The only Pink Floyd song that David Gilmour called a favorite

Pink Floyd was not afraid to create compositions that broke the mold. It’s telling that while many bands spent their time chasing their next hit single and adapting their sound to radio demands, Pink Floyd cared solely about albums. All songs had to connect contextually to create a body of work that was greater than the sum of its parts.

A good example of this admirable quality, which made Pink Floyd great, is ‘Echoes’ from 1971 Interfere. With a running time of 23 minutes, Pink Floyd showcases their most exceptional qualities throughout the song, offering the first glimpse of the sonic trajectory they will be on over the next decade.

The highlight of the composition is the beautiful duel between Gilmour and keyboardist Richard Wright, who misses the Pink Floyd guitarist enormously. Their special bond puts the grandiose song in a class of its own for the musician.

During Gilmour’s online von captured series of videos in 2021, he spoke about the song when asked about his favorite Pink Floyd song. “Echoes,” I would think, he replied snappily. “’Echoes’ was a lot of fun to play, especially on my last solo tour with Rick Wright, a duet between him and me. There could and should no longer be any playing now that he is dead.”

Gilmour has stayed true to his word on ‘Echoes’. It remains absent from his setlists because it wouldn’t be right if someone else took Wright’s place, and no one else could capture the magic they once made together. Although Gilmour is happy to play many Pink Floyd tracks during his solo shows, ‘Echoes’ remains off-limits.

Furthermore, according to Gilmour, the song was crucial to the band’s development and production Interfere what it was. Looking back on the album with Guitarworld in 1993 he said: ‘Well, I think ‘Echoes’ is the masterpiece of the album – the album where we all discovered what Pink Floyd is about. ‘One Of These Days’ is a small side piece that emerged from the work on ‘Echoes’.”

He continued: “I’ve always loved it. It’s critical, I think, yes. In any case, a lot shorter – better for radio play. Interfere is really the album where all four of us found our way – what we wanted Pink Floyd to be. Much more than on Ummagumma or Atomic Heart Mother.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, Gilmour discussed the long road Pink Floyd took before recording the 1973 recordings. The dark side of the moon. He noted how early songs like “A Saucerful of Secrets” and “Atom Heart Mother” helped them decipher the band they wanted to become before “Echoes” served as the final piece in the puzzle.

Not only is ‘Echoes’ a striking song from Pink Floyd’s repertoire, which set them on the path to writing rock history with The dark side of the moonbut it is also a poignant reminder of the irreplaceable bond he shared with his late friend.

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