"A Saucerful of Secrets" is a multi-part instrumental composition by English rock band Pink Floyd from their 1968 album of the same name. It is nearly 12 minutes long and was composed by Roger Waters, Richard Wright, Nick Mason and David Gilmour. The track features guitar feedback, a percussion solo section and wordless vocals.
Background
The track was composed by Roger Waters and Nick Mason drawing an architectural diagram for how the music should progress. David Gilmour later said he initially wasn't sure what to play. Waters remarked it was the first thing the group had recorded after Syd Barrett's departure that was any good.
The group split the track into three sections that could be recorded independently and subsequently mixed together. Recording began on April 3 on the first two parts of track, which was re-recorded two days later. A first attempt at the third section was made at this time, but re-recorded on 9 April, with overdubs added the next day. The whole piece was mixed on 23-24 April and 1 May.
The song was Gilmour's first songwriting credit with Pink Floyd. On the original vinyl and early CD issues, his name was misspelled as "Gilmore". This was corrected with the remastered version released in 1994.
Structure
Although the song is listed on all pressings of the album as "A Saucerful of Secrets", some pressings of Ummagumma break the piece into four different sections. The first part, "Something Else", was logged as "Richard's Rave Up" when the song was recorded at EMI Studios. The second part was recorded as "Nick's Boogie" before being retitled as "Syncopated Pandemonium", while the last part is titled "Celestial Voices". and an alternative version is seen and heard in the film Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii, which was performed at the director Adrian Maben's request, as he thought it would be a good addition to the film. It was performed occasionally as an encore in 1972, with the last performance on 23 September 1972 at the Winterland Auditorium, San Francisco, California. Mason and Wright briefly considered resurrecting the instrumental for the 1987 Momentary Lapse of Reason tour, but Gilmour suggested that it sounded too archaic.
"Syncopated Pandemonium", the second part of the track, was one of the many tracks that were played at some point or another as "Doing It" (part of the conceptual concert The Man and The Journey, the focus of their 1969 tour). Others include "The Grand Vizier's Garden Party (Entertainment)", "Up the Khyber", "Party Sequence". All of these prominently feature drums.
The "Celestial Voices" section was used as the finale to The Man and the Journey concept suite, renamed to "The End of the Beginning". At a performance of the suite on 26 June 1969 at the Royal Albert Hall, Pink Floyd were joined by a full brass band and choir for the piece. Wright played the Royal Albert Hall pipe organ.
Mason revived the track for Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets shows from 2018 onwards. A recording is included on their 2020 live album Live at the Roundhouse.
Personnel
- David Gilmour – slide guitar, vocals
- Richard Wright – Farfisa organ, Hammond organ, Mellotron, piano, vibraphone, vocals
- Roger Waters – bass guitar, cymbals, vocals
- Nick Mason – drums, chimes
Cultural references
- The album The Dark Side of the Moog II (1994) by Klaus Schulze and Pete Namlook is subtitled "A Saucerful of Ambience".