ECHOES of LIFE !!!

Guest Post by Ratnajit : Pink Floyd often called the greatest band of Progressive Psychedelic Rock, perhaps the greatest rock band ever is always known for its bizarre experimentation with music. It's obsession with harangued lyrics, obscure musical ballets and often far stretched guitar solos often contribute to the mystique of their composition.

Floyd has produced many such songs namely Shine on you Crazy Diamond, Alan's psychedelic breakfast, Sorrow, Careful with that Axe, Eugene etc. but never have this been more visible than ECHOES (Meddle Album). The song is a 23 min display of their supreme mastery over music and psychedelia. It deals with diverse sounds, musical ballets, harangued sounds and unusual twists. This masterpiece may seem to be a cacophony to many but today me being a diehard fan of Floyd will try to explain the song in my own way, dissect the meaning and some philosophy behind this song !!!

Echoes as it is known is the quintessential example of procrastination but procrastinating what ? I don't know nor do I want to !! I just know that this is ambrosia. Quoting the animadversions of critics echoes provides an insight to life, a burning embodiment of the struggles, ecstasy and finally an elegy of life all binded carefully, esoteric in implementation ! Echoes violates accepted dogma. The pertinent question is it gregarious in approach ? I would say no it is not. It is just a juxtaposition of our life reflected on a piece of glass ticking along on a piece of time and encumbering us all in its enigmatic mellifluous flow .

I have not been able to summarize this song completely, but it seems to me that the members of Pink Floyd and the ideology behind their composition had always been heretical and as with everything heretical and ahead of its time they were met with frowns. Echoes deals with many thoughts which are like relics of their past and some which perhaps represent futuristic thoughts. Although music is a spokesman of contemporary socio-cultural events and it also depicts the fabric of society which it has itself weaved, their composition had always been aberrant with that of other bands and musical culture of that time. Their music has always been equivocal so the inner meaning of this song might never see the light of the day but to me they personify the ECHOES of LIFE !!! Life is an experiment and we have not yet discovered the panacea.