True Meaning of "Darkside of the Moon"

[heretic]

I am new to these forums, and I'm sure a lot of you will disagree with my interpretation of the meaning of this album, but that's one thing that's great about floyd. Their music is open to interpretation, and can mean a number of different thing to different people. Once you get beyond that phase where you get stoned and listen to floyd just for the music you'll realize there is much more going on that just great musicianship and that evil label of floyd just being a "psychedelic band" and nothing more.

To me the darkside of the moon is very simple to understand once you get the main theme. What is the darkside of the moon in reality? It's the side of the moon where the sun doesn't shine. The darkside of the moon is a metaphor for mediocrity or a class system. Those of us with no say in this world or no influence, those of us who will die and be forgotten, we live on the darkside of the moon. We take life for granted and don't "breathe" in the air, we just dig holes (problems) and fill them up (resolve them or learn to deal with them) and then dig another one. Ticking away the moments that make up the dull day (wasting our lives, doing things we don't want) Filling the void with "Money." This song does more than express the meaning of the album, it takes shots as those who have plenty of it. "Fair it, share it, but don't take a slice of my pie" accurately defines what those with money, fame and recognition do. They claim to care about causes greater than themselves and claim to be good Christian boys and girls, meanwhile their first priority is themselves. (Religion is supposed to be (philosophy I've come to by listening to floyd). The song us and them is about the comparison to those of us with influence, money, or fame in society as opposed to those with none. "Us and them and after all we're only ordinary men" Other lyrics in that song like "with, without" and "up and down" further prove my point. Darkside of the moon is a metaphor for a society based on class. "Down and out, It can't be helped but there's a lot of it about. With, without. And who'll deny its what the fighting's all about. All fighting in this world really is about that. Who has and who has nothing. All fights really do come down to envy.


As for the prism or triangle. To me it further represents the meaning of the album as a whole. One dim light (darkside) and one rainbow (the lime light, side of the moon in the spotlight). The triangle represents three stages. Darkside, the spot light, and the transition from one to the other. Which is why the light passes through it. One final note, the last line "The sun is eclipsed by the moon" Means those who shine, and have influence and live in the lime light are eventually always surpassed for a brief period of time by those who have nothing.
(i.e.: revolutions, underdogs winning, or just those who nobody would expect to succeed proving everyone wrong)

[PearlWaters]

Hi there heretic...welcome to APFFN.

There's a search feature at the top of the page that you can use to locate the countless number of topics we already covered at APFFN. As you could imagine, the meaning of DSotM is one of them.
Here is one example: http://www.pinkfloydfan.net/showthre...ng+ dark+side There are more out there as well.
Prism info: http://www.pinkfloydfan.net/showthre...ng+ dark+side

So if you could add to these existing discussions, we'd appreciate it. It elimates duplicate threads, and enables users to read many diverse opinions within one thread. Thank You, PW

[GeraldTheMouse]

It's all bollocks, though, really.

[red-baron]

Good show though.

[Dr Cheese]

It's just music.

[heretic]

If you consider it just music then you're missing half the meaning. Some people see the potential music has as a means of expressing oneself or a point of view on life. Pink floyd use their music to express social commentary. Yeah some music is just good to listen to, but that SLC punk saying doesn't apply to everything. People like lennon saw that music could be much more than "just music" it's a way to put an idea out for people to discover. Maybe to you it's just music, but to me it's far from it. Ever since I started listening to pink floyd I have changed drastically. I went from being a very shy, and reclusive person who accepted everything at face value, to a shy and reclusive person who decided not to be another consumer driven materialistic american. I have floyd to thank for completely warping my view of the world. To me it's more than, "just music," but if that's all it is to you than that's ok with me. You're the one missing out.

I would also like to apologize for the duplicate thread. It won't happen again.

[Dr Cheese]

It's music, I enjoy listening to it, I've been listening to it for 26 years, I just can't be arsed looking for hidden or 'true' meanings that aren't there. However, as you say, it means different things to different people and is open to be interpreted how you like, just because I don't feel the need to dissect every note and lyric doesn't mean I'm 'missing out' on anything.

[heretic]

I don't dissect every little lyrics either, but I do acknowledge that there is something more to it than "just music." I'm sure after 26 years I'll share the same mentality. I'll grow weary of speculating it's true meaning, because the fact remains that it can mean a lot of different things depended on how we each individually interpret it. I'm also very thankful that you didn't insult me like I've seen many others do to someone else. It seems once you question someone else's perception of what this album's meaning is, you're just setting yourself up for a very lengthy and verbose attack of snide remarks. Hopefully I won't have an encounter with those who pride their whole trivial little existence on being, "The Know It all Regular."

[Ilúvatar]

Originally posted by heretic
...I'm also very thankful that you didn't insult me...

Give him time.

[Dr Cheese]

Originally posted by Illuvatar
Give him time.

Shut up you, I never insult anyone. Unless they deserve it of course. Beardy.

[Ilúvatar]

Was 'Beardy' an insult? Because I'm not insulted, what with me having a beard an all. And a fine beard at that.

[Dr Cheese]

The fact that you think it may have been an insult shows that you are secretly afraid that your beard is both socially unacceptable and also an inherrent object of ridicule. Which it is. On both counts.

[GeraldTheMouse]

Music isn't really the best place for subtle social commentary. Actually, subtle social commentary is pretty much a waste of time. If you want to enact change, you have to be blatant about it-- That's why Lennon's songs say things like 'Imagine all the people living life in peace' and 'I don't want to be a soldier, I don't want to die.' Likewise, when Pink Floyd are actually doing social commentary, they use well-known images, such as those from Animal Farm. If DSotM is social/political commentary, it does a damn poor job of it, so I'd just as soon like to think that it isn't.

[Ilúvatar]

Originally posted by Dr Cheese
The fact that you think it may have been an insult shows that you are secretly afraid that your beard is both socially unacceptable and also an inherrent object of ridicule. Which it is. On both counts.

No, I thought it was an insult because you are a compulsive insulter. I am very proud of my beard and what it stands for and am happy if it is socially unacceptable, that means it's very special and rises above normality. So being called Beardy is in fact as much an insult as me calling you a Liverpudlian. Although I understand that is insulting.

[thorin13]

c'mon people. we're forgetting the "bam!"