It’s that time again. Every year on this day, Irreal suspends our normal blathering to celebrate the release of the best album of all time: Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. There are rumors that the actual release date was March 1, 1973, but Irreal has always celebrated it on March 10th and sees no reason to change that tradition now.
Every year I provide a link to one of the songs from the album in the hope of introducing others to their extraordinary music. This year, I’m going to change things up a bit and feature a song from their 1987 album A Momentary Lapse of Reason. That song, On the Turning Away, is not my favorite Pink Floyd song but this video of them performing it is my favorite Pink Floyd video.
Here it is:
I like it because it showcases the unique talents of each of the band members. It begins with Rick Wright doing the keyboard introduction. You don’t often see extended shots of him playing. At 3:37 you see Nick Mason showing what a mondo drummer he really is. Then, of course, there’s David Gilmour whose virtuosity needs no comment from Irreal.
The best part of the video is the second half, which is entirely instrumental. I find it really powerful and always seem out of breath when it ends. On of my favorite parts of the second half is the under appreciated backup singers Machan Taylor, Durga MacBroom, and Rachel Fury. They’re always great but they really shine in this video. Sadly, the official released version didn’t include these clips but thanks to Obi Wan Kenobi we can enjoy them whenever we like. Watch the video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.