Marooned (instrumental)

"Marooned" is an instrumental track on Pink Floyd's 1994 album, The Division Bell.[1] It is the only Pink Floyd track to ever win a Grammy Award.[2]

"Marooned"
Instrumental by Pink Floyd
from the album The Division Bell
PublishedPink Floyd Music (1987) Ltd
Released28 March 1994 (UK)
5 April 1994 (US)
Recorded1993
GenreProgressive rock, post-rock, instrumental rock, space rock
Length5:28
2:02 (Echoes version)
6:38 (Echoes version combined with “The Great Gig in the Sky”)
LabelEMI (UK)
Columbia (US)
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)

Writing and recording

The piece was written by Richard Wright and David Gilmour.[1] It has sounds that describe the setting as an island, such as the sounds of seagulls and waves crashing on the shore. It was composed while jamming aboard the Astoria in early 1993. Gilmour processed the guitar sound with a DigiTech Whammy pedal to pitch-shift notes entire octaves.[3] Also in the background can be heard wailing guitar effects by Gilmour, reminiscent of the song "Echoes". Wright's grand piano parts (originally played and recorded on a Kurzweil) were recorded at Olympic Studios in London.

David Gilmour has mentioned that "pretty much" all of "Marooned" is improvised and that he "probably took three or four passes at it and took the best bits out of each".[3]

Reception

Stereogum opined that the instrumental "stands out primarily as a song that sounds as much like Pink Floyd as anything on their mid-'70s releases. The song roots itself to Gilmour's familiar lonesome melodic guitar descants threading themselves through the trademark mood setting and foundation of Mason's drum work and the invaluable Wright's keyboard deviations."[4] Contrastingly, Vulture wrote that "[m]arooned is how you feel listening to this pallid, five-minute-and-thirty-second guitar solo."[5]

The instrumental won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards in 1995.[6]

Live and other releases

This song has only been played live three times: On the two dates in Oslo, Norway (one of which is featured in the bonus features on the Pulse DVD) on the 1994 "The Division Bell" tour and at "The Strat Pack" charity concert, for the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar, where Gilmour played his "#0001" Stratocaster.[7]

An excerpt of the music is featured on Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd.[8]

In 2014, for the twentieth anniversary of the original release of The Division Bell, a music video for the song was produced and released on the official Pink Floyd website as well as the anniversary box set of the album. Aubrey Powell of Hipgnosis directed the video, filming some parts in the abandoned city of Pripyat,[9] Ukraine during the first week of April 2014.[10]

Personnel

with:

References
  1. Mabbett, Andy (1995). The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd. London: Omnibus. ISBN 0-7119-4301-X.
  2. Grammys Official Website
  3. "Sounds of Silence" interview, Guitar World, September 1994 Archived 20 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 28 July 2010
  4. "The Division Bell (1994) Stereogum". www.stereogum.com. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  5. Wyman, Bill. "All 165 Pink Floyd Songs Ranked, From Worst to Best". Vulture. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  6. "37th Annual Grammy Awards - 1995". Rock On The Net. 1 March 1995. Retrieved 4 June 2010.
  7. "David Gilmour Equipboard". Equipboard. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  8. "Echoes: the album credits". Pink Floyd. Archived from the original on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  9. Johns, Matt (19 May 2014). "Pink Floyd release new Marooned video...and TDB20 countdown!". brain-damage.co.uk. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  10. "Pink Floyd to Release 20th Anniversary Box Set of "The Division Bell"" (Press release). 20 May 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
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