The decade in which I was born has given me a strange perspective on its music. I discovered pretty much all of the 70’s sounds – from prog rock to punk to disco – well after they came into the world. It wasn’t until the late 80’s that I discovered what I was missing. I would characterize the decade as one where budding genres leaped off their inspiration pads and came to fruition. For the month of February, Mental Jukebox will feature some of these gems with a different 70’s song each day. #28DaysOf70sSongs
There’s not much left to be said about The Dark Side of the Moon that hasn’t already been said. Critics and fans adore it and consider it one of the most groundbreaking albums of all time. There’s also a minority that considers it an overrated album that doesn’t deserve the attention it has garnered. The Dark Side of the Moon hung in the balance between classic, straight-ahead rock and progressive rock. It was the bridge for many music listeners into prog rock forms. It was a stoner’s album. Its album cover was iconic – a perfect image for a t-shirt or bedroom poster. It was all of these things. But, for me, there was one more thing about it. When I first heard the album and the song “Brain Damage”, they were like markers in my music discovery. There was no turning back.
While “Money”, “Time” and “Us and Them” were easy for me to digest, there was something different about “Brain Damage”. It was slightly uncomfortable to listen to and utterly irresistible at the same time. Waters lamented “The lunatic is in my head”. When I heard those words for the first time as a teenager, I felt like I somehow understood what he was talking about. I felt like I knew the lunatic even if if I couldn’t name it. The instrumentation is characterized by a quiet-loud-quiet dynamic, a four-part backing vocal troupe and Gilmour’s languid, mindless guitar playing. But the most recognizable element is the sinister laugh track. Play it a couple of times and it becomes implanted in your head.
“And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes, I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.”