked if I skipped the film to the point where the light show just started and skipped the song to the moment when the line "and no one flies around the sun" ended. It worked perfectly then, but if I started the song from the beginning and the film from the "Jupiter and beyond the infinite" title card then there were no similarities at all.
• Alex from Fort Mill, ScHold on 2001 was released in 1968 and Atom Heart Mother was released in 1970, so whats the deal here. Regardless matching Echoes and 2001 together works really well together in some parts, but once Poole arrives at the weird Victorian era room the blending of the two stops.
• Bill from Asheville, NcThe middle part of Echoes is whale song, with some seagulls/albatrosses screeching behind that, in case anyone really cares what it is.
• Alex from Fort Mill, ScThis song is absolutly mind-blowing. Echoes made Pink Floyd my favorite. I also love those mini guitar riffs David Gilmour plays during the funk section of the song.
• John from Davis, CaI hate the Echoes "Best of" CD. How can you call a CD "Echoes" when you shorten the actual song by over 8 minutes? Also the song choice and order is pretty bad and they shorten several other songs like "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Marooned" Now that I got that out of my system...the song is great. Meddle is a good CD to get if you have already bought all their famous ones (DSotM, WYWH, Wall).
• Tyler from Brantford, CanadaUmm...this is side 2, not side 1
• Jake from Mt. Olympus, Englandon the album "echoes it has been cut to 16 minutes 30 to fit all of the songs on.
  
  heres a subliminal message for you "skcor dyolf knip"
• Yuya from Kyoto, JapanIf anyone has the japanese movie "Audition", start this at the part where the screen is all blue, and someone is playing the piano. THe lyrics and images and beats fit.
• Bill from Erie, PaI think the meaning of the song is as follows:
  It's the story of someone who has plunged into a deep depression, and spends his/her existence wandering a metaphorical labyrinth in a coral cave underwater, listening to echoes of normal life, which prompts him or her to start climbing toward the light. On the way there, they see a person who reminds them much of themselves, who takes pity and tries to help them get through their dark stage. There are many hang-ups on the journey back, but one day they wake up suddenly in a great mood, seeing the light of the sun for the first time in way too long, and shout for joy.
  Just my $0.02
• Phil from Niagara Falls, CanadaStephen, thats funny, he should of asked for Echoes instead of Atom Heart Mother. Also, 2001 a space oddyssey, the first 10 minutes, wasted my life, ugh
• Stephen from Tampa, FlStanley Kubrick asked Pink Floyd if he could use Atom Heart Mother in 2001: A Space Oddysey. They turned it down and later regretted it. Echoes was created after that. It's almost the same length as Atom Heart Mother. Concidence?
• Phil from Niagara Falls, Canadaplenty of great songs are close to 20 minutes long : 2112, Close To The Edge, Atom Heart Mother Suite, Echoes
• Ashley from Moncton, Canada"And through the window in the wall comes streaming in on sunlight wings, a million bright ambassadors of morning" these are my favourite lyrics ever. 2nd favourite- The Last Remaining Light by Audioslave, and anybody who likes the Echoes lyrics, I suggest you check out the Audioslave tune, it has sort of the same feel to it. Super-long usually equalls super-awesome, which is the case for this song. There are other newer bands capable of making insanely long songs though, Octavarium by Dream Theater(2005), which is their newest is exactly 24 minutes long with 5 parts. So there you go, bands can still make insanely long songs. But nothing can ever be as good as this insanely long song.
• Luke from Bay City, MiOne heck of a song. My favorite song ever. And despite its gargantuan length (23:51, just under 24 minutes long), not a minute of it is wasted. The song just flows so smoothly from psychadelia, hard rock, funk, more psychadelia, hard rock, and more psychadelia. And, of course, I don't think anyone here thinks its a coincidence that this song is the same length as the "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite" section of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
• Takashi from Tokyo, JapanHow odd when It says 23:51 on the back...
• Takashi from Tokyo, JapanOn MY Meddle CD, It's 16:30
• Maciek from Warsaw, PolandI firs came across this song in one of Vangelis' forums. A guy was saying it is quite simmilar to his songs, so without hesistation i downloaded it. After just 5 minutes I knew it's gonna be one of my favourite songs :). And it still is. One thing is, I firstly got "Echoes part 1 and 2" from "Live at Pompei" album, or whatever it is, and it is MUCH BETTER than "Echoes" from "Meddle". I suggest the fans to check it themselvves. Thee begining is different, it is much more dark, with much more disortion, and compleatly different percussion. I also recommend Vangelis' songs, which are maby a bit less "wild" but also keep the same level (or even higher) of melody and harmony. Many of them are also longer than 10 minutes.
• Lee from Waco, TxI don't know if it's true or not, but I read somewhere that a reviewer said that this song was "a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing" to which Nick Mason responded by sending him a coiled up boxing glove in a box.
• Ashley from Moncton, CanadaLast night it was too hot to sleep, so I turned the radio on and flipped through a few stations. I flipped to a french station, because sometimes they play good english songs. I was freaking amazed when I heard Echoes playing. I never would have thought that any radio station would play it. After it was over, they played another twenty minute song, I don't even know who it was by, it was just really awesome. I thought to myself,"This is the single greatest radio station on the face of the earth...right now" but then they played some really stupid weird rave music stuff. Oh well I heard Echoes.
• Sean from Newmarket, Canadaoh so amazing.. favourite song of all time.. after i heard it on echoes, i got meddle.. amazing.. the lyrics are incredibly deep.. though the best part is the build up from 16-18 minutes.. and the amazing solo that follows..they should have expanded on that.. it is by far the best part of the song
• Bill from Southeastern Part Of, FlJust a mention: Roger Waters accused Andrew Lloyd Webber of "stealing" part of Echoes (the rising and falling chord changes toward the middle of the masterpiece) and turning it into part of The Phantom of the Opera musical. I agree with Roger, uh, Mr. Waters.
• Tony from St Louis, MoU gotta love this song. defenately my favorete of all time cause it doesnt get old. The harmony of the vocals is great
• Vinny from Charlottetown, Canadauh, Niko, if you get the meddle album you will find that the song really is over 23 minutes long. If you're just listening to the 16 minute version, I would strongly advise you to get the meddle album because you are missing out on some amazing guitar.
• Murray from Shellharbour, Australiasome of the greatest lyrics i have ever heard : Strangers passing in the street, by chance two separate glances meet, and I am you and what I see is me.
  
  Awesome.Mindblowing.....
• Rob from Southgate, MiThis song, like most of Pink Floyd's songs, are about growing up and growing old, and coping with a changing society and the different stages of life. The first verse is represents when we are young, and the innocence and emerging of ourselves into a mold or pattern for who we will be. The second is about an adult version of someone meeting a young version of that person, as we all do when we get into our late 20's/early 30's. 'He' meets himself, and and tries to show him all that he is accomplished and what life has to offer, but only finds out that HE was the one who learned the things he needs. The third verse is a commentary on aging and lonliness, and what Roger thought that being elderly would be like.
• Charlie from Thomaston, Ctthis is my theory on the meaning of this song: i think its about day and night at the ocean and morning. the first 2 versses are about the evening at the beach: the echoe of a distant time comes willowing across the sand
  And everything is green and submarine. then the middle part is actually about the ocean at night, the weird sond affects are whale singing. finally the last set of lyrics are, obviously about morning in someones bedroom: And through the window in the wall
  Come streaming in on sunlight wings
  A million bright ambassadors of morning. id also like to say that if i wrote it i would call the song albatross instead of echoes and finally id like to say that: This song rocks and so does pink floyd!!
• Dave from Baltimore, Mathis song also appears in some movie about Gregor Mendel i saw in biology, without the lyrics though
• Allen from Leicestershire, EnglandActually, it takes up the entire SECOND side of the album. Great song, one of my favourites. It takes you away to another place, it's escapism at it's finest!
• Marty from Chicago, IlThis is by far my favorite my favorite pink floyd song. If you want to a little sample of all pink floyds different great "qualities." listen to this tune. You hear how they are masters of "electrical music" great guitar great singing by gilmore and wright.
• Marcos from Fort Worth, Txthis is a great song. though, by people unfamiliar with a sound as spacey as Pink Floyd's, it is not so appreciated. my mom gave me a look the first time she heard the part in the middle with all of the high pitch noises.
• Jon from Roeland Park, KsDo yourself a favor and run out and buy the long version of this right now. My favorite song of all time - makes the rest of Pink Floyd sound second-rate. (Although "Fearless" from the same album is also quite nice.)
• Bob from Mt. Laurel, NjLive at Pompeii was in 1972
• Rich from Elkins, WvOK... so I went on my lunch break today and bought the Meddle album/CD...I like the first tune "One of These Days", always have liked it, just didn't know it's title... 'ECHOES' I'm sure was pretty cool way back when, but the band has grown so much that it barely compares to some of their later stuff. ECHOES is obviously the genesis for US AND THEM . The other songs on
  this album don't rate....however their better stuff after this effort is a result of every thing they tried.
• Rich from Elkins, WvI consider myself a true Pink Floyd fan but I don't think I know this song...I realize there are some tunes from their early days that have eluded me. Impossible to hear every song ever done, but if this song is as good as you all say, I will have to check it out. I agree with patrick,'Shine on you Crazy Diamond' is hard to beat...If you are the real David Gilmour posting....FAR OUT Dude...YOU ROCK!!!
• David Gilmour from Warwickshire, EnglandThe surfing film mentioned above, that is directed by George Grenough, is called "Crystal Voyager"
• Ludovic from Braga, Portugaljust beautiful... perfect... 23 minutes of pure pleasure...
• Liam from Frederick, Mdbest song ever written by anyone, ever
• Corey from Dark Side Of The Moon, OtherMy favorite song of all time, by my favorite band: Pink Floyd.
• Niko from Davis, CaBah, thanks for telling me. I must get the real version now! Hey....your not David Gilmour!
• David Gilmour from Warwickshire, EnglandEchoes is only 16:30 on "Echoes: the best of Pink Floyd". This is because it is cut, there is a solo missing from the intro and parts cut out of the "jam" section. The original version of this, last track on Meddle, is 23:31 minutes long from memory. It's my favourite song of all time.
• Niko from Davis, CaUh, it's not 23 minutes. It's about 16:30. I have both CD and MP3 versions, which are both 16:30.
• Anthony from Wantagh, NyEchoes is Pink Floyd imagery at it's finest. When you listen to Echoes, you get a feeling of falling into an underground cave. Im lost in this subteranian maze of dark misterious damp rock walls. As the song opens up it's like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, so you start running for it. Closer and closer when finally you reach it and LEAP out into the air and off a cliff. Down into a cool deep blue see. To me this imagery has the same charactaristics of depression. You just fall into it, get lost, then finally find your way out back into life. This song helps me through some tough times. Pink Floyd lives forever.
• Echooes from Atlanta, GaI don't think there will ever be another looooong masterpiece like this in the rock n' roll history. For 2 reasons...one PF has taken a back seat for the longesssssttttt and 2nd reason newer musicians are not capable of creating such long monsterous with this level of compositions!
• Brian from Paoli, InI have to admit 23 minutes is ridiculously long, but this is such a beautiful song.
• Ben Russell from Durham, NcAnother masterpiece that could only be composed by Pink Floyd. Anyone thinking this is a second-rate song needs to seriously re-think their opinion.
• Lee from Durham, Ncthis is one of the most powerful composition in rock history. the lyrics are not that powerful as the music but they seem to be about bliss and happiness or just a acid trip :P
• Patrick from Durham, NcThe Second Best song ever written. For more look up "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" @songfacts

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