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PGTS Humble Blog

Thread: General/Opinion
Author Image Gerry Patterson. The world's most humble blogger
Failure is not an option. It comes bundled with Microsoft Windows

Dark Side Of The Moon

Chronogical Blog Entries:

Date: Fri, 02 Jun 2023 23:00:00 +1000

Music, Time, Money, Madness and other stuff

From my outbox:

I've been meaning to send you an email for quite a while now. I saw your email about "SBS Chill" ... I've tried it a few times but can't really stay with it for long ... I often find myself going off on tangents. I've started doing some piano practice again ... More about that later.

And I sometimes go back to listen to some of the golden oldies ... Over the many years that have passed since I first heard it, I find myself often returning to listen again to Floyd's "Dark Side of The Moon" ... Some might describe this as the "greatest album of all time" ... But for my mind there is no doubt that "Sgt. Pepper" was the true milestone album in the history of recorded music. In so many ways:

  1. It was conceived, designed and executed and packaged as a "concept". All of the lyrics were printed on the album and it could be listened to as recorded ... Each song led to the next.
  2. It was recorded on 4 track tape. That probably doesn't sound like a big deal today. But that was a huge leap in recording technology.
  3. They had a very large number of instruments on those 4 tracks. And on a few tracks employed an entire orchestra.
  4. The attention to detail was meticulous. Records were manufactured so that when it came to an end the track would spiral in to the centre of the disc, where the label would be placed. The production team made use of that last bit of track on a "Day In The Life". As the sound of the last huge orchestral chord faded and the track spiralled down to the end, listeners with record players that were not automatic (i.e would not lift off automatically when the playback head moved into the centre of the disc) would hear a sped up "Been so high ... Never been any other way" then a click and it would repeat endlessly in a loop.

Sgt. Pepper was more about an exploration of the "inner life". "Dark Side Of the Moon" was more about mental illness and the things that cause it: conflict, time, money, politics, religion, fear, anxiety, depression ... These days we would refer to "mental health" rather than "mental illness" ... But the same issues exist ... And thanks to the second law of thermodynamics (Now that's a law!) ... Time is still "ticking away the moments that make a dull day" ...

And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun
So you run, and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Pretty heavy stuff for young kids to write ... So yes, in the history of recorded music Sgt. Pepper shines like the sun. And everything under the sun is in tune ... But the sun is eclipsed by the moon ...

When the sound of the last track on "Dark Side Of The Moon" fades we hear Gerry O'Driscoll (doorman at Abbey Road Studios) opining ...

There is no dark side in the moon, really. Matter of fact, it's all dark.

But I haven't just been listening to "Dark Side Of The Moon" ... I've also been listening to some interesting Eastern European music. This all started when I listened to "It's My Life" by Selo i Ludy. The song is originally by Bon Jovi. The band is a Ukrainian polka punk band, who apparently don't speak English, but have learned to copy the language from listening to Western Rock music. This took me down a rabbit hole of polka punk ... I'm not even sure if that is a category ... But maybe I've invented a new name for a "genre"? ... There seems to be a lot of it. Very energetic bands playing folk music instruments with drums and bass and (often) electric guitar with an "Eastern European" feel and some celtic influences. ... To me it sounds like Russian German Celtic polka punk ,,, Some of the names I discovered were (in no particular order):

And many more ... You will find details of these bands online (most of them in Wikipedia though not always in English). Several of the names that came up were in Cryllic script. And I didn't get the English translations.

You might find a satirical Youtube clip by Russkaja about Putin ... Russkaja have split up now ... They used to use Soviet emblems and paraphernalia as part of their act ... But since the invasion of Ukraine, they have had second thoughts about it ... It used to be kitsch. But now it is just inappropriate. And they decided to disband expressing dismay about the invasion and the trends in Russia.

If you open Youtube music ... Start with Selo i Ludy or Russkaja and see where it takes you ... YMMV ... Depends a lot on your search history.

Cheers for now

Gerry

Money ... So they say
Is the root of all evil today
But if you ask for a rise
Don't be surprised
If they're giving none away


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