34. "On the Turning Away" from A Momentary Lapse of Reason This is not only one of the greatest Floyd ballads, it's undoubtedly the best song the band ever wrote without Waters. An ode to the poor, the lonely, the hungry, and the homeless, it reminds me of the famous poem etched on the plaque held by The Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." Gilmour begins the song in a near Irish brogue but finishes in full-on rocker mode, backed by a gospel chorus and his glorious guitar. It's a slow build but worth the wait. And, of course, its message of giving to those less fortune than you is timeless.
35. "Take It Back" from The Division Bell At first glance, this song's lyrics read more like a Hallmark card: "Her love rains down on me/easy as the breeze/I listen to her breathing/It sounds like the waves on the sea." But the song is actually about Mother Nature and her gradual, almost inevitable destruction: "She might take it back someday." This was made more evident by the song's music video, where a man chops a tree until it literally explodes into flames. No one ever blamed the band for being subtle, but having been written almost 20 years ago, the song is eerily prescient. The environmental movement is perhaps livelier today than ever before. Thanks, Floyd! In truth, this is really just a primer of the band's massive catalog. There are many other songs I could've listed here, such as "Bike," "Echoes," and "The Great Gig in the Sky," that are just as worthy, but I invite you to buy the albums yourself. As I wrote at the start of this article, Pink Floyd is an albums band.