Meaning behind ECHOES?

Wow am I necroposting here. I'm sorry if I annoy anyone with this, but I keep finding this thread and I thought it was about time to stop lurking and add something.

Yeah, that's a bit of a tough one to understand. I took it to mean that two completely unrelated people, on a deeper level, are actually one and the same. This whole song appears to be about isolation and reaching out to connect with the world.
Return of the Son of Nothing was originally about two planets meaning in space- and also when one realizes that the other must go (that part is actually really sad). Apparently, it was first tracks 1-24 of 36 unrelated tracks of nothing, thus the name Nothing, parts 1-24. That goes back to the theme of connecting completely unrelated things.
Oh and hi, by the way.
It's nice to finally join here, even though my 7-year necropost is not a good way to introduce myself
I'm an avid Floyd fan, and I play guitar amongst a lot of other instruments. Even my guitar strap has the DSotM prism on it. But I still can't get over the fact that this forum is older than me!

Hi!

I find it frustrating that we don't have a decent transcript of the original "planets" lyrics, since Dave and Rick's voices are so indistinct on the existing recordings.

I think the song is about relationships and isolation. If anything Meddle is the band's only romantic album. The theme of isolation would be further explored in later works, most notably on WYWH.

I always felt that the lyrics were inconsequential. I could be (and probably am) wrong but I feel that the lyrics were made up to sound vaguely profound and cosmic so that a human voice could be plopped onto the "song" bit, thereby making it "accessible" to the average music listener who needs something to sing along to. If it was an instrumental like AHM, it would've been ignored just as much. Maybe if AHM had a catchy chorus at the beginning and end....

Second, who is Anderson?

The YES lyricist. Or Mr. Anderson, also known as Neo from The Matrix.