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Sorrow Lyrics

The sweet smell of a great sorrow lies over the land
plumes of smoke rise and merge into the leaden sky:
a man lies and dreams of green fields and rivers
but awakes to a morning with no reason for waking

He's haunted by the memory of a lost paradise
in his youth or a dream, he can't be precise
he's chained forever to a world that's departed
It's not enough, It's not enough

His blood has frozen & curdled with fright
his knees have trembled & given way in the night
his hand has weakened at the moment of truth
his step has faltered

One world, one soul
Time pass, the river roll

And he talks to the river of lost love and dedication
and silent replies that swirl invitation
flow dark and troubled to an oily sea
a grim intimation of what is to be

There's an unceasing wind that blows through this night
and there's dust in my eyes, that blinds my sight
and silence that speaks so much louder than words
of promises broken.
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Cover art for Sorrow lyrics by Pink Floyd

A nice work ... by David Gilmour ... his voice is God gifted . Whenever I listen this song I remember my friend Nasir who is a big fan of David Gilmour and the group Pink Floyd.I agree with paradox ...solo is heart wrenching .

Cover art for Sorrow lyrics by Pink Floyd

This is definitely one of their most poetic songs, right up there with "Echoes." And the solo is heart wrenching.

Cover art for Sorrow lyrics by Pink Floyd

I use to think that this song was about the damage we are doing to our environment. I have changed my way of thinking. These lyrics speak to me now like never before. I hear in these lyrics the sorrow and hopelessness of a man who had an opportunity for happiness, a light in his life, a bright and beautiful future but it slipped away from him because he could not break from his past commitments. Because of a strong sense of honer and duty he feels his one true chance is lost forever. He trods through life now questioning and regretting who he is. Knowing inside he will have to accept the pain and sorrow as his rather than cause that pain and sorrow for others. I think songs like this can mean what you want or need them to mean.

My Interpretation

@Manfred33 absolutely brilliant interpretation man. This is exactly what I am going through now because of my "now only apparently I have found my choice of wife and life partner" to have been the single worst life choice I could have ever went with. But loyal as us men are, I feel that I denied it to myself for 40 hard years of endless work and struggle to TRY to make it work. For it to give me one final HUGE kick in the balls, and here I stand, trying to make sense of it and start my life over...

This is about a guy who lost his chance at something big, sounds like love to me but that's up for debate. He's regretting all the decisions that led him to this point and looking back to see where he went wrong,

I realize Pink Floyd wasn't the same after Roger Waters left, but this album is seriously underrated. It lacks the weirdness and critical weight of some of the better Floyd albums but I think Gilmour and friends still did a great job and deserve a little more credit than people are giving them

Cover art for Sorrow lyrics by Pink Floyd

'Haunted by the memories of a lost paradise.' Let's see what we can do as the human race to prevent these potentialy prophetic words.

A few of the words above are due a re-wording. Demau can probably edit just a wee bit. Dogs of War is ahead of this on the album. I hope it's not that way in the future. All the tracks were read in order on alternate radio the week of,.........9 letters in Pink Floyd and 11 tracks of 1987's AMLOR.

Great David Gilmour and his guitar's magic wonders!

Cover art for Sorrow lyrics by Pink Floyd

lost my love, lost my life, not much left to live for except a meaningless existence of sorts which is mandatory...good thing there is this song...or id be down to zero...not far from it anyways.

@gofigure000 you can do it man. I got a huge case of (if only I could have known way back then)(or ,"Can we just go back 45 years so I can NOT get with her)!

Cover art for Sorrow lyrics by Pink Floyd

an amaing intro.

In my opinion; This song is about a man suffering depression due to severe loss who is about to commit suicide via means of drowning himself.

'flow dark and troubled to an oily sea of grim intimation of what is to be'

Think that line pretty much sums it up. And I will add that this is one of my greatest songs of all time and have listened to it a thousand times since getting Delicate Sound of Thunder at the age of 5 (and I'm now 27). It is one of Gilmour's best lyrically and musically - and anyone who...

Not Valid

thankyou superslug1000, im sick of seeing quotes like "Roger's wrote this song, gilmour couldnt write words this deep" gilmour writes the best music and lyrics for the style of pink floyd that i like, and his voice is perfect for the lyrics that HE writes, thanks

Not Valid

The lyrics are good but they are a little verbose and there's something a bit stiff about them. I'm certain Gilmour didn't write them on his own. By his own admission he struggles to come up with lyrics and had a team of writers helping him on Momentary Lapse.

Not Valid
Cover art for Sorrow lyrics by Pink Floyd

I believe this song is about realizing your going to die its an incredible song, haunting beutifull.

Cover art for Sorrow lyrics by Pink Floyd

Gilmour usually writes the words after he gets the music, but he did it the other way with this song. At least that's what I've been told.

Cover art for Sorrow lyrics by Pink Floyd

I first heard this song on the day that Syd Barret died!