1 Overlooked Gem Song From Every Pink Floyd Album
13. Sorrow - A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
A Momentary Lapse Of Reason is a controversial Pink Floyd album in some ways. It was recorded during legal battles with Roger Waters, who didn’t want the band to continue under the Pink Floyd name in his absence.
Eschewing the band’s typical concept albums, …Reason is a more conventional set of songs, many of which were repurposed from a Dave Gilmour solo project. Two different session drummers along with drum machines replace Nick Mason on many of the albums tracks. Meanwhile, the return of founder member Richard Wright was supposed to help the band musically and bolster their legal case but most of the keyboards had already been recorded.
After years of songs about madness, the destructive qualities of fame and the English public school system, it’s weird hearing songs like One Slip that deal quite directly and straightforwardly with matters of the heart. Indeed the album’s lyrics have come in for a bit of a kicking in general.
Nonetheless, fans of the group’s earlier work would be wise not to overlook the album’s closing track, Sorrow. The song nicks an opening lyric from a John Steinbeck novel and uses that as a jumping off point for one of Dave Gilmour’s best and most poetic lyrics. The words are underscored by some absolutely epic guitar work across the song’s near nine minute span, with a searing solo taking up most of the track’s second half.