Money (Pink Floyd song)

"Money"
Single by Pink Floyd
from the album The Dark Side of the Moon
B-side	"Any Colour You Like"
Released	23 June 1973 (1973-06-23)
Recorded	June 1972 – January 1973 at Abbey Road Studios in London, England
Genre	Progressive rock, blues-rock
Length	6:22 3:59 (US single)
Label	Harvest, EMI (UK) Harvest, Capitol (US)
Writer(s)	Roger Waters
Producer	Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd singles chronology
"Free Four" (1972) "Money" (1973) "Us and Them"/"Time" (1973)
Alternative cover Cover of the single's 2003 re-issue (which coincided with the release of the album's 30th anniversary SACD re-issue) Audio sample file info · help Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd track listing "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (9) "Money" (10) "Keep Talking" (11)

Roger Waters' bassline, described as "one of the most memorable classic bass riffs ever recorded."^[1]

"Money" is the sixth track^[2] from English progressive rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon. Written by bassist Roger Waters, it opened side two of the original vinyl LP, and is the only song on the album to enter the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Money" is particularly notable for its unusual 7/4–4/4 time signature, its distinctive bassline and the seven-beat "loop" of money-related sound effects that opens the track: coins clinking, a cash register ringing, etc.

Composition

Despite relatively recent remarks by bassist Roger Waters and guitarist David Gilmour that the song had been composed primarily in 7/8 time,^[3] it was actually composed in 7/4,^[4] as Gilmour previously acknowledged in an interview with Guitar World magazine in 1993.^[5][6] Most rock music is written in 4/4, or common time, and most of the exceptions are in 3/4 or a similar triple meter, such as 6/8 or 12/8. The typical rock backbeat on two and four is instead on two, four and six, leaving two beats in a row without an accented beat from the snare drum.

The song is also notable for its dramatic change to 4/4 time for an extended guitar solo. The first of three choruses which compose the solo was recorded using real-time double tracking. That is, Gilmour played the chorus nearly identically in two passes recorded to two different tracks of a multi-track tape machine. The doubled effect for the third chorus was created using automatic (or "artificial") double-tracking (ADT).^[3]

The form and chord progression are based on the standard twelve-bar blues in the key of B minor. Two twelve-bar verses are followed by an eighteen bar instrumental section that features a funk-style tenor saxophone solo along with keyboard, bass, and drums and a further two bar intro in 4/4 leading to the guitar solo.

History

The demo tracks for the song, including some of the sound effects, were recorded in a makeshift recording studio Roger Waters had in his garden shed.^[7] As recorded by the band, the song has a bluesy, Transatlantic feel, unlike Waters' original demo version, which he later described as "prissy and very English".^[3] Though credited solely to Waters, since he wrote the basic music and all the lyrics, it is very much a group effort. The instrumental jam was a collaborative effort, with Gilmour overseeing the time change as well as his own guitar and vocal work, and Richard Wright and Nick Mason improvising their own parts. Guest musician Dick Parry contributed the tenor saxophone solo that precedes the guitar solo. Gilmour's input is also discernible in the final mix, which features contrasting "wet" sections, with thick reverb and delay effects, and "dry" sections.^{[citation needed]} In particular, during the second chorus of the guitar solo, all the reverb and delay effects are suddenly pulled out, creating a much smaller and more intimate virtual space. To produce the distinctive piercing high notes that distinguish the final chorus of his solo, Gilmour played a customized Lewis guitar with a full four-octave range.^[3]

Perhaps the most distinctive element of "Money" is the rhythmic sequence of sound effects that begins the track and is heard throughout the first several bars. This was created by splicing together recordings Waters had made of clinking coins, a ringing cash register, tearing paper, a clicking counting machine and other items to construct a seven-beat effects loop.^[3][7] It was later adapted to four tracks in order to create a "walk around the room" effect in the quadraphonic mix of Dark Side of the Moon.^[3]

From 1972 through 1975, "Money" was a regular feature of the band's Dark Side of the Moon set, and it was routinely performed as an encore during the band's 1977 tour. These later performances would typically last as long as 12 minutes. From 1987 through 1990, the band performed the song during tours supporting A Momentary Lapse of Reason, their first album without Roger Waters, who had left the band in December 1985. In 1994 the band performed the song during tours supporting The Division Bell, their second post-Waters album. An extended version of the song, again lasting up to 12 minutes, was regularly performed during Gilmour's 1984 US tour in support of his solo album About Face. Waters has also regularly included it on his solo tours.

The song was re-recorded for the 1981 Pink Floyd album, A Collection of Great Dance Songs, because Capitol Records refused to license the track to Columbia Records in the US. With the help of producer James Guthrie, Gilmour re-recorded the song, providing vocals and playing all the instruments except saxophone. Dick Parry again contributed the sax solo, reprising his role on the original recording. Drums were programmed into a drum machine.

The lyrics are briefly referenced in the film Pink Floyd The Wall.

"Money" was performed during Pink Floyd's reunion show (which included Waters) at the Live 8 concert in London in 2005, along with "Breathe" (including the reprise that follows "Time"), "Wish You Were Here" and "Comfortably Numb". It was also performed by Waters at Live Earth's Concert at Giants Stadium on 7 July 2007.

In 2008, Guitar World magazine listed Gilmour's solo on "Money" as number 62 among readers' votes for "The Greatest 100 Guitar Solos".^[8] The song also was ranked number 69 on the list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" of Rolling Stone.^[9]

The song was also sampled by DJ Premier for hip-hop artist Jeru the Damaja's 1996 song "Me or the Papes".

Video

The music video for "Money" features scenes of various ways of making and spending money, and includes brief closeups of a coin spinning.

Alternative and live versions

• It was performed by Pink Floyd on every tour from 1972 through 1994 (and 2005's Live 8), with the exception of the 1980/81 Wall shows.
• The B-side of the Roger Waters single "Radio Waves" includes a live performance by the Bleeding Heart Band,^[10] sung by Paul Carrack.^[11]
• Both P·U·L·S·E and a Delicate Sound of Thunder CD and video feature live versions of the track. In these versions, the song is slightly elongated to incorporate a series of solos, including a bass solo and a section spotlighting the female backing singers.
• Roger Waters' In the Flesh – Live features another live version, sung by Doyle Bramhall II, with the solo split between guitarists Bramhall, Andy Fairweather-Low and Snowy White (in that order).
• On the compilation album, Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd, the song segues from "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" into "Keep Talking".
• The album A Collection of Great Dance Songs contains the re-recorded version of the song.

Cover versions

• Easy Star All-Stars covered the song on their reggae tribute album Dub Side of the Moon, released 18 February 2003 by Easy Star Records. A Rastafarian-styled rap about the dangers of money replaces David Gilmour's solo, while the cash register sounds were changed to those of a man lighting a water pipe (bong).
• Dan Reed Network covered the song on their 1991 album The Heat.
• An orchestrated version, arranged by Jaz Coleman and performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Peter Scholes, appears on the 1995 instrumental album Us and Them: Symphonic Pink Floyd.
• Velvet Revolver covered it for the 2003 re-make of the film The Italian Job. Changes included doubling the opening bass riff with a guitar line, and replacing the saxophone solo with a guitar solo by former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash. (Both guitar parts were played through a talk box.)
• The progressive metal band Dream Theater covered it with John Petrucci changing a small amount of the two guitar riffs.
• Eric Burdon recorded it in 1999 with the British Rock Symphony Orchestra.
• Dave Matthews Band has covered it live several times. One of these performances appears on Live Trax Vol. 15.
• A funk-influenced version of the song appears (along with all the other tracks of the album) on The Flaming Lips' cover album The Dark Side of the Moon.
• In May 2011, singer-songwriter Mary Fahl released From the Dark Side of the Moon, a song-by-song re-imagining of The Dark Side of the Moon.

Personnel

• David Gilmour — guitars, vocals
• Roger Waters — music, lyrics, bass guitar
• Richard Wright — Wurlitzer electric piano
• Nick Mason — drums
• Dick Parry — tenor saxophone

Charts

Chart (1973)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot 100	13
Chart (1981)	Peak position
US Mainstream Rock Tracks	37

References

1. ^ Adrian Ashton (2006), The Bass Handbook, Backbeat Books, ISBN 0879308729.
2. ^ The track number depends upon the edition of the album; some releases merge the two tracks "Speak to Me" and "Breathe".
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Classic Albums: Pink Floyd - The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon (DVD), 2003.
4. ^ "Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon". utopia.knoware.nl. http://utopia.knoware.nl/users/ptr/pfloyd/interview/dark4.html. Retrieved 9 August 2011. 
5. ^ Guitar World, February 1993. Retrieved from Pink Floyd Online on 3 November 2008.
6. ^ David Hodge, "Play in a Different Time". Play Guitar Magazine, No. 12, Spring 2007. Retrieved on 3 November 2008.
7. ^ ^{a b} "Dark Side at 30: Roger Waters". Rolling Stone. 12 March 2003. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pinkfloyd/articles/story/5937470/dark_side_at_30_roger_waters. Retrieved 18 February 2009. 
8. ^ "Guitar World Presents The Greatest 100 Guitar Solos" Guitar World, updated on 30 October 2008. Retrieved on 8 March 2009.
9. ^ "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2008. Retrieved 2011-01-25. "David Gilmour hangs back for the first three minutes of this definitive Floyd rocker, which started as an acoustic blues song in rehearsals. Then the song shifts from a 7/4 stomp into straight time, and he delivers a rampaging freakout, ending up on notes so high most guitars don't even reach them."
10. ^ "Radio K.A.O.S. Discography". www.rogerwaters.org. http://www.rogerwaters.org/kaosdisco.html. Retrieved 9 August 2011. 
11. ^ "Paul Carrack biography". www.sing365.com. http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Paul-Carrack-Biography/289E8369CC5556F948256AED002089F1. Retrieved 9 August 2011. 

External links

• AMG review
• "Money" Songfacts