anonymous November 1st, 2005 10:21AM  
The last two comments are wrong.

It WAS Claire Tory, not that other person, and it was NOT made to sync up with the film, that's just a happy coincidence.

Claire was also told to sing about all the troubles in the world not sing as if she is having an orgasm in song form. geez.

PS- she also thought it was really crap, but all the band agreed it was amazing.

anonymous November 1st, 2005 01:08PM  
A few other notes on this track: with little direction from the band members, Clare Torry decided to form her voice as an instrument, playing lead throughout the backing track. At the time, she was very embarrassed and taken back by how it sounded ('screechy', a whole lot of 'caterwauling'), never thinking that any of her takes were usable for the final mix. She was paid 30GBP for her work as a session singer, along with lead vocal credits for the track. Much later, she sued for full rights as composer, as it was her improvisational vocal melody lines that made the track what is was, with no supplied score to read from. Just this year, the company settled for an undisclosed, but likely, a very substantial sum.

The whispered line during the middle of the track is an answer to one of the cue card questions posed by Roger Waters for his ambient voices idea to add some organic mystique to the project. The question was thought to be "(Why) are you frightened of dying." The soft female voice responds, "I never said I was frightened of dying." The phrase is not that of any of the singers (just a person on the street, or in the studio area, to whom these questions were posed), and it is not the commonly mis-heard/mis-quoted, "If you can hear this, you are dying." Listen closely, and you'll hear for yourself.

anonymous January 16th, 2007 03:54PM  
I was 13 years old when this song came out. I was blessed to become a paid musician for most of my life. "Great Gig in the Sky" is the song my family is instructed to play at my funeral. My interpretation is this: A woman wakes to find that she is no longer amoung the living. Her spirit responds with shock, horror about things she did not do that she should have done. The pain she experienced in life, the people she will miss, loves she lost. Then she comes to terms with the present and begins to entertain the heavenly host with all of heart & soul.
Check me out at: www.youtube.com/user/woodstockgranny
Peace!

anonymous December 25th, 2007 09:09AM  
"I never said I was frightened of dying"
read this again
and again
again!!
HE NEVER SAID HE WAS
and then
...I WAS FRIGHTENED OF DYING.
don't you realise this is a story in the likeness of life,I mean without the courage to end or strength to carry on..
just like a Flaubert's smile that floated without any support in the air.
This song will be played at my funeral.I wrote that already as one of my last wishes..
and we ARE afraid of dying. Hard to admit but...

anonymous June 23rd, 2008 03:36AM  
Okay, just mentioning this to clear this ALL up, as most people seem to have random inaccuracies in what they say:

-The vocal solo is done by Claire Torry.
-She DID sue them for a large amount of money, in about 2004, and won, having her name listed in the credit of the PULSE dvd.
-She was absolutely NOT told to sing like she was having an orgasm. She was told to think about some depressing stuff, and told explicitly not to form words.
-She did the recording in four takes.
-She was not happy with it, despite the band thinking it was magnificent.
-The person who talks at the beginning Is in fact, a doorman.
-The second person to speak in the song (the woman) is in fact, Naomi Watts' mother, Myfanwy Watts.
-Several times, Pink Floyd have denied the idea that the album Dark Side of the Moon is made to play along with The Wizard of Oz, stating that it is simply coincidence.
-It is a great song.

anonymous August 21st, 2008 01:03PM  
I saw a documentary about Pink Floyd and it said that they DID tell her to sing like she was having an orgasm...and that it was one take. So, I don't know where you heard that it wasn't...where would that be? (considering I saw Waters actually say it on t.v.)

tatbrat April 8th, 2009 10:14PM  
All I can say for this song is that it is comforting and soothing. If you need a good cry...this song is it.

anonymous January 19th, 2010 03:24PM  
This song is about life first of all. Notice how in the beginning it's strong and full of life as if it was the beginning of her life being healthy and young. Then it gets a little slower now that she's getting older. Finally it's slow and sad that she's dying and at the end is dead.

About the wizard of oz going with the the album it wasn't on purpose but it is better watching Dark Side of the Moon to Alice in Wonderland. It's More in sync than Wizard of oz and it's trippier. When Alice is crying the best of the song is in sync with her teardrops falling down but you just have yo get it perfect first.

Truth_Exposer January 21st, 2010 05:50PM  
I'll clear this up for everyone. Clare Torry's vocals are simulating the man's life from his birth right up to his death. You can "hear" the good times as well as the low points in his life. At the end is his final breath...