A Momentary Lapse of Reason | Pink Floyd

     A Momentary Lapse of Reason  |  Pink Floyd

  

release date:  1987

               record label:  EMI   

track
 listing:     1) Signs of Life

                 2) Learning to Fly

                 3) The Dogs of War

                 4) One Slip

                 5) On the Turning Away

                 6) Yet Another Movie / Round and Around

                 7) A New Machine Part I

                 8) Terminal Frost

                 9) A New Machine Part II

                 10) Sorrow

“one slip and down the hole we fall…”

Pink Floyd moves through the ears and plants itself firmly in the mind.  It is cerebral; the sound of uncontrolled thoughts, and at times, perhaps even nightmares.  The music is forceful; it asks us to stare into the darkness, not giving our eyes time to adjust to the low light, yet demanding that we see.  Pink Floyd is shadow music; with the lights out and the volume high the music surrounds, filling every crevice of the room as it slowly encroaches upon the listener.  It is perfect on summer nights, with the windows down, driving a car to nowhere, the music just loud enough to drown out every sound but your own thoughts – in fact, it seems to make those all the more audible.  Pink Floyd is about exploration – it was the first rock-and-roll band to be played in space.  But more than that it demands we explore a much darker, colder and lonelier place than the universe:  ourselves.

A Momentary Lapse of Reason was the first Pink Floyd album recorded after the departure of founding member Roger Waters.  Apart from serving as the band’s bassist and principal songwriter, Waters was also their de facto conceptual leader, the dominant creative force behind such classic albums as Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), and The Wall (1979).  In the early eighties resentment over Water’s growing control of the band reached a crescendo, most famously from lead guitarist and co-vocalist David Gilmour.  By 1985, Waters had left the band to pursue solo recordings and tours, even suing the remaining band members for use of the band name they once shared.  Without him, Waters felt Pink Floyd was finished; Gilmour, on the other hand, dug in his heels and promised to continue on.  A Momentary Lapse of Reason, for all intents and purposes, is a David Gilmour solo album on which the other members of Pink Floyd, Nick Mason (percussion) and Richard Wright (keyboards), play only minimal roles.  Pink Floyd lived beyond Roger Waters primarily  on the determination of David Gilmour.

The loss of their principal songwriter and main creative guide, however, does not go unnoticed.  While the music remains distinctly Pink Floyd, highlighted by the raging guitar solos of Gilmour, the lyrics do suffer a bit.  Still introspective, and certainly thought-provoking, they do not reach the genius of earlier collaborative efforts involving the whole band.  Under the leadership of Waters the band created concept albums, songs centered on common ideas or thematic elements.  For example, The Wall, written entirely by Waters, focuses on the loss of his father as a child and the effects of an English society depleted of men due to the Second World War.  In a radical departure from their previous albums Gilmour designed A Momentary Lapse of Reason as a record in which the songs are not linked; each is asked to stand on its own two feet.  Although at times the songs appear shaky, in the end they do manage to stand tall, willed that way through the grit of a band member not willing to see his life’s work end without a fight.  That I can respect, even if the album isn’t artistically on the same tier as Dark Side of the Moon.

Like other Pink Floyd albums this one offers plenty of fodder for introspection – shining a light on dark areas within ourselves that we’d much rather remain hidden.  But is this necessary?  Do I really need to examine my thoughts, feelings, dreams and nightmares?  I have a friend whom I’m convinced would make an outstanding writer – yet every time I approach the subject the answer remains the same:  “I’m afraid to go that deep into myself… to wrestle with my thoughts and feelings… to be that honest.”  It wouldn’t be prudent for everyone to publically broadcast their innermost emotions as many writers do, but it is essential that everyone, writers or not, truly know themselves.  Unfortunately this end cannot be achieved without spending a little time staring into your own darkness.  It’s scary, dirty, uncomfortable work but it is vital, for if we do not know ourselves, how can we hope to know anyone (or anything) else in this world?  The ramifications of this, however, go beyond even our human relationships.  Augustine asks in Confessions, “how can you draw close to God when you are far from your own self?”  Similarly, Saint Teresa of Avila wrote “almost all problems in the spiritual life stem from a lack of self-knowledge.”  If we cannot be honest with ourselves could we even pretend to be honest with our Creator?  Funny thing is God already knows our feelings, our worries and our doubts – instead of hiding them perhaps it would do us better to air them out to Him.  If we aren’t in touch with ourselves enough to recognize and name our feelings, worries and doubts, then we need some alone time, unplugged from our society and normal lives.  French philosopher Blaise Pascal touched on this when he commented that most of our problems as humans arise from the fact that we don’t know how to sit still in our room for an hour.                 

At various times throughout the fifty-one minutes of this album I found myself prompted to reflect upon my own feelings regarding such weighty issues as mortality, innocence and the role of fate.  Later, as a result of Gilmour’s lyrics, I began examining my life in search of how I view myself, the world around me, and even my Savior.  The beautiful thing about art is its subjective nature; I so often see the fingerprints of Christ in “secular” art that the line between it and what is considered “sacred” has, in my mind, become permanently blurred.  As unlikely as it sounds, a band from England known for its somewhat dark take on life consistently produces, a least for me, a push that sends me falling into a rabbit hole.  One slip and I am plunging inward, forced to come face-to-face with my fears, doubts, failures and even joys.  To be honest, Pink Floyd may not do that for you, but I encourage you to find something that does:  other music, silence, prayer, hiking – the possibilities are as endless as the positive results.  Society reasons that we have no need to know ourselves – instead we need only consume what they offer us.  As we learn to know and accept ourselves, however, mindless consumption no longer remains an option.  Unplug yourself from entertainment, from busyness, from task-oriented-living and make time to just be.  Think your own thoughts, doubt your own doubts and find the faith to believe your beliefs.  It just may prove to be the most important lapse of reason you ever experience.