The Dark Side of the Moon was the eighth album by Pink Floyd, released on March 1, 1973 by Harvest Records. The album built on ideas explored in earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions following the departure of founding member and principal contributor, Syd Barrett, in 1968, that characterized their earlier work. It thematically explores conflict, greed, the passage of time, and mental illness, the latter partly inspired by Barrett’s deteriorating mental state.
Track listing
1. “Speak to Me”
2. “Breathe”
3. “On the Run”
4. “Time”
5. “The Great Gig in the Sky”
6. “Money”
7. “Us and Them”
8. “Any Colour You Like”
9. “Brain Damage”
10. “Eclipse”
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The album's iconic sleeve was designed by Storm Thorgerson. It depicts a prism spectrum and represents the band's lighting, the record's thematic material, and keyboardist Richard Wright's "simple and bold" design request
Eclipse Photo By: David Redfern/Redferns/Getty Images
The album was temporarily changed to Eclipse after they had discovered that the title had been used by another band. After the commercial failure of Medicine Head's album, the title was changed back to The Dark Side of the Moon
Passage of Time Photo By: Andrew Whittuck/Redferns/Getty Images
The Dark Side of the Moon thematically explores conflict, greed, the passage of time, and mental illness, the latter partly inspired by Syd Barrett's deteriorating mental state
Each side of the album is a continuous piece of music. The five tracks on each side reflect various stages of human life, beginning and ending with a heartbeat, exploring the nature of the human experience, and according to Roger Waters, "empathy
741 Weeks Photo By: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
The album was an immediate success and brought wealth to all four members. It topped the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart for one week and remained in the charts for 741 weeks from 1973 to 1988
50 Million Copies Photo By: Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images
With more than 50 million copies sold, it is Pink Floyd's most commercially successful album and one of the best-selling albums worldwide
Time Photo By: Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images
Time" is the only song on the album credited to all four members of the band, though the lyrics were written by Roger Waters. It is the final Pink Floyd song credited to all four members and the last to feature Richard Wright on lead vocals until "Wearing the Inside Out" on The Division Bell
Money Photo By: Peter Still/Redferns/Getty Images
The lyrics in "Money" are briefly referenced in the film Pink Floyd - The Wall, when the protagonist, Pink, is caught writing poems in class by his teacher. The teacher snatches the poem book from him and reads it in a sarcastic, demeaning manner, encouraging Pink's classmates to laugh. The poem is a verse of lyrics to "Money
Us and Them Photo By: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Us and Them" was released as the second single from The Dark Side of the Moon in the U.S., peaking at No. 72 on the Cash Box Top 100 Singles chart in March 1974. The song is 7 minutes, 51 seconds in length, making it the longest on the album
The line "And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes..." references Syd Barrett's behaviour near the end of his tenure with the band. Because of his mental problems, there were more than a few occasions where Barrett would play a different song than the rest of the band in the middle of a concert
