1 Overlooked Gem Song From Every Pink Floyd Album

15. Side 2, Part 4: Anisina - The Endless River

Arriving over twenty years after previous effort The Division Bell, The Endless River was an unexpected postscript to Pink Floyd’s studio career. It was recorded in the wake of keyboardist Rick Wright’s death, with Dave Gilmour and Nick Mason adding to leftover recordings from The Division Bell Sessions.

The Truth is, the remaining members of Pink Floyd don’t really want you to grab a hidden gem from The Endless River. Arranged into four ambient suites it’s designed for extended listening. As Gilmour put it,

"Unapologetically, this is for the generation that wants to put its headphones on, lie in a beanbag, or whatever, and get off on a piece of music for an extended period of time. You could say it’s not for the iTunes, downloading-individual-tracks generation."

So, it’s with apologies to Gilmour and Mason that your writer recommends Side 2, Part 4: Anisina. The crescendo of the second suite, Anisina is, like most of the album, wordless. The band’s best lyricist didn’t want any part of them at this point anyway. Still, the track sees Mason, Wright and Gilmour working in harmony on a rousing piece of music that feels like a celebration of their rare musical chemistry.