This is an essay I wrote for my college class dealing with one of the many themes in Dark Side of the Moon. I take the songs Time, Money, and Brain Damage and explain lyrically and musically how these songs revolve around the theme of madness and insanity. I hope you all really like it because i really enjoyed writing it.




The Dark Side of Madness


In 1973, one of the most famous concept albums of all time was released: “The Dark Side of the Moon. The album was written and performed by Pink Floyd who are David Gilmour (Vocals, Guitar), Roger Waters (Bass, Vocals, Lyrics), Richard Wright (Piano, Keyboard, Organ, Vocals), and Nick Mason (Drums, Percussion). Before the writing process of the album, Roger Waters stated,

“"I was getting strong urges to make extended pieces with segues between tracks and also to develop pieces where the songs have relationships. Echoes, which was one side of (the album) Meddle, was very much the father and mother of Dark Side of the Moon in that it had a lot of similar techniques.” (Pg.2 Houweling)

This ingenious thought of connections and overall themes throughout an album sparked the beginning of the songwriting process of The Dark Side of the Moon. Pink Floyd’s songs Time, Money, and Brain Damage off the album “Dark Side of the Moon” explain lyrically and musically the journey of a young man driven to madness. This analysis of one of the many motifs from the album will in an understandable way explain some components that were pertinent to the writing of this record.




The song “Time”, which appears track number four on the album, is beautifully dense lyrically and musically. The overall theme of this song is the interpretation that people have about this mysterious dimension. The song begins with a single clock ticking followed by an overbearingly loud noise of multiple clocks going off all at once. A single clock continues after the clocks fade away closely followed by guitar, bass, electric piano, and custom tuned drums. The chord progression continues very slowly for awhile until the verse kicks in. The lyrics flow in chronological order from being a young man to an old man. The first two lines,

“Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day / You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way”

show a person waiting to do something better with his life and wasting away the day doing nothing. The music is very rock and roll with all diatonic chord changes (stays in the same key). The verse is in a minor key with a F#m, A, E, F#m chord change. In this case, the minor chord progression doesn’t express sadness (which is usually associated with minor keys) but rather frustration and anger. For example, in the second verse,

“So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking / Racing around to come up behind you again”

this person is obviously trying to get back his lost life and is frustrated because time can not be taken back. When the chorus enters, the mood of the song changes in both the music and lyrics. The atmosphere changes from frustration and anger to sadness and depression. The main chord progression of D Major 7 to A Major 7 is a very sad and emotional chord progression and synchs up to the lyrics:

“Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain / You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today/ And then one day you find ten years have got behind you / No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.”.

These words obviously show a man who did not know when to start life and when it was almost over, he realized what he had lost. The inspiration came from a revelation Roger Waters had while he was writing this song:

“I suddenly realized then that year that life was already happening... life wasn’t gonna start later... at any point you can grasp the reins and start guiding your own destiny...”. ( DVD Time chapter Longfellow)

The songs ends towards the end of his life and the overall mood is depressing and sad which can drive a man to insanity.





The next song involves a concept that is easier to understand and see. The song “Money” is obviously about becoming famous and making lots of money. Sounds effects kick off this song just like the last one. It opens with 7 different sounds of cash registers moving left and right through the stereo.

“...originally recorded at an antique shop for a demonstration tape showcasing the quadraphonic sound that...was then being hyped to consumers as the heir apparent to stereo”. (Pg. 175 Schaffner)

The lead bass line follows the timing of the sounds with a bluesy feel and tone. The guitar then follows the bass line until the entire band explodes in to the mix. Like the majority of this album, the mood of this song isn’t positive at all. It truly shows the greedy, hypocritical, and evil side of money. For example, in the lyrics,

“New car, caviar, four star daydream, Think I'll buy me a football team.” and “I'm in the high-fidelity first class traveling set / And I think I need a Lear jet.”

it really shows the side of money where possessions are all that matter. The more selfish side is expressed when Gilmour sings,

“Money, get back. / I'm all right Jack keep your hands off of my stack” and “Money, it's a crime. / Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie.”.

The overall sarcastic tone that is taken with the lyrics only could be put to an awkward 7/4 time signature (7 beats to a measure) in a blues like mood. Since the song is upbeat and awkward to dance to (not an even beat), you can tell the perspective they are writing from is from the man who eventually goes mad. The song concludes with the words,

“Money, so they say / Is the root of all evil today / But if you ask for a raise it's no surprise that they're giving none away”.

At this point of the album, the concepts of death, lost time, and selfish greed have entered this man’s head. It’s only a matter of time until he loses his mind.





The last song on this list is the breaking point for madness for this man. It is rightfully called “Brain Damage”. The opening words of all the verses are

“The lunatic is on the grass...The lunatic is in the hall...The lunatic is in my head...”.

At this point of the man’s life, he has reached the point of madness. The unique use of dominant 7 chords adds a sense of madness to the song since the use of these types of chords are so rare. The modulating synthesizer keys adds even more insanity to the mix. As the verse continues on, an unnerving diminished chord holds out until the more traditional chorus comes in. The beautiful major chord progression enters and Waters sings,

“And if the dam breaks open many years too soon / And if there is no room upon the hill / And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too / I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.”

The chorus for this song is one of the first positive messages in the album. This shows that even if you are losing your mind and going mad, there is always someone in the same boat you are in to help you out. At one point of the song, the man becomes so insane that he becomes schizophrenic,

“You lock the door / And throw away the key / There's someone in my head but it's not me.”

The way the tone of the song works matches the lyrics so well. Both the concept of the lyrics and the chord changes are equally unusual. Even after a couple years of listening to this album, this song always makes me feel strange just like a love song makes you feel emotional.





In conclusion, Pink Floyd’s songs Time, Money, and Brain Damage off the album “Dark Side of the Moon” explain lyrically and musically the journey of a young man driven to madness. The overall message of these three songs are that many things can drive you to madness and make you feel strange. What one must understand is that everyone sooner or later will go mad. The way one deals with the madness around oneself and how one reacts really defines how mad a person is. Feeling that you have lost valuable time to laziness or carelessness, becoming too rich and famous that all your happiness is fake and is boughten, and becoming schizophrenic and separating yourself from everyone are terrible things. The way a man is truly defined is how he deals with everyone and everything around himself. This album was written during a very grim time and had a dark theme throughout. However, the album gave people hope and inspiration when they needed it the most. Everyone goes through similar life hardships so why not go through them together?



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