Astronomy Domine Lyrics
A fight between the blue you once knew.
Floating down, the sound resounds
Around the icy waters underground.
Jupiter and Saturn, Oberon, Miranda and Titania.
Neptune, Titan, Stars can frighten.
Flicker, flicker, flicker blam. Pow, pow.
Stairway scare, Dan Dare who's there?
Lime and limpid green, the sounds around the icy waters under
Lime and limpid green, the sounds around the icy waters underground
The lyrics, like many of those from acid-inspired songs, are largely a rhythm device. The meaning of the song is in the guitar line. Dave Gilmour's live version (Ummagumma) is technically exquisite, but doesn't transmit Syd's original ideas. This, along with A Saucerful of Secrets, gives me 'bad' memories sometimes; remnants of a misspent youth!
Syd Barrett's Floyd was extremely different from what Floyd would come to be. By that measure, I find it unfair to compare the two stages, and I really prefer to think of Piper as having been produced by a different band than Dark Side of the Moon.
This is the best Barrett song. Who knows what it's about. It depends, like many Floyd songs, on your mood. That's what makes PF so good. Through all of it's stages.
@inpraiseoffolly I see multiple stages of Floyd constantly too. There is Piper and the Barrett period. Then the lull period which included More and Obscured by Clouds. This was the period where Floyd was trying to piece it all together, post Syd. Then the Meddle/Dark Side period. I Think those two albums are very much fused together. They represent the period where the band seemed to figure it out. Find their niche or voice. Then Wish You were here is all one period. This is the period where they realized how far they had come and wanted to look...
@inpraiseoffolly I see multiple stages of Floyd constantly too. There is Piper and the Barrett period. Then the lull period which included More and Obscured by Clouds. This was the period where Floyd was trying to piece it all together, post Syd. Then the Meddle/Dark Side period. I Think those two albums are very much fused together. They represent the period where the band seemed to figure it out. Find their niche or voice. Then Wish You were here is all one period. This is the period where they realized how far they had come and wanted to look back but they knew that dragon was long ago slain. Imagine how that must have really seemed true when they figured out Syd was sitting right there amongst them during a recording session. Then Animals is an entire period on its on. It really represents their touring period. This was them selling their sound by the pound. Milking the cow for every drop they could squeeze out of it. Some people like claim this period was responsible for them taking a step back in the studio. I hear many people say they dont care for Animals all that much. I disagree wholeheartedly. Its personally my favorite Floyd album. The Wall is another entirely different and separate period of course. You can include the Final Cut in this period too for obvious reasons. This was the unraveling period. The divorce. Of course we get a front row seat for it all snd Floyd is one of those groups who could thrive and flourish through the conflict and even use thst to motivate snd inspire. Similar to Fleetwood Mac during the making of Rumors. The next period is the rebranded floyd of the late 80's and 90's. Dont get me wrong. I Enjoy Momentary Lapse and Division Bell but its obviously not quite Floyd. No Rodger is like a Beatles reunion without John. The product would still be enjoyable and interesting but its obviously lacking a key component.
Lime and limpid green, is the second scene.
It's about being surrounded by the blue sky and falling to the green grass on the ground. Floating down, the sound resounds. Flicker, flicker, flicker blam. Pow, pow as you hit the dirt.
You feel like you're sinking into the ground and you hear the icy waters beneath.
You see stars, Jupiter and Saturn, Oberon, Miranda and Titania, Neptune, Titan, Stars can frighten. Blinding signs flap.
Stairway to heaven scare. You think you're dying. You see Dan Dare, the pilot of the future.
So there, it's about falling.
Oh yeah, and being on acid.
Hell. floating down the sound resounds around thee i see waters underground. think about it.
Everyone here has no difficulty to say it's about a trip on LSD... and what do you do when you're in such a state? You have visions, you create a whole world that leaves from your mind. So if "domine" is latin, the latin word for "Master","Creator","God", literally "Lord", Syd may have been the Lord of Astronomy because of LSD... Lord of that new world in which vivid colours battle, typical sceneries that were in syd's mind appear, like the figures of planets and moons that may come from sci-fi or other experiences. And then the stairway scare of Dan Dare confronted with the vacuum terror of the mind trip or the careful choice of words to amplify given sounds... the song is quite simple: as it comes out by a genius mind (ok helped by lsd).
If this song was just about acid, it would suck. Its exact meaning is irrelevant. What it evokes is something that a lot of Floyd songs do, even after Syd. A sense of fear around darkness, emptiness, and the power of that fear. This song relates that horror to the profound darkness and cold of space and the universe. This is not a unique perspective. The universe holds all the secrets of dark and light. It's all there. What you bring relates to what you take away. I've looked and seen overwhelming emptiness, then again, I've felt the comfort of harmony, and infinite light of being connected and part of it all, from the tiniest atom on up.
Once again wrong lyrics
Lime and limpid green, a second scene A fight between the blue you once knew. Floating down, the sound resounds Around the icy waters underground. Jupiter and Saturn, Oberon, Miranda and Titania. Neptune, Titan, Stars can frighten.
Blinding signs flap Flicker, flicker, flicker blam. Pow, pow. Stairway scare, Dan Dare who's there? Lime and limpid green, the sounds around the icy waters under Lime and limpid green, the sounds around the icy waters underground
This Song gives the feeling of space travel, and the lyrics describe what you are seeing. At the beginning their is a countdown then the song takes off, then he's describing the earth.
Astronomy: the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole
Domine: dominus: a clergyman; especially a settled minister or parson
hulio: if this is about hell, why is it about icy water instead of firey purgatory?