"Sorrow" is a song by the English band

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

. Written by the band's singer and guitarist

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink F ...

, it is the closing track on their thirteenth studio album, '' A Momentary Lapse of Reason'', released in 1987.

Lyrics and music

The piece was written and composed by singer and guitarist David Gilmour. He has stated that although words are not his strong point, the song is one of his best lyrical efforts, even as the opening lines were appropriated from

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...

's ''

The Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...

''. Drummer

Nick Mason Nicholas Berkeley Mason (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He has been the only constant member since the band's formation in 1965, and the only member to appear on every ...

has since stated that the song was almost entirely written by Gilmour over the space of a weekend on his houseboat '' Astoria''. When Mason returned from the weekend, only "some spit and polish", according to Mason, was needed. Gilmour has also mentioned that his solo at the end of "Sorrow" was done on the boat, his guitar going through a small

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amplifier. As on many tracks from the album, Gilmour played a Steinberger GL " headless" guitar on this song. The guitar intro was recorded inside Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena and piped through Pink Floyd's large sound system, yielding an extremely deep, cavernous sound. The

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

on the song was programmed by Gilmourno real drums were used.

Reception

Critic Mike Cormack said the song is "the great set piece of the album, but it is cold, synthetic, and tries too hard to convince you of its own greatness. It’s a ''cocaine'' song."

Live Versions

The song was performed on the A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour and the Division Bell Tour. Recordings of those performances are featured on its respective live albums, '' Delicate Sound of Thunder'' (1988) and ''

Pulse In medicine, the pulse refers to the rhythmic pulsations (expansion and contraction) of an artery in response to the cardiac cycle (heartbeat). The pulse may be felt ( palpated) in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surfac ...

'' (1995), with running times of 9:27 and 10:49 respectively, mostly taken up by extended guitar solos by Gilmour and an additional outro. A slightly shortened version of the song appears on Pink Floyd's greatest hits collection, '' Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd'', which is edited so that the song "

Sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal 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 d ...

" (also edited) segues into "Sorrow".

played the song at the Strat Pack guitar concert, an event which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...

. Gilmour played the song on the second set of his Rattle That Lock Tour 2015/16.. The song was also performed in 1990 during the band's set at Knebworth for the Silver Clef Award Winners Concert. For many years, an official release of this performance was unavailable, but the 2019 boxset '' The Later Years'' included it as part of the complete set list on both Blu-Ray/DVD and CD.

Personnel on studio version

Pink Floyd *

– lead and backing vocals, electric guitar, keyboards,

electronic drum Electronic drums are a modern electronic musical instrument, primarily designed to serve as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drums consist of an electronic sound module which produces the Drum synthesiser, synthesized or Sampler ...

kit, programming Additional musicians * Richard Wright – Kurzweil synthesiser *

Bob Ezrin Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezri ...

– keyboards *

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer specializing in electric bass guitars, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (19 ...

– bass guitar * Darlene Koldenhoven – backing vocals * Carmen Twillie – backing vocals *Phyllis St. James – backing vocals * Donny Gerrard – backing vocals

Personnel on live versions

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

Pink Floyd *David Gilmour – lead vocals, lead guitar *

– drums *Richard Wright – keyboards, backing vocals Additional musicians *

Guy Pratt Guy Adam Pratt (born 3 January 1962) is a British bassist. He has worked with artists including Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, Gary Moore, Madonna, Peter Cetera, Michael Jackson, the Smiths, Robert Palmer (singer), Robert Palmer, Echo & the Bunnymen, T ...

– bass guitar * Jon Carin – keyboards, backing vocals, programming *

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 ...

– rhythm guitar * Gary Wallis –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, drums * Durga McBroom – backing vocals (''Delicate Sound of Thunder'' and ''Pulse'') * Rachel Fury – backing vocals (''Delicate Sound of Thunder'') *Margaret Taylor – backing vocals (''Delicate Sound of Thunder'') * Sam Brown – backing vocals (''Pulse'') * Claudia Fontaine – backing vocals (''Pulse'')

''Live at Pompeii''

* David Gilmour – lead vocals, lead guitar * Steve DiStanislao – drums * Chester Kamen – guitar, backing vocals * Guy Pratt – bass, backing vocals *

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, vocalist, and arranger. A session musician, Phillinganes has contributed to numerous albums over a broad array of artists and genres. He has toured with artists includin ...

– keyboards, backing vocals * Chuck Leavell – keyboards, backing vocals * Brian Chambers – backing vocals * Lucita Jules – backing vocals * Louise Clare Marshall – backing vocals

References

{{Authority control Pink Floyd songs 1987 songs Rock ballads Songs written by David Gilmour Song recordings produced by Bob Ezrin Song recordings produced by David Gilmour