A) David Gilmour is God. In my opinion, the best guitarist of all times. I don't want to get into an argument about Hendrix and Clapton, because from a technical standpoint they are clearly better. When I say best guitarist, I mean the ability to play the right note at the right time. When I listened to many Floyd songs and heard Gilmour playing (mind you this is the first time I was hearing the songs) I imagined what the next note would be and it is what he played. I think that there is always a correct note to play at a correct time, and granted playing an incorrect note won't ruin the song, but playing the correct note creates something bigger than a song. Santana said that music exists in the universe regardless of us. It is simply funneled through us and I have to agree with him. That being said, Gilmour is very receptive to music. It flows through him beautifully. Correctly. Don't get me wrong Roger Waters was the creative mastermind, but he cannot touch Gilmour on a guitar. Not even close. Never.
B) The guitar solo at the end of this song is the greatest solo I have ever heard in my lifetime (and I listen to a lot of music). This opinion is based on what I believe the meaning of the song to be, but nonetheless, it is perfection. It stimulates, motivates and is so powerful, that it brings me to tears. Maybe I am too passionate about music, but I don't see it that way. Gilmour is my god. His music my Bible.
C) To those of you who said this song is about Roger Waters and the early days of Pink Floyd, you can have your opinions, but the way I see it, that can only be a portion of the meaning of this song. A subset, if you will, belonging to the greater whole. There is a difference between true and truth. Truth exists regardless of us. Pink Floyd's past and Gilmour's relationship with Roger Waters may play a part in this song, but those are facts. Those are true. The truth, however, in this song is about life. This song is about the course that life takes and how Gilmour doesn’t like it. It has to be like it is, but he wishes it could be different. And in his youth, he had pictured it different. He had “High Hopes”. Just like we all did. The song starts in childhood. The words say:
"Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young,
In a world of magnets and miracles,
Our troughts strayed constantly and without boundary,
The ringing of the division bell had begun"
It starts with a child. So free and pure. He is looking back to when magnets were miracles. When we had yet to discover the world. When the genius of the child is unbounded. Perception has yet to take a negative spin from growing old and learning of the evil in the world. The ringing of the division bell is the beginning of the impurities. People divide. They form opinions. The purity is gone. The innocence is lost.
"Running before time took our dreams away,
Leaving the myriad small creatures trying to tie us to the ground,
To a life consumed by slow decay"
As a child we dream freely, but as we age, our dreams fade. You cannot honestly say that you dream like you did as a child. No one can. It is a part of life. Looking back, if possible, we should have fought growing up. What is so great about being an adult? As a child, the wonder is still there. There is nothing not fantastic. Here I think, the myriad small creatures are other human beings. In the greater picture, we are but small creatures. And the child is tied down by others. If alone, maybe the child could resist becoming an adult. But his peers, both his age and older, try to tie him down. Not intentionally, but that is all they know. The tying down is inevitable. It is part of the process. They put him in school (no thoughts controlled) and the process begins. The tying down of the once free spirit has taken hold. Now the life of slow decay starts.
"The grass was greener,
The light was brighter,
With friends surrounding,
The nights of wonder"
Our youth was brighter, the grass was greener, our friends were around, and the nights were free. Like our minds. To wonder. To explore. To discover.
"Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us,
To a glimpse of how green it was on the other side,
Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again,
Dragged by the force of some inner tide"
Aging, however, is inevitable. When we reminisce we see that the world was beautiful in our youth. Free and infinite. Yet, something inside of us has been grown. We can take steps towards the freedom of our youth, but we take them back unconsciously. The aging process does not allow for the purity of youth. It is not possible. You can get close, but never wholly free again.
“At a higher altitude, with flag unfurled,
We reached the dizzy heights of that dreamed of world”
I feel that these lines are only talking about youth. Reaching the freedom and purity of the young mind, but as an adult. This might be controversial, but the use of high and dizzy here remind me personally of LSD. The dreamed of world. The return to freedom and to wonder. I do not advocate the use of said drug, but it returns to us the unrestricted mind. The freedom is infinite.
"Encumbered forever by desire and ambition,
There's a hunger still unsatisfied,
Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon,
Though down this road we've been so many time"
Desire and ambition are human nature. It is only what we desire that is influenced by others (the myriad small creatures trying to tie us to the ground). Despite what we are doing and what we are aiming for, we still stare into the horizon. Trying to free our minds. Tying to attain the purity of youth. The song might even be saying that we are trying to get back to our youth, but we have tried before, and failed. A hunger is still unsatisfied.
“The water flowing,
The endless river”
The process of life is but a river. It has both a beginning and an end, but more importantly, a flow. It only flows one way. The start of the river may be glorious and serene, but despite our efforts, the river flows, taking us further from the beginning. This process, this course that life takes, was and will always be. It is endless.
In closing, I think the point of David Gilmour writing this song was to express that he does not like the course of life. He does not like how it works. Unfortunately, it has to be this way. As Voltaire writes, through Pangloss (a philosopher in the book Candide): “This is the best of all possible worlds”. We can think up different worlds, but they wouldn’t be plausible. They could not exist. Everything is in balance, so life is what it is. And it will always be this way.
In light of what I think this song means, the solo is so big and beautiful.. The song is somber and slow, but the solo is fast and energized. It fills me with a feeling of empowerment. It, forgive me for being cheesy, returns me to my youth. The solo is free and boundless. Just as I long to be.
@topolovich Thanks for that. Enlgish is not my first language, so i got to love the song from the music alone, i couldnt pay much attention to the meaning, and i appreciate that someone spend some time to explain it. But that music...i dont know what it does to you, but for me, it takes all the anger away. Clears my mind, the best medicine whenever i find myself feeling depressed.
@topolovich Thanks for that. Enlgish is not my first language, so i got to love the song from the music alone, i couldnt pay much attention to the meaning, and i appreciate that someone spend some time to explain it. But that music...i dont know what it does to you, but for me, it takes all the anger away. Clears my mind, the best medicine whenever i find myself feeling depressed.
@topolovich this is like everything I ever want to say to people when I explain why I also agree that David is the best guitar player of all time, even more he and roger sit as two of the few musicians of our time that should be recognized like classical composers. these two set a bar for rock and roll that will most likely never again be achieved... part of the Pink Floyd culture that is so special is that they broke a boundary with rock and roll music of their time and got people to take a break from...
@topolovich this is like everything I ever want to say to people when I explain why I also agree that David is the best guitar player of all time, even more he and roger sit as two of the few musicians of our time that should be recognized like classical composers. these two set a bar for rock and roll that will most likely never again be achieved... part of the Pink Floyd culture that is so special is that they broke a boundary with rock and roll music of their time and got people to take a break from cheering at concerts and just sit back and listen , the ambiance and technical musical skills they applied are matched by none and the notable icing on the cake is Davids' sound.
So for all those reasons I agree with your points unconditionally, and must add that I've never heard it been said better.
@topolovich Such a beautiful interpretation and you wrote it very well, I was listening to the song while reading your comment and I have to admit that when came the final solo I cried
@topolovich Such a beautiful interpretation and you wrote it very well, I was listening to the song while reading your comment and I have to admit that when came the final solo I cried
@topolovich I agree with the majority of this, although it's worth noting that his wife Polly wrote the lyrics! But I'm sure that is exactly the message she was trying to get across. Very moving song!
@topolovich I agree with the majority of this, although it's worth noting that his wife Polly wrote the lyrics! But I'm sure that is exactly the message she was trying to get across. Very moving song!
@topolovich I visit this page a lot to see what folks takeaway of music is and have never left a comment. I just wanted to compliment you on your interpretation of this beautiful piece of art, I think you really hit the nail on the head. You have a way with words my friend, Well said!
@topolovich I visit this page a lot to see what folks takeaway of music is and have never left a comment. I just wanted to compliment you on your interpretation of this beautiful piece of art, I think you really hit the nail on the head. You have a way with words my friend, Well said!
@topolovich I love how you desribed the meaning and I think only an "awakened" person could do that, however, my opinion still differs (a little) from yours. If only I could find the words to explain what I think, but unfortunately, my writing skills are much lower than yours ;)
I wish you luck with fighting the myriad small creatures ^^
@topolovich I love how you desribed the meaning and I think only an "awakened" person could do that, however, my opinion still differs (a little) from yours. If only I could find the words to explain what I think, but unfortunately, my writing skills are much lower than yours ;)
I wish you luck with fighting the myriad small creatures ^^
@topolovich I agree with you about David Gilmore playing the right note at the right time. That in itself is a skill that even the finest of musicians cannot master. A lot of kids think that the panacea of good musicianship is to shred up and down the scale for 10 mins. But that IMO is not it. It's the ability to beable to take a simple scale and tell a powerful story. That is what truly separates Gilmore from the rest. He can write a novel with like 4 notes.
@topolovich I agree with you about David Gilmore playing the right note at the right time. That in itself is a skill that even the finest of musicians cannot master. A lot of kids think that the panacea of good musicianship is to shred up and down the scale for 10 mins. But that IMO is not it. It's the ability to beable to take a simple scale and tell a powerful story. That is what truly separates Gilmore from the rest. He can write a novel with like 4 notes.
@topolovich Excellent, of course. My only objection is to Voltaire, not topolovich, who helps us, the deaf, to hear. Making things better is the purpose of life, and would not be so if Voltaire were correct in the most important sense. Thanx for making things better!
@topolovich Excellent, of course. My only objection is to Voltaire, not topolovich, who helps us, the deaf, to hear. Making things better is the purpose of life, and would not be so if Voltaire were correct in the most important sense. Thanx for making things better!
@topolovich
I just heard this song for the first time because my boyfriend is an uber PF fan and thought that I might enjoy this particular album.
I can't stop weeping. Like ugly, gut-wrenching crying from the pit of my soul. High Hopes caught me with its haunting, beautiful melody and the words kept me tethered in this blissful, bittersweet space that I'm not sure how or if I should crawl out of.
I joked earlier to my bf that this album would probably become my next Random Access Memories addiction where I can't stop listening to it because like a magnet, it...
@topolovich
I just heard this song for the first time because my boyfriend is an uber PF fan and thought that I might enjoy this particular album.
I can't stop weeping. Like ugly, gut-wrenching crying from the pit of my soul. High Hopes caught me with its haunting, beautiful melody and the words kept me tethered in this blissful, bittersweet space that I'm not sure how or if I should crawl out of.
I joked earlier to my bf that this album would probably become my next Random Access Memories addiction where I can't stop listening to it because like a magnet, it pulls emotions that I didn't know I had out of me, emotions and feelings that need to be felt and have been dormant in the trance that was my life before discovering these two magnificent albums.
Thank you for your moving words describing your experience listening to this song. I am not a sophisticated PF fan, and I'm not sure if the emotions that I'm feeling from the song are what Gilmore had intended or even compare to the tenderness expressed when he wrote it. But I'm changed and I'm looking forward to listening to this amazing piece of music again when my heart heals a little bit at a time from it. The catharsis will be felt for a while to come, I'm sure.
xxoo.
A) David Gilmour is God. In my opinion, the best guitarist of all times. I don't want to get into an argument about Hendrix and Clapton, because from a technical standpoint they are clearly better. When I say best guitarist, I mean the ability to play the right note at the right time. When I listened to many Floyd songs and heard Gilmour playing (mind you this is the first time I was hearing the songs) I imagined what the next note would be and it is what he played. I think that there is always a correct note to play at a correct time, and granted playing an incorrect note won't ruin the song, but playing the correct note creates something bigger than a song. Santana said that music exists in the universe regardless of us. It is simply funneled through us and I have to agree with him. That being said, Gilmour is very receptive to music. It flows through him beautifully. Correctly. Don't get me wrong Roger Waters was the creative mastermind, but he cannot touch Gilmour on a guitar. Not even close. Never.
B) The guitar solo at the end of this song is the greatest solo I have ever heard in my lifetime (and I listen to a lot of music). This opinion is based on what I believe the meaning of the song to be, but nonetheless, it is perfection. It stimulates, motivates and is so powerful, that it brings me to tears. Maybe I am too passionate about music, but I don't see it that way. Gilmour is my god. His music my Bible.
C) To those of you who said this song is about Roger Waters and the early days of Pink Floyd, you can have your opinions, but the way I see it, that can only be a portion of the meaning of this song. A subset, if you will, belonging to the greater whole. There is a difference between true and truth. Truth exists regardless of us. Pink Floyd's past and Gilmour's relationship with Roger Waters may play a part in this song, but those are facts. Those are true. The truth, however, in this song is about life. This song is about the course that life takes and how Gilmour doesn’t like it. It has to be like it is, but he wishes it could be different. And in his youth, he had pictured it different. He had “High Hopes”. Just like we all did. The song starts in childhood. The words say:
"Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young, In a world of magnets and miracles, Our troughts strayed constantly and without boundary, The ringing of the division bell had begun"
It starts with a child. So free and pure. He is looking back to when magnets were miracles. When we had yet to discover the world. When the genius of the child is unbounded. Perception has yet to take a negative spin from growing old and learning of the evil in the world. The ringing of the division bell is the beginning of the impurities. People divide. They form opinions. The purity is gone. The innocence is lost.
"Running before time took our dreams away, Leaving the myriad small creatures trying to tie us to the ground, To a life consumed by slow decay"
As a child we dream freely, but as we age, our dreams fade. You cannot honestly say that you dream like you did as a child. No one can. It is a part of life. Looking back, if possible, we should have fought growing up. What is so great about being an adult? As a child, the wonder is still there. There is nothing not fantastic. Here I think, the myriad small creatures are other human beings. In the greater picture, we are but small creatures. And the child is tied down by others. If alone, maybe the child could resist becoming an adult. But his peers, both his age and older, try to tie him down. Not intentionally, but that is all they know. The tying down is inevitable. It is part of the process. They put him in school (no thoughts controlled) and the process begins. The tying down of the once free spirit has taken hold. Now the life of slow decay starts.
"The grass was greener, The light was brighter, With friends surrounding, The nights of wonder"
Our youth was brighter, the grass was greener, our friends were around, and the nights were free. Like our minds. To wonder. To explore. To discover.
"Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us, To a glimpse of how green it was on the other side, Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again, Dragged by the force of some inner tide"
Aging, however, is inevitable. When we reminisce we see that the world was beautiful in our youth. Free and infinite. Yet, something inside of us has been grown. We can take steps towards the freedom of our youth, but we take them back unconsciously. The aging process does not allow for the purity of youth. It is not possible. You can get close, but never wholly free again.
“At a higher altitude, with flag unfurled, We reached the dizzy heights of that dreamed of world”
I feel that these lines are only talking about youth. Reaching the freedom and purity of the young mind, but as an adult. This might be controversial, but the use of high and dizzy here remind me personally of LSD. The dreamed of world. The return to freedom and to wonder. I do not advocate the use of said drug, but it returns to us the unrestricted mind. The freedom is infinite.
"Encumbered forever by desire and ambition, There's a hunger still unsatisfied, Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon, Though down this road we've been so many time"
Desire and ambition are human nature. It is only what we desire that is influenced by others (the myriad small creatures trying to tie us to the ground). Despite what we are doing and what we are aiming for, we still stare into the horizon. Trying to free our minds. Tying to attain the purity of youth. The song might even be saying that we are trying to get back to our youth, but we have tried before, and failed. A hunger is still unsatisfied.
“The water flowing, The endless river”
The process of life is but a river. It has both a beginning and an end, but more importantly, a flow. It only flows one way. The start of the river may be glorious and serene, but despite our efforts, the river flows, taking us further from the beginning. This process, this course that life takes, was and will always be. It is endless.
In closing, I think the point of David Gilmour writing this song was to express that he does not like the course of life. He does not like how it works. Unfortunately, it has to be this way. As Voltaire writes, through Pangloss (a philosopher in the book Candide): “This is the best of all possible worlds”. We can think up different worlds, but they wouldn’t be plausible. They could not exist. Everything is in balance, so life is what it is. And it will always be this way.
In light of what I think this song means, the solo is so big and beautiful.. The song is somber and slow, but the solo is fast and energized. It fills me with a feeling of empowerment. It, forgive me for being cheesy, returns me to my youth. The solo is free and boundless. Just as I long to be.
@topolovich Thanks for that. Enlgish is not my first language, so i got to love the song from the music alone, i couldnt pay much attention to the meaning, and i appreciate that someone spend some time to explain it. But that music...i dont know what it does to you, but for me, it takes all the anger away. Clears my mind, the best medicine whenever i find myself feeling depressed.
@topolovich Thanks for that. Enlgish is not my first language, so i got to love the song from the music alone, i couldnt pay much attention to the meaning, and i appreciate that someone spend some time to explain it. But that music...i dont know what it does to you, but for me, it takes all the anger away. Clears my mind, the best medicine whenever i find myself feeling depressed.
@topolovich this is like everything I ever want to say to people when I explain why I also agree that David is the best guitar player of all time, even more he and roger sit as two of the few musicians of our time that should be recognized like classical composers. these two set a bar for rock and roll that will most likely never again be achieved... part of the Pink Floyd culture that is so special is that they broke a boundary with rock and roll music of their time and got people to take a break from...
@topolovich this is like everything I ever want to say to people when I explain why I also agree that David is the best guitar player of all time, even more he and roger sit as two of the few musicians of our time that should be recognized like classical composers. these two set a bar for rock and roll that will most likely never again be achieved... part of the Pink Floyd culture that is so special is that they broke a boundary with rock and roll music of their time and got people to take a break from cheering at concerts and just sit back and listen , the ambiance and technical musical skills they applied are matched by none and the notable icing on the cake is Davids' sound.
So for all those reasons I agree with your points unconditionally, and must add that I've never heard it been said better.
@topolovich That was beautiful. You should write about all Pink Floyd songs in a blog or something.
@topolovich That was beautiful. You should write about all Pink Floyd songs in a blog or something.
@topolovich If you imagined the next note and he played it, then you are obviously on par with him as a composer. Interesting...
@topolovich If you imagined the next note and he played it, then you are obviously on par with him as a composer. Interesting...
@topolovich That was amazing! I kind of thought the same, but there is no way I could describe it like this! Thanks you!
@topolovich That was amazing! I kind of thought the same, but there is no way I could describe it like this! Thanks you!
@topolovich Such a beautiful interpretation and you wrote it very well, I was listening to the song while reading your comment and I have to admit that when came the final solo I cried
@topolovich Such a beautiful interpretation and you wrote it very well, I was listening to the song while reading your comment and I have to admit that when came the final solo I cried
@topolovich I agree with the majority of this, although it's worth noting that his wife Polly wrote the lyrics! But I'm sure that is exactly the message she was trying to get across. Very moving song!
@topolovich I agree with the majority of this, although it's worth noting that his wife Polly wrote the lyrics! But I'm sure that is exactly the message she was trying to get across. Very moving song!
@topolovich I visit this page a lot to see what folks takeaway of music is and have never left a comment. I just wanted to compliment you on your interpretation of this beautiful piece of art, I think you really hit the nail on the head. You have a way with words my friend, Well said!
@topolovich I visit this page a lot to see what folks takeaway of music is and have never left a comment. I just wanted to compliment you on your interpretation of this beautiful piece of art, I think you really hit the nail on the head. You have a way with words my friend, Well said!
@topolovich I love how you desribed the meaning and I think only an "awakened" person could do that, however, my opinion still differs (a little) from yours. If only I could find the words to explain what I think, but unfortunately, my writing skills are much lower than yours ;) I wish you luck with fighting the myriad small creatures ^^
@topolovich I love how you desribed the meaning and I think only an "awakened" person could do that, however, my opinion still differs (a little) from yours. If only I could find the words to explain what I think, but unfortunately, my writing skills are much lower than yours ;) I wish you luck with fighting the myriad small creatures ^^
@topolovich I agree with you about David Gilmore playing the right note at the right time. That in itself is a skill that even the finest of musicians cannot master. A lot of kids think that the panacea of good musicianship is to shred up and down the scale for 10 mins. But that IMO is not it. It's the ability to beable to take a simple scale and tell a powerful story. That is what truly separates Gilmore from the rest. He can write a novel with like 4 notes.
@topolovich I agree with you about David Gilmore playing the right note at the right time. That in itself is a skill that even the finest of musicians cannot master. A lot of kids think that the panacea of good musicianship is to shred up and down the scale for 10 mins. But that IMO is not it. It's the ability to beable to take a simple scale and tell a powerful story. That is what truly separates Gilmore from the rest. He can write a novel with like 4 notes.
@topolovich Excellent, of course. My only objection is to Voltaire, not topolovich, who helps us, the deaf, to hear. Making things better is the purpose of life, and would not be so if Voltaire were correct in the most important sense. Thanx for making things better!
@topolovich Excellent, of course. My only objection is to Voltaire, not topolovich, who helps us, the deaf, to hear. Making things better is the purpose of life, and would not be so if Voltaire were correct in the most important sense. Thanx for making things better!
@topolovich I just heard this song for the first time because my boyfriend is an uber PF fan and thought that I might enjoy this particular album. I can't stop weeping. Like ugly, gut-wrenching crying from the pit of my soul. High Hopes caught me with its haunting, beautiful melody and the words kept me tethered in this blissful, bittersweet space that I'm not sure how or if I should crawl out of. I joked earlier to my bf that this album would probably become my next Random Access Memories addiction where I can't stop listening to it because like a magnet, it...
@topolovich I just heard this song for the first time because my boyfriend is an uber PF fan and thought that I might enjoy this particular album. I can't stop weeping. Like ugly, gut-wrenching crying from the pit of my soul. High Hopes caught me with its haunting, beautiful melody and the words kept me tethered in this blissful, bittersweet space that I'm not sure how or if I should crawl out of. I joked earlier to my bf that this album would probably become my next Random Access Memories addiction where I can't stop listening to it because like a magnet, it pulls emotions that I didn't know I had out of me, emotions and feelings that need to be felt and have been dormant in the trance that was my life before discovering these two magnificent albums. Thank you for your moving words describing your experience listening to this song. I am not a sophisticated PF fan, and I'm not sure if the emotions that I'm feeling from the song are what Gilmore had intended or even compare to the tenderness expressed when he wrote it. But I'm changed and I'm looking forward to listening to this amazing piece of music again when my heart heals a little bit at a time from it. The catharsis will be felt for a while to come, I'm sure. xxoo.