A Momentary Lapse Of Reason

1- Signs Of Life Written by: Gilmour & Bob Ezrin Running Time: 4:25 Rating: *** Comments:  This is a soft instrumental to lead you into the album.  It begins with boat noises, and then the music comes in gently, and background voices come in.  This song is not bad, but it's not particularly beautiful.  It is somewhat strong at some parts, but for the most part, it is fairly weak. (no lyrics)

2- Learning To Fly Written by: Gilmour & Anthony Moore, Bob Ezrin, Jon Carin Running Time: 4:53 Other Versions: P*U*L*S*E Rating: **** Comments:  Although this is a great song, I believe it is somewhat overrated.  This is far from being the best song on the album.  The lyrics aren't very good, and while the music is great to listen to, it's not very strong emotionally.  I think the problem is that while "Learning To Fly" is a metaphor, it is not expressed metaphorically, in that this song seems to be more about actually learning how to fly a plane.  This is not a very Floydian concept, and lacks the emotion that Waters had brought to the group, and that Gilmour would later prove himself capable of.  Nevertheless, this song is a very good song on its own. Lyrics: into the distance, a ribbon of black stretched to the point of no turning back a flight of fancy on a wind-swept field standing alone, my senses reel a fatal attraction is holding me fast how can i escape this irrestistable grasp? can't keep my eyes from the circling sky 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 find 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 above the planet, on a wing and a prayer my grubby halo, the vapour trail and the empty air across the clouds i see me shadow fly out of the corner of my watering eye a dream unthreatened by the morning light can 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 mind from the circling skies tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, i

3- The Dogs Of War Written by: Gilmour & Anthony Moore Running Time: 6:08 Rating: ** Comments:  This is the worst song on the album, and one of the worst songs ever produced by Pink Floyd.  While it does have an O.K. instrumental, the rest is little more than bad lyrics to a steady and boring beat.  If it does have a serious message, it is certainly not conveyed very well.  The only good thing about it is how Gilmour skillfully sings it, but the lyrics seem like they were just thrown together so as to fit the rhyme scheme, without any real thought being put behind them. Lyrics: dogs of war and men of hate with no cause, we don't discriminate discovery is to be dis-owned 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 webs we weave one world, it's a battleground one world, and we're gonna smash it down one world...one world...oh whoah invisible transfers and long distance calls hollow laughter and 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 our 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 they're gonna smash it down one world...oh whoah...one world...oh whoah the dogs of war won'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're gonna smash it down one world...one world...oh whoah...one world...one world

4- One Slip Written by: Gilmour & Phil Manzanera Running Time: 5:07 Rating: **** Comments:  This song has a terrific melody, and powerful music, but the lyrics just aren't as powerful as most Pink Floyd works are.  To me, this seems like a song about sex, and the mistakes we make in our personal life.  This message seems a little too 1-dimensional to me, so I find it hard to really enjoy this song.  If you ignore the lyrics, this is an excellent song, with fast, strong music that can actually move you on its own. Lyrics: 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 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 without a thought of the consequence we gave into our 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 just one 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 sewn 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 to a life the one regret, you will never forget there'll be no sleep in here tonight

5- On The Turning Away Written by: Gilmour & Anthony Moore Running Time: 5:39 RANKING: #16  ****** Comments:  This is one of the most beautiful songs ever written.  The lyrics are the first truly great ones that David Gilmour ever wrote, and they are some of his finest.  The music is soft at the beginning, with the lyrics dominating the song and reaching deeply.  The instrumental in this song is absolutely amazing.  The only thing wrong with it is that it doesn't last longer, but it is long enough to inspire heavy emotion.  This is the best song on the album, and one of the best songs of the post-Waters Floyd era. Lyrics: 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 joing in the turning away it's a sin that somehow light is changing to shadow and casting its 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 as strange 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 Written by: Gilmour & Patrick Leonard 6a- Round And Round Written by: Gilmour Running Time: 7:27 Rating: ***** Comments:  This is also an excellent song.  The beginning is a very nice effect of synthesizers and drums, and the music gets better when the melody sets in.  The lyrics may not be very deep, but they sound very good with Gilmour singing them and then being echoed.  The instrumental two thirds of the way through the song is amazing, and the last part of the song, "Round And Round" is short and simple, yet good.  Humphrey Bogart's speech from "Casablanca" is sampled in the instrumental after the last verse, and adds a nice touch.  This is one of the best songs of the album, and it also works very well on it's own. Lyrics: one sound, one single sound one kiss, one single kiss the 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, and he's not the best and still this ceaseless murmuring the babbling that i brook seas of faces, eyes upraised the empty screen, the vacant look the man in black on a snow-white horse this pointless lie has run its course the red-rimmed eyes, the tears still run as he fades into the setting sun

7- A New Machine (part 1) Written by: Gilmour Running Time: 1:46 Rating: **** Comments:  This is a heavily underrated track.  While most people would skip over it, those who understand it and know how deep the words are will be affected by them as they are belted out with that eerie machine-like quality backed up by the humming of the keyboards.  It's chilling. Lyrics: i have always been here i have always looked out from behind these 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 that it's 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 Written by: Gilmour Running Time: 6:17 Rating: ***** Comments:  This is one of the most powerful instrumentals that David Gilmour has ever written.  There is not much guitar work here, but that's one of the reasons it's so special.  This song invokes so many images of love and beauty, and it does so so simply.  It starts out sounding as if you're looking for something, or striving towards a goal, then it begins to build-up, you're about to finally reach what you wanted.  Then the climax hits, the saxophone comes blaring in, and your soul is transported to new heights. It's incredibly moving and powerful.  Then it goes back to sound like it did in the beginning, only now with the feeling that your journey is over, and you have what you have been longing for.  The meaning is up to anyone who listens to it, but whatever the message, it is a strong one. (no lyrics)

9- A New Machine (part 2) Written by: Gilmour Running Time: 0:38 Rating: **** Comments:  The second half of this intense lyrical masterpiece puts closure on the ideas it presented in the first. Lyrics: i will always be 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 Written by: Gilmour Running Time: 8:48 Other Versions: P*U*L*S*E RANKING (different version): #6  (this version *****) Comments:  The closing to this album is strong.  Gilmour's guitar blares in at the beginning, with a simple yet very strong solo.  Then the drums come in, and soon the lyrics.  These lyrics are so sad, and so beautiful at the same time.  The instrumental that comes after the last words are sung is amazing, but not nearly as good as the P*U*L*S*E version, which is almost on the same level as the studio version of "Comfortably Numb".  This song is wonderful and touching, and the perfect ending to this heavily music-driven album. Lyrics: 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 and curdled with fright his knees have trembled and 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 roll 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 than words of promises broken

Released: 1987 by Columbia Records Running Time: 51:08 Ranking: #8 out of 14 studio albums Album Highlight: On The Turning Away Album Weak Point: The Dogs Of War Average Song Rating: **** Comments:  There is very little conceptualism in this album, but the songs stand out well on their own.  Some songs towards the beginning aren't very good, but the second half of this album achieves the same kind of brilliance that is usually found in Pink Floyd albums.  "On The Turning Away" is a magnificent song, but "Yet Another Movie" and "Sorrow"are not close behind.  The lyrics, for the most part, are not half as good as the lyrics on the previous or the following album, but they work well on their own, just as the music does.