Why Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon should be remembered by millenials

By: Merissa Alyea Binti Omar Ariff

Pink Floyd is one of Britain’s most prominent rock bands that initiated the rise of progressive rock music and was founded by frontman Syd Barret, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright back in 1965. Although other established British rock bands such as The Beatles were venturing into the psychedelic rock genre, Pink Floyd managed to stand out with their experimental lyrics, guitar riffs and synths that created an outer space chatter listening experience that was beyond the Earth’s stratosphere.

The band’s frontman was forced to leave Pink Floyd in 1968 due to deteriorating mental health issues and was replaced by guitarist and co-vocalist, David Gilmour. The band then continued to produce 14 studio albums without its founding member, Syd Barret. The bands eighth studio album known as The Dark Side Of The Moon was the pinnacle of the bands career that catapulted Pink Floyd into being known as a top of the class progressive rock band worldwide.

The Dark Side Of The Moon spent an astounding 14 years on the “Billboard” album charts and sold approximately 45 million copies globally. The iconic experimental, ambiguous and conceptual album that included themes of universal importance such as greed, love, death and class was the core reason of the album being such a success. These themes were portrayed through simple yet poetic lyrics merged with immensely captured instrumental tones and a warm, lush soundscape.

The album is an admonition tale of two parts, the first part consisting of the following tracks: Speak To Me/Breathe, On The Run, Time/Breathe Reprise and Great Gig In The Sky these tracks from the first half of the album best describes living a life that goes unenchanted. Speak To Me/Breathe is the first song that makes listeners question if they are living a fulfilled life. On the other hand, the second part of the album consists of the following tracks: Money, Us And Them, Any Color You Like, Brain Damage and Eclipse these tracks revolve around the philosophical ideas that

Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon Official

Album Cover

(Source: medium.com)

represent a certain kind of madness in their own right. Additionally, these tracks from the second part of the album represent the root causes to the themes in the first half of the album that represents living an unfulfilled life.

“Before listening to The Dark Side Of The Moon I had a pretty basic outlook on life, I never really questioned how I was living my everyday life and never realised how mundane it actually was. Listening to this album really helped me to broaden my perspectives on life,” said 22-year-old aspiring musician Ilman Ariffin.

Millennials today should be encouraged to delve into this album to open up their minds to the underlying themes of this conceptual masterpiece. The themes being explored throughout The Dark Side Of The Moon are themes that could be said to be a taboo in this day and age. Most millennials these days choose to ride the tide of life without being aware of where the tide actually takes them. This album could serve as a guide to help millennials change their perspectives on life, and help them to be more self-aware of their surroundings and day to day life, ensuring that they are more present and understanding when faced with the ups and downs of life.