Song of the Day 10/6: Pink Floyd, “See Emily Play”

Most rock fans are aware that Roger Waters of Pink Floyd has gone down the rabbit hole of right-wing politics. It appears it has cost him some major coin. Pink Floyd announced last week that it sold its music catalog to Sony for $400 million, about 80% of what they were asking before “Roger Waters” and “Nazi” started appearing together in sentences too often.

Guitarist David Gilmour acknowledged that he was motivated to sell in part by his long-running feud with Waters, “to be rid of the decision making and the arguments that are involved with keeping it going.” The sale includes the band’s entire recorded output, including its early psychedelic period, when it was led and fronted by Syd Barrett, before his mental breakdown led to his replacement by Gilmour.

Everyone has heard the music from Pink Floyd’s mature period, from “Dark Side of the Moon” in 1973 through “The Wall” in 1979 – that’s why Sony paid so much for it. Less familiar, especially to Americans, are Barrett’s songs. Though much of the Floyd’s early material consisted of 10-minute jams – that’s what made them popular with the acid-dropping crowd at the UFO Club – he also wrote tight pop songs like this one, the band’s second single, which rose to No. 6 on the UK chart in 1979. They weren’t a singles band – most of their later albums went to No. 1 – but they wouldn’t place a single that high on the charts again until “Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)” 12 years later.