"One of These Days" is the opening track from Pink Floyd's 1971 album ''

Meddle ''Meddle'' is the sixth studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released by Harvest Records. The album was produced between the band's touring commitments, from January to August 1971 at a series of locations around London, including EM ...

''. The composition is

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

except for the spoken line from drummer Nick Mason, "One of these days, I'm going to cut you into little pieces." It features

double-tracked Double tracking or doubling is an audio recording technique in which a performer sings or plays along with their own prerecorded performance, usually to produce a stronger or bigger sound than can be obtained with a single voice or instrument. ...

bass guitars The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and sc ...

played by David Gilmour and Roger Waters, with each bass hard panned into one channel of stereo, but one bass sound is quite muted and dull. According to Gilmour, this is because that particular instrument had old strings on it, and the

roadie The road crew (or roadies) are the technicians or support personnel who travel with a band on tour, usually in sleeper buses, and handle every part of the concert productions except actually performing the music with the musicians. This ca ...

they had sent to get new strings for it wandered off to see his girlfriend instead.

Music

Pink Floyd Their Mortal Remains - 2017-10-13 - Andy Mabbett - 24

The predominant element of the piece is that of a

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

played through a delay (

Binson Echorec The Binson Echorec is an echo machine produced by Italian (Milan) company Binson founded by Dr. Bonfiglio Bini, an early manufacturer of such devices. Unlike most other analog echo machines, they used an analog magnetic drum recorder instead of ...

) unit, set to produce repeats in quarter-note triplets. The result of this setting is: if the player plays simple quarter notes, the added echoes will produce a pattern of ''quarter note – eighth note, quarter note – eighth note''. Pink Floyd would again use this technique on the bass line for "

Sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

". This riff was first created by David Gilmour on guitar with effects, then Roger Waters had the idea of using bass instead of guitar, so they recorded the song on two different bass guitars. The piece is in

B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: : Changes need ...

, occasionally alternating with an A

major chord In music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the " rudiments", that are needed to understan ...

. The distinctive keyboard accents on this track are composed of three components: A Hammond organ forms the 'fade in', followed by a "Stab" composed of a second Hammond organ with percussion stop, overdubbed with an acoustic piano fed through a Leslie speaker, as was also used on " Echoes". For live versions, the 'fade in' part was played on a

Farfisa organ Farfisa (Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche) is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professiona ...

. The threatening lyric, a rare vocal contribution by Nick Mason, was recorded through a

ring modulator In electronics, ring modulation is a signal processing function, an implementation of frequency mixing, in which two signals are combined to yield an output signal. One signal, called the carrier, is typically a sine wave or another simple ...

and slowed down to create an eerie effect. It was aimed at Sir Jimmy Young, the then

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

and Radio 2 DJ who the band supposedly disliked because of his tendency to babble. During early 1970s concerts, they sometimes played a sound collage of clips from Young's radio show that was edited to sound completely nonsensical, thus figuratively "cutting him into little pieces". The bootleg compilation ''A Treeful of Secrets'' contains a demo version of "One of These Days" in which the Jimmy Young collage loops in the background during the performance. However, the authenticity of this demo has not been confirmed. According to John Peel, Waters described "One of These Days" as a "poignant appraisal of the contemporary social situation". Gilmour said it was the most collaborative piece ever produced by the group. A film, ''French Windows'', was made by Ian Emes, set to the piece and featuring people and gibbons dancing against various backgrounds. After being seen on television by the band, it was back-projected by Pink Floyd during live performances and Emes was commissioned to make further films for the band. The tune also quotes

Delia Derbyshire Delia Ann Derbyshire (5 May 1937 – 3 July 2001) was an English musician and composer of electronic music. She carried out notable work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop during the 1960s, including her electronic arrangement of the theme ...

's realisation of

Ron Grainer Ronald Erle Grainer (11 August 1922 – 21 February 1981) was an Australian composer who worked for most of his professional career in the United Kingdom. He is mostly remembered for his television and film score music, especially the theme mus ...

Doctor Who theme music The ''Doctor Who'' theme music is a piece of music written by Australian composer Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Created in 1963, it was one of the first electronic music signature tunes for te ...

from the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. This quotation is most clear in live performances, particularly in concerts on the Momentary Lapse of Reason and Division Bell tours. Part of the song was used on the Soviet television program "Mezhdunarodnaya Panorama" ("International Panorama"). The playing of the track in the program is also discussed in

Victor Pelevin Victor Olegovich Pelevin ( rus, Виктор Олегович Пелевин, p=ˈvʲiktər ɐˈlʲɛɡəvʲɪtɕ pʲɪˈlʲevʲɪn; born 22 November 1962) is a Russian fiction writer. His novels include ''Omon Ra'' (1992), ''The Life of Insects ...

's novel ''

Omon Ra ''Omon Ra'' (russian: «Омон Ра») is a short novel by Russian writer Victor Pelevin, published in 1992 by the Tekst Publishing House in Moscow. It was the first novel by Pelevin, who until then was known for his short stories. Pelevin tra ...

.'' A similar bass riff is used during the first seconds of Brian Eno's song " Third Uncle" on the album ''

Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) ''Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)'' is the second solo album by English musician Brian Eno, released in November 1974 by Island Records. Unlike his debut album ''Here Come the Warm Jets'', which had featured 16 musicians, this album utili ...

''.

Live performances

The song was a concert staple on the band's 1971–1973 and 1987–1994 tours. The ''

Live at Pompeii ''Live at Pompeii'' is a live album and film by David Gilmour, the guitarist of Pink Floyd. It was recorded at the Amphitheatre of Pompeii. It documents his 2015–16 world tour to promote his album, ''Rattle That Lock'' (2015). The conce ...

'' version was retitled as "One of These Days I'm Going to Cut You into Little Pieces", the full spoken threat. It was resurrected for the group's 1987–1989 ''A Momentary Lapse of Reason'' & ''Another Lapse'' tours and 1994's ''

The Division Bell Tour The Division Bell Tour was the final concert tour by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It was performed in 1994 to support their album ''The Division Bell'', which was released two days before the tour's start date. Following the tour's conclu ...

'', performed by David Gilmour on lap steel guitar,

Tim Renwick Timothy John Pearson Renwick (born 7 August 1949) is an English guitarist. He is best known for his association with Al Stewart in his early career and for his long-standing role as lead guitarist for the Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. His single ...

on rhythm guitar, Guy Pratt on bass, Richard Wright and

Jon Carin Jon Carin (born October 21, 1964) is a musician, singer, songwriter and producer who has been a longtime collaborator with the bands Pink Floyd and The Who, and the solo careers of David Gilmour and Roger Waters, Pete Townshend, Eddie Vedder, ...

on keyboards, with Nick Mason and

Gary Wallis Gary Wallis is a British drummer, percussionist, drum programmer, producer and musical director. He has worked with a wide range of artists and bands, including Nik Kershaw, Pink Floyd, 10cc, Il Divo, Westlife, Girls Aloud, Atomic Kitten, Pau ...

on drums and percussion. It was included on the ''

Delicate Sound of Thunder ''Delicate Sound of Thunder'' is a live album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was recorded over five nights at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, in August 1988 and mixed at Abbey Road Studios in September 1988. It was ...

'' video (1989), CD, LP, and cassette (1988) and the ''Pulse''

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

(1995) (cassette & LP only) & video & DVD (1995/2006 respectively). It is absent from the iTunes version of the ''Pulse'' album. A live version was also included on the B-side of the " High Hopes/ Keep Talking" double A-side single (1994). On 25 June 2016, David Gilmour and his solo band performed the song during their set at the Plac Wolności in Wrocław, Poland, the first time Gilmour had played it live in more than 20 years and the first time he'd ever made it part of a solo set list. Gilmour also performed the song during his concerts at the

Amphitheatre of Pompeii The Amphitheatre of Pompeii is one of the oldest surviving Roman amphitheatres. It is located in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, and was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, that also buried the city of Pompeii and the neighbouring to ...

on 7 and 8 July 2016. This performance was released as part of his

live album. These concerts made One of These Days the only song played at Pink Floyd's 1971 performance and Gilmour's 2016 performance. Roger Waters played the piece in the first set of songs on his 2017 Us + Them Tour. The song also features in

Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets are an English rock band formed in 2018 to perform the early music of Pink Floyd. The band comprises the Pink Floyd drummer and co-founder Nick Mason, the bassist Guy Pratt, the guitarists Gary Kemp and Lee Harr ...

show, again featuring Guy Pratt on bass. A live version was released in 2016 on '' The Early Years 1965–1972, Volume 5: 1971: Reverber/ation'', a live recording from a BBC radio session on 30 September 1971.

Reception

In a review for the ''Meddle'' album, Jean-Charles Costa of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' described "One of These Days" as sticking to the usual Pink Floyd formula, but "each segment of the tune is so well done, and the whole thing coheres so perfectly that it comes across as a positive, high-energy opening."

Personnel

Pink Floyd

''Meddle''

* David Gilmour – electric and slide guitars,

Nick Mason, Inside Out, first edition p. 155 * Roger Waters – bass guitar * Nick Mason – drums, vocal phrase * Richard Wright – Hammond organ, piano, treated piano, EMS VCS 3

''Delicate Sound of Thunder'' and ''Pulse''

* David Gilmour – console steel guitar * Nick Mason – drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

, vocal phrase (recording) * Richard Wright – Hammond organ, synthesiser * Guy Pratt – bass guitar *

– percussion, extra drums on ''Pulse'' *

– rhythm guitar *

– synthesiser, programming

''Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii''

* David Gilmour - slide guitar * Roger Waters - bass, gong * Richard Wright - Hammond organ, piano, EMS VCS 3 * Nick Mason - drums Solo

''
Live at Pompeii ''Live at Pompeii'' is a live album and film by David Gilmour, the guitarist of Pink Floyd. It was recorded at the Amphitheatre of Pompeii. It documents his 2015–16 world tour to promote his album, ''Rattle That Lock'' (2015). The conce ...
'' (David Gilmour)

* David Gilmour - console steel guitar, cymbals *

Chester Kamen Chester Kamen (born in Hackney, London) is an English session guitarist, whose work has included performing with Paul McCartney, Bryan Ferry, Bob Geldof, Madonna, Duran Duran, Robbie Williams, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Seal, Massive Attack, Ki ...

– electric guitars * Guy Pratt – bass *

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, singer-songwriter, and musical director based in Los Angeles, California. A prolific session musician, Phillinganes has contributed the role of keyboards to numerous alb ...

– piano * Chuck Leavell – organ * Steve DiStanislao – drums, aeoliphone

" Roger Waters: Us + Them"

* Roger Waters - bass * David Kilminster - electric guitar *Gus Seyffert - bass *

- lap steel guitar * Jonathan Wilson - electric guitar * Bo Koster - keyboards *

Joey Waronker Jon Joseph Waronker (born May 20, 1969) is an American drummer and music producer. He is best known as a regular drummer of both Beck and R.E.M., and as member of the experimental rock bands Atoms for Peace and Ultraísta. Background Waronke ...

- drums, percussion * Jess Wolfe - percussion, choreography *Holly Laessig - percussion, choreography

"Live at the Roundhouse (
Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets are an English rock band formed in 2018 to perform the early music of Pink Floyd. The band comprises the Pink Floyd drummer and co-founder Nick Mason, the bassist Guy Pratt, the guitarists Gary Kemp and Lee Harr ...
)"

* Nick Mason - drums, percussion *Dom Beken - keyboards * Guy Pratt - bass *

Gary Kemp Gary James Kemp (born 16 October 1959) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist, and principal songwriter for the New Romantic band Spandau Ballet. Kemp wrote the lyrics and music ...

- electric guitar * Lee Harris - lap steel guitar

1989 promo video

A promo video was used to promote ''

'' and got brief airing on MTV in 1989. It showed the band performing the track on stage at Nassau Coliseum and shots of the inflatable pig that flew over the audience during the song in the show. The end of the clip blacks out instead of

segue A segue (; ) is a smooth transition from one topic or section to the next. The term is derived from Italian ''segue'', which literally means "follows". In music In music, ''segue'' is a direction to the performer. It means ''continue (the next ...

ing into "

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

" as on the ''Delicate Sound of Thunder'' video.

References

External links

*
French Windows
', animated film by Ian Emes {{Authority control Pink Floyd songs 1971 singles British hard rock songs Rock instrumentals 1970s instrumentals Songs written by David Gilmour Songs written by Nick Mason Songs written by Richard Wright (musician) Songs written by Roger Waters Song recordings produced by David Gilmour Song recordings produced by Roger Waters Song recordings produced by Richard Wright (musician) Song recordings produced by Nick Mason 1971 songs Harvest Records singles Capitol Records singles