Oft Forgotten Albums: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

by: Chad Perry

If we were only to define an artist’s success by their role in the pop-culture lexicon then our view on all things creative would fit nicely into a little box. And as we all should know by now, nothing truly creative fits nicely into a little box...unless of course that box happens to belong to Pandora.

That having been said; enter: Pink Floyd.

Most people, when asked to name a Pink Floyd album tend to have quick recall based on commercial success, therefore it almost always comes back to Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and The Wall (1979). This means that people often remain oblivious to the seven albums they released before recording the landmark Dark Side album. That record, of course, would launch the band into the stratosphere and begin the most prolific and commercially successful period in the band’s career; but that is not where their story began.

The earlier albums are often overlooked by the careless listener and their singles rarely get any radio airplay, even from stations that claim to be classic rock or album oriented in their programming. I hope that the following musings on the early career of Pink Floyd’s will ignite a desire for some to seek out the origins of these icons.

Let us travel back to 1967 in London. A band, originally known by several names, including The Tea Sets (or The T-Sets), The Screaming Abdabs, and several other forgettable monikers, finally released their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), under the name The Pink Floyd (after two of their favorite blues musicians). The Piper, was quickly given the distinction of being named as the prime example of late 60’s British psychedelic rock. From the static of a radio broadcast, a simple guitar chord, and the Morse code intro to the album’s first song “Astronomy Domine”; The Piper grabs the listener and begins a journey that will last the length of an album. “Astronomy” takes you from the Earth and into the universe; a trip that allows the listener to become introspective as one turns the monocle onto themselves.

Following “Astronomy Domine” is “Lucifer Sam”, an equally compelling song about a mysterious, Siamese cat that is always by your side. The slight tempo changes as well as complex chord progressions are little nuances often overlooked by the casual music fan. And once the song is over, the question still remains: Is Lucifer Sam just a cat, or are you the one that is sitting beside something bigger?

The next two songs are “Matilda Mother” and “Flaming” and they aptly lead us further along on our journey, while continuing to delve into even more absurdist topics. And then we come to “Pow R. Toc H.” a piano based jazz tune that takes the album in a whole new direction; a direction of playful whimsy where anything can happen. The soft trickle of piano notes welcomes us like the slow burn after the first swallow of good scotch. No one is quite sure what the name truly means but we do know that at around the half-way point we are jerked back by that hallucinatory ride that is The Piper. Floyd finds the psychedelia without losing the dark, smoky jazz that welcomed us at the beginning of the song.

“Pow R. Toc H.” is much like the second hill on a rollercoaster, that breath you get at the crest of the second peak, just before once again being sent barreling down into a terrifying free-fall.

It truly is a slight breath right before “Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk” sends you hurling down the other side, through the loop and into the flats once again. The driving opening drum line and pop feel will wake up any listener who has truly had an out of body experience and will bring them back to lucidity.

After the awakening, be ready because the ride isn’t over yet. Instead you return to space by way of the musical ship known as “Interstellar Overdrive”. This is an ugly discordant mess that somehow managers to sound like music when logic and reason says that it shouldn’t. It sounds like the members of the band simply picked up their instruments and each began playing different songs at the same time.

Now that you are flung into the deepest reaches of your mind, you will meet Grimble Crumble who is the main character in “The Gnome”. And what do you expect gnomes to do but sit in their homes drinking wine? And once again the formidable question is raised - is this song about a gnome or is it about you?

Now onto “Chapter 24”, this is more of a movement than it really is a song, almost as if it belongs to a larger piece of work. It’s completed in six abstract stages and in the seventh we are returned to the beginning of the piece. “Chapter 24” is by far the trippiest song in the collection as it refers to the cyclical nature of the universe and our inability to break the cycle. The song also raises questions about the truths their parents asked them to blindly accept, such as: change returns success, action brings good fortune, and the fact the nothing can be destroyed completely. After listening to “Chapter 24” everybody should feel better about their position in the cosmos, because we are all part of something bigger.

Finally, “Scarecrow” and “Bike” close out The Piper. These two songs will ground the even best individual. The simple clip-clop sound of “Scarecrow” is reminiscent of the old nursery school songs that we all once knew. And “Bike” begins with the description of a bike that you would like but will never attain. The narrator has no house but does know a mouse named Gerald who just so happens to be a good mouse; and they know a girl that would fit into my world. Finally, the last 30 seconds of the album hurl the listener backward; once again through the wild ride from which they had just come, left to wonder where exactly they might land.

Listen. Enjoy. Take a trip with Pink Floyd and even if no “trip” is taken, you can’t help but follow the hallowed sound of a Piper all the way to the gates of dawn.