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.