PINK FLOYD


A Momentary Lapse Of Reason

(1987)



1. Signs Of Life 4'23
(David Gilmour / Bob Ezrin)
2. Learning To Fly 4'53
(David Gilmour / Anthony Moore / Bob Ezrin / Jon Carin)
3. Dogs Of War 6'09
(David Gilmour / Anthony Moore)
4. One Slip 5'07
(David Gilmour / Phil Manzanera)
5. On The Turning Away 5'42
(David Gilmour / Anthony Moore)
6. Yet Another Movie / Round And Around 7'28
(David Gilmour / Pat Leonard)
7. A New Machine, Part 1 1'46
(David Gilmour)
8. Terminal Frost 6'17
(David Gilmour)
9. A New Machine, Part 2 0'39
(David Gilmour)
10. Sorrow 8'46
(David Gilmour)

Total Time: 51:10


  • David Gilmour - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals, Sequencing
  • Michael Landau - Guitar
  • Richard Wright - Piano, Keyboards, Hammond Organ, Vocals, Kurzweil Synthesizer
  • Jon Carin - Keyboards
  • Bob Ezrin - Keyboards, Percussion, Sequencing
  • Pat Leonard - Synthesizer
  • Bill Payne - Hammond Organ
  • Tony Levin - Bass Guitar, Stick
  • John Halliwell - Saxophone
  • Tom Scott - Alto Sax, Soprano Sax
  • Scott Page - Tenor Sax
  • Nick Mason - Acoustic Drums, Electric Drums, Percussion, Sound Effects
  • Jim Keltner - Drums
  • Carmine Appice - Drums
  • Steve Forman - Percussion
  • Phyllis Saint James - Background Vocals
  • Donnie Garrard - Background Vocals
  • Carmen Twillie - Background Vocals
  • Darlene Koldenhoven - Background Vocals

    Bob Ezrin - Producer
    David Gilmour - Producer
    Richard Shaw - Producer, Photo Production
    Guy Charbonneau - Engineer
    Stan Katayama - Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant
    Robert Hrycyna - Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant
    Jeff DeMorris - Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant
    Marc DeSisto - Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant
    Andrew Jackson - Sound Effects, Recording, Mixing
    Doug Sax - Mastering
    James Guthrie - Remixing, Remastering Supervisor
    Andrew W. Ellis - Design
    Robert Dowling - Photography
    David P. Bailey - Photography, Portraits
    NEXUS - Artwork, Concept, Cover Design
    Storm Thorgerson - Artwork, Art Direction, Concept, Cover Design
    MEKON - Illustrations

    Special Thanks To:
    Anthony Moore, Phil Manzanera, Langley Iddens, Tim Daly & Mike Wennick



    1. Signs Of Life

      ( instrumental)

    2. Learning To Fly

      Into the distance, a ribbon of black
      Stretched to the point of no turning back
      A flight of fancy on a windswept field
      Standing alone my senses reeled
      A fatal attraction holding me fast, how
      Can I escape this irresistible grasp?

      Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
      Tongue-tied and twisted Just an earth-bound misfit, I

      Ice is forming on the tips of my wings
      Unheeded warnings, I thought I thought of everything
      No navigator to guide my way home
      Unladened, empty and turned to stone

      A soul in tension that's learning to fly
      Condition grounded but determined to try
      Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
      Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I
    Friction lock - set.
    Mixture - rich
    Propellors - fully forward
    Flaps - set - 10 degrees
    Engine guages and suction - check
    Mixture set to maximum percent - recheck
    Flight instruments...
    Altimeters - check both
    (grabled word) - on
    Navigation lights - on
    Strobes - on
    (to tower): Confirm 3-8-Echo ready for departure
    (tower): Hello again, this is now 129.4
    (to tower): 129.4. It's to go.
    (tower): You may commence your takeoff, winds over 10 knots.
    (to tower): 3-8-Echo
    Easy on the brakes. Take it easy. Its gonna roll this time.
    Just hand the power gradually, and it ...
      Above the planet on a wing and a prayer,
      My grubby halo, a vapour trail in the empty air,
      Across the clouds I see my shadow fly
      Out of the corner of my watering eye
      A dream unthreatened by the morning light
      Could blow this soul right through the roof of the night

      There's no sensation to compare with this
      Suspended animation, A state of bliss
      Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
      Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I

    3. Dogs Of War

      Dogs of war and men of hate
      With no cause, we don't discriminate
      Discovery is to be disowned
      Our currency is flesh and bone
      Hell opened up and put on sale
      Gather 'round and haggle
      For hard cash, we will lie and deceive
      Even our masters don't know the web we weave

      One world, it's a battleground
      One world, and we will smash it down
      One world ... One world

      Invisible transfers, long distance calls,
      Hollow laughter in marble halls
      Steps have been taken, a silent uproar
      Has unleashed the dogs of war
      You can't stop what has begun
      Signed, sealed, they deliver oblivion
      We all have a dark side, to say the least
      And dealing in death is the nature of the beast

      One world, it's a battleground
      One world, and we will smash it down
      One world ... One world

      The dogs of war don't negotiate
      The dogs of war won't capitulate,
      They will take and you will give,
      And you must die so that they may live
      You can knock at any door,
      But wherever you go, you know they've been there before
      Well winners can lose and things can get strained
      But whatever you change, you know the dogs remain.

      One world, it's a battleground
      One world, and we will smash it down
      One world ... One world

    4. One Slip

      A restless eye across a weary room
      A glazed look and I was on the road to ruin
      The music played and played as we whirled without end
      No hint, no word her honour to defend

      I will, I will she sighed to my request
      And then she tossed her mane while my resolve was put to the test
      Then drowned in desire, our souls on fire
      I lead the way to the funeral pyre
      And without a thought of the consequence
      I gave in to my decadence

      One slip, and down the hole we fall
      It seems to take no time at all
      A momentary lapse of reason
      That binds a life for life
      A small regret, you won't forget,
      There'll be no sleep in here tonight

      Was it love, or was it the idea of being in love?
      Or was it the hand of fate, that seemed to fit just like a glove?
      The moment slipped by and soon the seeds were sown
      The year grew late and neither one wanted to remain alone

      One slip, and down the hole we fall
      It seems to take no time at all
      A momentary lapse of reason
      That binds a life for life
      A small regret, you will never forget,
      There'll be no sleep in here tonight

    5. On The Turning Away

      On the turning away
      >From the pale and downtrodden
      And the words they say
      Which we won't understand
      "Don't accept that what's happening
      Is just a case of others' suffering
      Or you'll find that you're joining in
      The turning away"

      It's a sin that somehow
      Light is changing to shadow
      And casting it's shroud
      Over all we have known
      Unaware how the ranks have grown
      Driven on by a heart of stone
      We could find that we're all alone
      In the dream of the proud

      On the wings of the night
      As the daytime is stirring
      Where the speechless unite
      In a silent accord
      Using words you will find are strange
      And mesmerised as they light the flame
      Feel the new wind of change
      On the wings of the night

      No more turning away
      >From the weak and the weary
      No more turning away
      >From the coldness inside
      Just a world that we all must share
      It's not enough just to stand and stare
      Is it only a dream that there'll be
      No more turning away?

    6. Yet Another Movie / Round And Around

      One sound, one single sound
      One kiss, one single kiss
      A face outside the window pane
      However did it come to this?

      A man who ran, a child who cried
      A girl who heard, a voice that lied
      The sun that burned a fiery red
      The vision of an empty bed

      The use of force, he was so tough
      She'll soon submit, she's had enough
      The march of fate, the broken will
      Someone is lying very still

      He has laughed and he has cried
      He has fought and he has died
      He's just the same as all the rest
      He's not the worst, he's not the best

      And still this ceaseless murmuring
      The babbling that I brook
      The seas of faces, eyes upraised
      The empty screen, the vacant look

      A man in black on a snow white horse,
      A pointless life has run its course,
      The red rimmed eyes, the tears still run
      As he fades into the setting sun

        M: You're going on that plane to take you where you belong.
        W: But no, I have...
        M: You have got to listen to me. Do you have any idea what
        you have to look forward to if you stay here? Nine chances
        out of 10 we both end up in a concentration camp and that....
        W: You're only saying these things to make me go.
        M: I'm saying it 'cause it's true. Inside us, we both know we
        belong in different......
        .... maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the
        rest of your life.
        W: But what about us?
        But what about us ?
      (instrumental)

      But what about us ?

    7. A New Machine, Part 1

      I have always been here
      I have always looked out from behind the eyes
      It feels like more than a lifetime
      Feels like more than a lifetime

      Sometimes I get tired of the waiting
      Sometimes I get tired of being in here
      Is this the way it has always been?
      Could it ever have been different?

      Do you ever get tired of the waiting?
      Do you ever get tired of being in there?
      Don't worry, nobody lives forever,
      Nobody lives forever

    8. Terminal Frost

      (instrumental)

    9. A New Machine, Part 2

      I will always be in here
      I will always look out from behind these eyes
      It's only a lifetime
      It's only a lifetime
      It's only a lifetime

    10. Sorrow

      The sweet smell of a great sorrow lies over the land
      Plumes of smoke rise and merge into the leaden sky:
      A man lies and dreams of green fields and rivers,
      But awakes to a morning with no reason for waking

      He's haunted by the memory of a lost paradise
      In his youth or a dream, he can't be precise
      He's chained forever to a world that's departed
      It's not enough, it's not enough

      His blood has frozen & curdled with fright
      His knees have trembled & given way in the night
      His hand has weakened at the moment of truth
      His step has faltered

      One world, one soul
      Time pass, the river rolls

        It's not enough it's not enough
        His hand has faltered
        .... .... ......

      And he talks to the river of lost love and dedication
      And silent replies that swirl invitation
      Flow dark and troubled to an oily sea
      A grim intimation of what is to be

      There's an unceasing wind that blows through this night
      And there's dust in my eyes, that blinds my sight
      And silence that speaks so much louder that words,
      Of promises broken