My Opinion

Overall, I think that Pink Floyd is a good band. Their music is creative and different, and their lyrics are thought-provoking. Although their extremely long introductions and instrumental solos can be tiring, there is still a lot of merit to the band. They have been extremely influential, and have had a major impact on many famous artists, past and present.

The have had a positive and negative impact on listeners, and society in general, but, overall, they positively influenced the world of music. I enjoy many of their songs and appreciate the musicality of their work.

Target Audience

Pink Floyd targets many groups of people with many different aspects of their music and style. At first, individuals who took psychedelic drugs were attracted to the band. Syd Barrett played very psychedelic music, and was often high during performances, so many people into that scene were attracted to Pink Floyd's music.

Soon, Pink Floyd targeted individuals who were into progressive rock. Usually it was younger people, but the band's music was not at all exclusive. Their thoughtful lyrics, combined with their innovative sound, made Pink Floyd an attractive band to many age groups, not just young people.

Today, many people still listen to Pink Floyd. A lot of listeners are older, as they are still fans from when Pink Floyd was its most popular. The rest of listeners are mostly just people who enjoy classic rock and want to listen to good music.

Video Analysis

I really enjoy this music video. In the beginning it shows a schoolboy who is looking at a train that is full of other students. These students are kept in the train car with bars and they are all wearing masks.

Next we see a classroom, and the schoolboy is mocked by his teacher for being a poet and all of the other students laugh at him as well. Then the teacher is in his house, eating, and remembering all of the students that he disciplined. It almost shows remorse on the teacher’s face when he remembers what he had done.
Soon we see students in their desks rolling by the camera, all wearing masks, and all very unhappy. There are also schoolchildren marching in a very uniform manner.

Next the entire student body is standing in a large, nondescript room singing “we don’t need no education”. The teacher is yelling at them, trying to control them. Then we see children falling into a machine and coming out as bits of meat.
Finally at the end of the video there is chaos. The children all rebel and tear down and burn the school, and capture the teacher. Then it goes back to the schoolboy sitting at his desk.

One of the major themes in this music video is individuality. All of the students are wearing masks when they are under the school’s control. They are all wearing the same uniforms and doing the same things. The schoolboy at the beginning is ridiculed because he “fancies himself a poet”. The students all laugh at him because everyone else is, and they are afraid to go against what the teacher says. At the end of the music video we finally see the students’ faces and when they rebel against the authorities involved, they become themselves. This video causes us to think about people in control, and how we should not conform to the ways of everyone else, but think for ourselves and become unique individuals.

Song Analysis

The song by Pink Floyd I chose to analyze is Shine on, You Crazy Diamond. Waters was inspired to write the lyrics to this song by Syd Barrett's descent caused by a combination of fame and excessive use of LSD.


The beginning of this piece is very dreamlike and psychedelic. At the start of the piece, there is mainly guitar, with a few chords underneath made by a synthesizer. The introduction is quite long, but the audience still pays attention, as the music is fairly complex and the melody line varies between instruments. The vocals are fairly well done. The words are quite effective, and people can relate to them, because it talks of how we fade - not just physically - as we grow in a corrupted world. The instrumental parts are done very well, but the long, drawn out solos can get a little bit tiring. Overall, I think it is a good song and it has an effective message.

The Legacy of Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd was remembered for many things. The first being their style of music. Their music changed styles over the years, but there is still a recognizable "Pink Floyd sound". Their songs at first were psychedelic and space rock music. This was mostly when Syd Barrett was the lead singer/songwriter for the band. After this, the band changed their sound until they stumbled upon what was most popular for them: progressive rock.

They are also known for their shows. Pink Floyd usually had highly complex lights, sets, and others. This made their live shows extremely entertaining, and is also a very key part of Pink Floyd.

Pink Floyd is very famous for their deep lyrics. In many of their songs, such as Dark Side of the Moon, and Shine On, You Crazy Diamond the lyrics are interesting and philisophical, much unlike popular music today.

There are many other things that Pink Floyd is known for, such as album covers and long, complex instrumental introductions to songs. There is no questioning why Pink Floyd is one of the most popular bands of all time.

The Style and Influence of Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd had a huge impact on the world of music. They inspired many musicians and influenced many people. They are still heard of all the time today, and remain one of the most successful musical groups ever.

Pink Floyd was a very influential band in the 70s both with their music and style. Their sound was very diffrerent from a lot of music that was popular at the time. They mixed different styles of music to achieve a unique sound. They experimented with mixing rock music with classical music, and they influenced many bands. Bands such as Genisis, Yes, Nine INch Nails, and Dream Theater were all hugely impacted by Pink Floyd and their music.

Their lyrics were also very different from what had previously been very popular. They used very deep and philosophical lyrics in many of their songs, which made their music that much more influential.

On the other hand, they did have some negative influences. They added to the psychedelic drug craze that was already a major issue during these times. Syd Barrett took so many drugs that the band was forced to kick him out.

Overall, Pink Floyd was a very influential group that had a huge impact on the musical community and otherwise. Mostly, their influence was good, but there were some negatives as well.

The 70s

The 1970s was an era of great change for the world. There was change in politics, environmental awareness, culture, and social values. The rights of women were a major issue in this time period and there were many rising feminist movements. The Hippie movement continued and ended in the mid-seventies.

A major issue of the 1970s was the Oil Crisis. In 1973, the OAPEC (Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries) refused to sell oil to any countries supporting Israel in the Yom Kippur war. The United States re-supplied the Israeli troops, so one of their most prominent supplies of oil was gone. Since the OAPEC had so much power over the world market, they decided to raise the price of oil as well. Consequently, the prices of gas went up at a staggering rate. This caused the worst economic recession in the United States, and other countries, since the Great Depression. There were, however, some positive effects to the Oil Crisis. Countries made sure that they were not quite as dependent on a single source for their energy. Also, alternative energy sources were researched and environmental awareness was increased.

Feminism was starting to have an effect on society. Many works were published, and women everywhere were campaigning for equal rights. For the most part, these campaigns and efforts were successful, and many laws and systems were changed. In the 70s women also held positions of power that could previously be held by men only.

There were many prominent styles of music in the 70s. In the early 1970s, one of the most popular styles of music was soft rocks, performed by artists such as the Carpenters, Elton John, and the Eagles. Also popular at the time was R&B. In the late 70s, disco started to become quite popular, and rock became heavier with artists like Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath. Many bands experimented and mixed styles of music n the 70s. Art Rock, Progressive Rock, Punk Rock, and New Wave were all influenced by classical music in some way. Punk rock became more popular
in the mid seventies, with artists like Blondie, the Ramones, and the Sex Pistols. The highest selling album of the 70s was Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, which was on the Billboard top 200 list for 741 weeks.