Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict

"Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict" is a track written and performed by Roger Waters from the 1969 Pink Floyd double album, Ummagumma.[2][3] It holds the distinction of having the longest title of any of the band's songs.

"Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict"
Song by Pink Floyd
from the album Ummagumma
PublishedLupus Music Ltd.
Released25 October 1969 (UK)
10 November 1969 (US)
Recorded2 May 1969
GenreExperimental[1]
Length4:59
LabelHarvest Records
Songwriter(s)Roger Waters
Producer(s)Norman Smith

Sounds and recording

The track consists of several minutes of noises resembling rodents and birds simulated by Waters' voice and other techniques,[4] such as tapping the microphone played at different speeds, followed by Waters providing a few stanzas of spoken word in an exaggerated Scottish burr.[5][6]

The Picts were the indigenous people of what is now Scotland who merged with the Scots.

There is a hidden message in the song at about 4:32. If played at half speed, Waters can be heard to say, "That was pretty avant-garde, wasn't it?"[7] (sample ). Also, at the very end of the rant, Waters is heard to say, "Thank you."

A small sample of these effects can also be heard at about 4:48 on Waters' other track on Ummagumma, "Grantchester Meadows".

"It's not actually anything, it's a bit of concrete poetry. Those were sounds that I made, the voice and the hand slapping were all human generated – no musical instruments."

— Roger Waters, University of Regina Carillon Interview, October 1970[8]

The title of the Man or Astro-man? song "Many Pieces of Large Fuzzy Mammals Gathered Together at a Rave and Schmoozing with a Brick" is based on this song.

A quotation in the Karl Edward Wagner novel Bloodstone (1975) pays tribute to the song: "several species of small furry animals gathered together in cave and grooving with a pict."

Personnel

References
  1. Guesdon, Jean-Michel; Margotin, Philippe (October 24, 2017). Pink Floyd All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. Running Press. p. 592. ISBN 978-0316439237. The Floyd's right-hand man Ron Geesin was an influence on Roger Water's experimental track "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict" on Ummagumma.
  2. Strong, Martin C. (2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 1177. ISBN 1-84195-551-5.
  3. Mabbett, Andy (1995). The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd. London: Omnibus Press. p. 28. ISBN 0-7119-4301-X.
  4. Manning, Toby (2006). "The Albums". The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd (1st ed.). London: Rough Guides. p. 161. ISBN 1-84353-575-0.
  5. Blake, Mark: Pigs Might Fly - The Inside Story of Pink Floyd, p. 136, 2007, Aurum
  6. Povey, Glen: The Complete Pink Floyd - The Ultimate Reference, p. 133, 2016, Carlton
  7. From Abracadabra to Zombies, The Skeptic's Dictionary.
  8. University of Regina Carillon Interview, Pink-Floyd.org.
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