This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Overhead the albatross
Hangs motionless upon the air
And deep beneath the rolling waves
In labyrinths of coral caves
The echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand
And everything is green and submarine
And no one showed us to the land
And no one knows the where's or why's
But something stirs and something tries
And starts to climb toward the light
Strangers passing in the street
By chance, two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand the best I can?
And no one calls us to move on
And no one forces down our eyes
No one speaks and no one tries
No one flies around the sun
Cloudless everyday
You fall upon my waking eyes
Inviting and inciting me to rise
And through the window in the wall
Come streaming in on sunlight wings
A million bright ambassadors of morning
And no one sings me lullabies
And no one makes me close my eyes
So I throw the windows wide
And call to you across the sky
Hangs motionless upon the air
And deep beneath the rolling waves
In labyrinths of coral caves
The echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand
And everything is green and submarine
And no one showed us to the land
And no one knows the where's or why's
But something stirs and something tries
And starts to climb toward the light
Strangers passing in the street
By chance, two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand the best I can?
And no one calls us to move on
And no one forces down our eyes
No one speaks and no one tries
No one flies around the sun
Cloudless everyday
You fall upon my waking eyes
Inviting and inciting me to rise
And through the window in the wall
Come streaming in on sunlight wings
A million bright ambassadors of morning
And no one sings me lullabies
And no one makes me close my eyes
So I throw the windows wide
And call to you across the sky
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by Undinal, patient957, tillyny, 1Bigdawg, Nmlgc, TomCrown, neeraj1030, Madanmohan, Blake614, importrade, tomslyrics123, ProppJoe
Echoes Lyrics as written by George Waters David Gilmour
Lyrics © T.R.O. INC.
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I believe this song is a timeline of some sort. The "ping"s in the beginning represent the universe coming into existence, and the first verse refers to the first organisms on Earth.... everything was "green and submarine", peaceful, it was enough, but something drove some of those organisms to seek a new life on land, something drove them to journey into the unknown. Fast-forward millions of years later to the Cro-Magnon.... Perhaps by complete coincidence, two of these early humans see each other and recognize themselves. They are the same, or the same species rather - "I am you and what I see is me". These two specific cavemen go on to try and cooperate for protection, hunting, shelter, etc. They work together. The following guitar solo documents the evolution of man, and all his accomplishments AND follies. The groovy part right after that reflects modern society, and how its kinda fast-paced, stressful, and there's a lot of sleaze that comes with civilization. In the haunting, graveyard-esque portion that follows, I THINK it singles out one man in this society, a very depressed man for whatever reason. He feels he's trudging through life, and its a living hell for him. However, he soon somehow feels he's breaking out of that hell...... maybe its a dream, or his life is turning around, something of that sort.... he feels he's ascending towards heaven and escaping from everything that has ruined his life. But just when he's on the brink, he "wakes up" (the last verse) and reality dawns on him. He quickly falls back to where he once was. He is alone. But something inside him, just like what drove the first organisms to leave the ocean and what drove the Cro-Magnons to work together, drives him to continue trudging through life, in hope that he will find someone or something to live for soon (and so I throw the windows wide and call to you across the sky.
This is just my interpretation, and I think any song or work of art can be interpreted a thousand ways. Whatever its about, this song remains my favorite song of all time.... the entire song as a whole is surreal. Every time that guitar cannon we all know bursts in moments before the last verse, I feel like I'm ascending to a new level of consciousness. Pink Floyd (who is also my favorite band) was, and will always be, awe-inspiring.
Great post! I like how this illuminates the concept of "from the beginning" quite well. However, I have been known to be credulous so this now makes perfect sense! Thanks for the insight.
@HammerFloyd Also, they discovered 'Echoes' from the big bang. A sound still resounding after so many years. With your explanation, this could explain the title!
@HammerFloyd - I just loved your interpretation....it was perfect..the song was not only surreal but it has this mystery of the universe...It is my favorite song of pink floyd and you are right it is timeless but all their music has a timeless quality to it...I always wondered the meaning of why pink floyd recorded one of their Echoes sessions at Pompeii if there was a special connection or just that it too is a very mysterious place of time and space with haunting calls or echoes of the ancient people that ere always immortalized there. <br /> Mary
@HammerFloyd <br /> <br /> Okay I have listened to the song with your interpretation and I have a few lines to back your theory up:<br /> <br /> "And no one called us to the land and no one knows the where's or why's" <br /> <br /> These should be the primitive forms of life where they had no awareness or conscious. <br /> <br /> "No one speaks and no one tries<br /> No one flies around the sun."<br /> <br /> These could be the neanderthalers AKA the primitive humans, The fact that they don't fly around the sun means that they have no knowledge about flying around the sun (because in fact you always fly around the sun) so they have no science or anything of that sort. The only thing that bothers me is the sentence "No one crosses there alive"
@HammerFloyd I have a very different interpretation of the song, but yours is deep and excellent. Fantastic thoughts!
@HammerFloyd Excellent interpretation, the lyrics and sounds perfectly support that - and @DnTook, you probably have a problem with that lyric because it isn't the correct one. Every other lyric on this site is correct, but "no one crosses there alive" should be "no one forces down our eyes". Granted I don't know what that means either... maybe they're talking about how everything is new to the humans so they looked at the world without focus or societal "force", similar to how babies today admire every little light and shadow before adults indicate what's important.<br />
@HammerFloyd How much acid were you on when you conceived that interpretation?
@HammerFloyd <br /> ... JUST enough to stay conscious enough to think of it.
@HammerFloyd I agree mostly but the middle part we call the whale noises I believe is one lost soul calling out to another are you out there beyond the wall that's why you hear it when "pink"is banging on the "wall" in the movie. It's about the disconnect and lack of empathy with our fellow man. But those who hear the call band together and overcome. I'll throw the window wide and call to you across the sky. I hope you hear my "Ping".
I think this song is about the ephemeral stopping of time and what happens during those few moments. Also, in the second verse, it is talking about locking eyes with someone and for that minute second, wanting to share everything you know about everything with them, but instead you just keep walking. This is one of Floyds most heaviest, trippiest songs, sounds like it should belong on DSoTM...it sorta sounds like some of the songs on that album.
Yep, great way to see it. I think these moments when time stops are perfectio or perfect awareness. Someone sees, feels and is aware of everything around him and there is a sort of mental transmission between the mind and the elements. At this moment, you are the elements! "I am you and what I see is me"... what a line!<br /> <br /> I don't understand why the musical break is so anxious compared to the very positive and floating lyrics, though...
That's some real deep S**t.
Love this song!
The first verse could be about the evolution of life moving out of the sea onto the land (towards the light). It may also be suggesting that we will never know why life IS or where it is going.
The second verse might tie in with this notion by suggesting that we are all part of a greater life system or conciousness or spirit. We can't describe it, but we might be able to experience it fleetingly through these chance glances. Insightful, inspiring and beautiful! (PF might be aware of other ways of expeiencing it also!)
If this makes any sense to you, check out some of the lyrics to Tool songs like Third Eye and Aenima - similar notions (although the similarity might only be in my interpretation!). The debate about their meanings is pretty interesting too.
if any tool song relates to you theory it would be schism, if you like the lyrics to this song i would definantly check tools lyrics for schism.
i mean lateralus not schism sorry.
I totally agree with this interpretation. Sparing the details, the current leading scientific hypothesis for the origins of life is that it began near hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean. These hydrothermal vent ecosystems harbor the only life forms that don't in any way rely on sunlight for energy. <br /> <br /> "And no one called us to the land<br /> And no one knows the where's or why's.<br /> Something stirs and something tries<br /> Starts to climb toward the light."<br /> <br /> This early in life's history nothing else existed but these deep sea creatures, but some how they made it up towards the light, allowing endless diversity to form. The early creatures experienced a long process of evolution until we end up with us and the world as we know it.<br /> <br /> The two strangers are bth part of this long unfolding chain of events, and are thus essentially one. "I am you and what I see is me"<br /> <br /> "Almost everyday you fall<br /> Upon my waking eyes,<br /> Inviting and inciting me<br /> To rise.<br /> And through the window in the wall<br /> Come streaming in on sunlight wings<br /> A million bright ambassadors of morning."<br /> <br /> This is again referring to sunlight. The "million bright ambassadors of morning" are photons of light. They reach us each morning, and not only drive us out of bed, but are ultimately responsible for the energy that organizes our cells and keeps us thinking and moving.
adding support to the origin of life theory: watch Pompeii and the scenes of the band members wandering around the lava fields with geothermal bubbling pools. The opening line of an albatross throws me though - why would a fully-evolved bird precede the description of primal life forms crawling from the depths of the sea (unless that was what Waters was looking at when he heard the echoes and started to trip out on the concepts behind this song?) I also agree that the exchange of glances supports the theme of interconnectedness of beings and our collective consciousness. Ditto on photons, waking us each morning just as they drew our primal ancestors out from the sea. Incredible that Waters was tuned into this biology and physics which must have been just emerging 40+ years ago; the spiritual message is as ancient as traditions like buddhism
I think people are looking to much into this song when they are speaking about evolution. I don't think it's about that at all. I think it has to deal with what about 75% of all songs are about: Love and more specifically, finding that special someone / soul mate. I'll explain.
First Verse- I think first verse is a metaphor for being completely lost in life due to the fact of having no one and finally finding that one person that means the world to you. They use a marine theme to suggest this. Waters compares a lost/ lonely soul to a sea creature at the very deepest depths of the ocean. I think the sonar "Ping" is like a lost submarine traveling and finally discovering that there is something else out there. This person or thing helps the creature see the light at the surface and swim towards the light.
Second Verse- This one is pretty obvious: this takes us to modern life and spontaneously meeting your soulmate / the one. "Strangers passing in the street / by chance two separate glances meet / and I am you and what I see is me" It seems that these two people complete each other "And do I take you by the hand / and lead you through the land / and help understand the best I can" Once these two meet, it seems that nothing can stop their love "And no one...."
Third Verse- This verse describes how influential this soulmate is to the person and how this person means everything to them, comparing them to the sun. Basically saying that as long as they have them in their lives, they have inspiration and a reason to live and be happy. The final set of "And no one..." suggests that with this person in their lives, nothing causes them to slip into the darkness, instead, to stay awake and see nothing but light "And no-one sings me lullabies And no-one makes me close my eyes"
I could be wrong but I'm not sure if Waters was necessarily sing about evolution. Pink Floyd was out there and dealt with complex themes but they tended to deal with human emotions and contemporary issues.
Oh wow. You just made my night. <3 Thank you for that. :)
I wish I had more votes to give you. Reading your interpretation while listening to the song makes my eyes well up.
@LaFlamaBlanca I couldn't agree more. It's a love "epic" in the original sense of the word. (not Hey Bro! That was epic! -_- ) <br /> <br /> This is a progression of someone searching for who they are and finding it in their new found significant other. <br /> <br /> After 11 years of marriage, some of which I consider less-than-successful, I now have a new found appreciate for my wife. She's proved herself to be the most fiercely loyal friend I could hope for and I couldn't ask for a better companion. The 3rd verse has become my favorite. She is the angel I wake to every day, and the Lord be with the person that ever decides they need to try and take her away from me!
@LaFlamaBlanca I couldn't agree more. It's a love "epic" in the original sense of the word. (not Hey Bro! That was epic! -_- ) <br /> <br /> This is a progression of someone searching for who they are and finding it in their new found significant other. <br /> <br /> After 11 years of marriage, some of which I consider less-than-successful, I now have a new found appreciation for my wife. She's proven herself to be the most fiercely loyal friend I could hope for and I couldn't ask for a better companion. The 3rd verse has become my favorite. She is the angel I wake to every day, and the Lord be with the person that ever decides they need to try and take her away from me!
@LaFlamaBlanca ty<br />
@LaFlamaBlanca <br /> Even in P.F. there were thoughts of 'the beginning of life', everyone has. It was how to put it to verse. This was rather magnificent along with the (Dinosaurs or woman's orgasm?) screaming guitar 2/3 the way through. <br /> The ending, Dave's guitar grinding, 'winding down' your visions... and you're back to (current) realities.
I think this song is about dealing with death of perent, maybe the death of roger´s father.
==========
The ´echoes´are the memories from the past that still écho´. every time the person in the poem dreaming about his past - but then he wake up from this illusion memory.
'Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air And deep beneath the rolling waves In labyrinths of coral caves The echo of a distant tide Comes willowing across the sand And everything is green and submarine.' == here it's and epic description how the memory come to him - and everything is good. but then he realize again the truth: And no-one called us to the land And no-one knows the wheres or whys But something stirs and something tries And starts to climb towards the light == here you can see disappointment . you can see the person talking about his parent because ; father is the one that answer child question (the wheres of whys). the light that he talking about may refear to the sun , or just illusion full of light : either way he probaly talking about joining to that 'light' - his person. it's not have to be in suicidal way - he just miss and need him so much.
¨Strangers passing in the street By chance two separate glances meet And I am you and what I see is me And do I take you by the hand And lead you through the land And help me understand the best I can" = i think in this pharse he describe a exprient when he see a total stranger that look fimiliar to his father, and get sorta of deja vu. you can see he talking to his father because: "and i am you and what i see is me" - meaning that he is part from him, the same blood. again he describe activities of fahter and son: "take you by the hand", "lead you through the land (parallel to ¨called as to the land¨)", "help me understand the best i can(parallel to 'the where's and why's).
but again - he wake up from that illision memory : "And no-one calls us to move on And no-one forces down our eyes And no-one speaks and no-one tries And no-one flies around the sun" = again he describe father-son activity, now in the negative way (no one encourage him, make him sleep) "no one speak and no-one tries And no-one flies around the sun" - he intend to the first verse (But something stirs and something tries And starts to climb towards the light) he wrote this to emphasize that he woke up from the illision.
he enter to the illusion again (you can also see by the writing of this pharse that he reliving the memory of his father everyday): "Cloudless everyday you fall upon my waking eyes inviting and inciting me to rise And through the window in the wall Come streaming in on sunlight wings A million bright ambassadors of morning" ==he (the writer) is in his bed, morning - the sun come's out and the light reach to the room and to his eyes. the light symbolize for him his father - and that make him to remmember his father - and encourge him. but then he again woke up from his illision, and realize again that is life suck! ¨And no-one sings me lullabies And no-one makes me close my eyes And so I throw the windows wide And call to you across the sky" == you can see again he is talking about his father: lullabies are perent-son exprience. the lullabies and the 'makes me close my eyes' refering to: ("And no-one forces down our eyes")
then in a act of despair he open the window , look to the sky and call to his father.
so you can see this song is about the death of roger´s father.
also you can find 2 motifÑ
SORRY FOR MY ENGLISH. im not native speaker.
A very nice analasys mr. Snowwolf, yet i don't agree with at leats one thing: "the where's and why's". You say: [...] you can see the person talking about his parent because ; father is the one that answer child question (the wheres of whys). The thing about the where's and why's being answered by a "father" is not only a bit naive, it is as well not very comprehensive with the the songs "tone"/"zeitgeist" or whatever. The point about no-one knowing the where's and why's is that no one never ever is going to hold evidently truth... there will always be a lot of things unspoken and unsaid, may it be about revolution, space og agriculture in the 18'th century. Truth is, like space, dialating and changing constantly and no will never ever know anything for sure. Things will always be interpretable in different ways and there are always two sides of the same coin. This is in a way one of the themes that "Meddle" circles about, that nothing is constant and straight forward, Be it music or man. The truth will and shall be hidden for always, even music is distorted by the black holes of time or something else. If you take a look at the cover of "Meddle" you will se an ear under water, some say its a pig's ear, some say its a human's ear. Why? Because everything is subjective. The reason that people would disagree is that we as do not se the whole universal picture. We only see brittle fragments of it be it space, time or the cover of "Meddle" (we do not se the whole ear, the whole picture).We feel the echoe or the richocet, but no matter how much information a footprint contains, it'll never tell you an eye-colour or the thoughts within. Even the title "Meddle" suggests that nothing is constant, stabil and happy ever after. Instead, éverything is a mix up. A dim and foggy fusion of what is right and wrong, stellar and interstellar. <br />
It's so fun to interpret songs. I have enjoyed reading these comments. I think it's about meeting yourself, hiding from your past and refusing the future. To me it says we are avoiding confronting ourselves and what we are capable of and that we can't be alone in anything we do. There are two sides of each of us, like a rosencrantz and a Guildenstern. Sometimes we meet. "Strangers passing in the street By chance two separate glances meet And I am you and what I see is me" I also get the feeling that we came on land from water in the beginning and have been trying to figure out what we're supposed to be doing up here. Are we supposed to help each other become who we are supposed to be? How would we do it alone? Only a piece of ART can prompt so much discussion. Thank you for the opportunity to join you all! Now, can anyone interpret See Emily Play for me?
I'll never forget the first time I heard this song. When I first heard it it made me think of the poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Coleridge. Probably because it talks about an albatross in the first line of the song.
This song means so much to me. Everything about it is mind-blowing.
To me this song is epic on the grandest scale. The song begins on the beach amidst the waves of the sea, but also amidst the waves of sunlight. The pinging of the opening notes suggests both the submarine sonar and the echoes of the big bang. This is about creation and evolution, wave-particle duality, and the call of evolving DNA to itself in a grand love song which echoes throughout all time, so that in each life, each reincarnation, we are calling to ourselves, and our soulmates, our fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, lovers, sons and daughters, our friends and even our enemies, as we have been all of these to each other throughout our countless incarnations, and in this endless cycle of rebirth and evolution, we are the Universe becoming conscious of itself, so that each morning when the sunlight hits our eyes, and we are conscious of it, of that echo of creation, we are the evolution from that time, calling back to our past and present self.
I should say the lyrics involve not just waves of light and waves of water, but also waves of sound, of course.
I'm not sure if you nailed exactly the interpretation but I loved it. Great way to see it and the way I see it agrees in most of what you've just said.
After saturating in this song for a bit, I agree most with this interpretation. However, the structure of the poem suggests at the above even further. Run-on sentences make up a good half of the song. Much like life, lineage, and history altogether: we are but a long string of biochemical reactions made into sentient beings that leave their individal mark on the great cognitive consciousness known as history and knowledge, be it big or small. The lyrics are written in one big run-on sentence, strung along just like us. Each sentence wanders about, again, just like us. <br /> <br /> The pinging sonar I imagined more as a sign of life, and, as the song progresses, it becomes more of a searching. It is as though the pinging is some attempt to contact something... or, more likely: touch something, reach something. Sonar is simply the act of sending out a sound wave to bounce off something. Are we not so ourselves? How we present ourselves every day we live, is it not how we make our attempt to ping others around us, so as not to feel alone in this mysterious existence?<br /> <br /> The first stanza in each of the three chunks gives us a solid state of humanity: past, present, and future. These things make up our sense of self: what has been, what we are and what we have been made, and what we hope to be; what we will be.<br /> <br /> Our obscure and humbling origins lay buried and subtly crawling upward to the light of our consciousness, trying to show us what we really are: the struggle to understand the long-buried truth of what came before. <br /> <br /> Our busy-bodied, punitive civilized existence drowns us in a crowd of people we don't know who are pushing past us, telling us to shut up and move along, or just ignoring you. We are distracted from these thoughts by our survivalist lifestyle. What luck brings us is the chance to meet some of the people in our world, and in these people we will strive together to understand some portion of this existence: past, present and future. Whether or not we understand these things, they will always stay with us: they are inextricably intertwined with us. <br /> <br /> For a good 6 minutes there is a long conceptual instrumental, where the echoes of the past seem mysterious, and we get lost again and wander through the mysterious depths of the has-been, caked in the dust of the now. But then we hear a ping again, our peers calling to us, or an attempt for us to contact someone, while we're buried and overwhelmed by the horrifically gargantuan task of combing through the past, present and future. When we're crushed by the immensity of the universe, humanity, and our own lives, the only thing to perk up our eyes and ears again is the ping of another, else we're lost in the ambient echo of all that was or could've been, but was not.<br /> <br /> In the companionship or the love we create for ourselves, we find solace. Our best friends, our family, our lovers, our pals, our blood brothers, our twins; the people that are burned into our memories and that stay with us invite us into the day, and all those that came before, all the is now, and whatever may lie ahead on the great, infinitely-spinning loom on the tapestry of time shines into our waking eyes and invites us to go out to the window and scream -- call to the future and to all our fellow humans; call to life and love.
ya nailed it
So, in one word...interconnectedness.
@djmongo I hardly ever do this but good fkn job, poetic and certainly thought inducing, helped make this masterpiece somewhat more attainable, more real
You have described an epic psilocybin trip!
When I first heard this song I got goosebumps and was literally breathless. It kinda reminds me of going to a foreign country...
The best Pink Floyd song of all times. Good for an awesome trip.