Alternative Echoes lyrics for verse 1

Post by **Keith Jordan** » Fri May 30, 2003 9:52 am

What exactly are the lyrics? I cannot hear them too well myself. perhaps somebody will have a go at working them out from the recording below?

http://www.neptunepinkfloyd.co.uk/audio/misc/echoes.mp3 (1.01MB)

David Smith · Post by **David Smith** » Fri May 30, 2003 12:36 pm

Cheers for that, nice clip but i couldn't make out the lyrics either.

FloydNZ · Post by **FloydNZ** » Fri May 30, 2003 2:40 pm

While waiting for the mp3 to download i found this....

This is copied directly from the Echoes FAQ.....

"What were the early lyrics for Echoes?"

[Original transcription done by Matt Denault, with the assistance of bear, Ray O'Hara and me, I later made some minor corrections to Matt's transcript]

The Floyd, in their pre-_Animals_ days, often performed as-yet unrecorded tracks in concert ("Murderistic Woman," DSotM, "Raving and Drooling", etc.) These would often undergo significant changes before appearing on albums, and "Echoes" is such a case.

The opening verse of "Echoes" originally had a "space" theme, and several RoIOs exist with these lyrics. One is from the 5 June 1971 Berlin show, available on "Lost in the Corridors" and "Mauerspecte" (which, BTW, has been known to be defective many times, so try before you buy). Another is from a few weeks later; 20 June 1971, at Rome. Neither of these recordings is all that great in terms of sound quality, but taken together we're pretty sure of the following...

Planets singing face to face
Bound to the air of life, how sweet!
If purposely we might embrace
The perfect union deep in space

Ever might this once relent
And give us leave to shine as one
Our two lights {singing better}<------------- these two lines are
{Than one light can}<---------------------------pretty garbled [1]

And in that longing to be one
The parting {suns shine as one} [2]
I'll see you've got to travel on
And on and on, around the sun

[1] Our two lights shining better than one light can makes the most sense
lyrically. [2] While this line make most sense lyrically, it sometimes
sounds as if there is an extra syllable sung.

Keep in mind when comparing the above to a version you might have on a tape from a different date, that it is very well possible that the lyrics changed from show to show before Roger settled on the lyrics we have come to know and love.

The above transcription makes some sense in relation to the rest of the song -- which survived unchanged -- if you take the whole third verse ("cloudless everyday...") to be about sunlight.

There were also some earlier transcriptions of the lyrics done by the people I mentioned above, which I used as aids. These are available at http://ultra.gawth.com/~rjones/floyd/ly ... rly.echoes

SyladO · Post by **SyladO** » Fri May 30, 2003 4:02 pm

Ah poop! I was coming here to post my efforts in lyric desiphering, but I see they've been pretty well done already. Thanks. Damn, I was having fun too.

a-k-a · Post by **a-k-a** » Fri May 30, 2003 6:42 pm

As i suspected, this is not a verse that was kept out of the song, but was actually the original (yupe) lyrics.

Pink Floyd were into that sci-fi stereotype

"Planets meeting face to face...." was then replaced with "overhead the albatross".

It's like hearing "gotta be crazy" before it came out as Dogs ("Gotta Be Crazy" is in Azimuth Coordinator, 1975, as Dogs, we all know is in Animals, 1977)

Ben Baryo

watman · Post by **watman** » Fri May 30, 2003 10:50 pm

you said 1977. did they really played echoes that year? and where did they?

SomeGhostsStepOut · Post by **SomeGhostsStepOut** » Fri May 30, 2003 11:04 pm

watman wrote:you said 1977. did they really played echoes that year? and where did they?

Nope. They did not play Echoes during that tour.

Meddler · Post by **Meddler** » Sat May 31, 2003 8:17 am

I'm going to see if I can beef it up a bit and a sound program i have... I'll letcha know-

Does anyone have any of the other shows? Once enhanced, I found the tape that it was recorded on is distorted in areas. Mainly the 3rd, 6th, and 7th lines. I can make it out pretty clearly other than those spots. I'm too tired to finish tonight. Or this morning, as its 6:45am my time

. But you all shall be pleased at my findings.

SomeGhostsStepOut · Post by **SomeGhostsStepOut** » Sat May 31, 2003 5:26 pm

Now that I have heard the sound byte. The original title to Echoes during the early live performances was titled: "Return of The Son of Nothing."

Meddler · Post by **Meddler** » Sun Jun 01, 2003 12:50 am

Okay here is what I came up with:

Planets sitting face to face
Up on to the air and land, how sweet

If every single might embrace

The perfect union deep in space
Over night this once dry land
Can give us need to shine as one
Our two lights shine better than one light can

And if that longing to move on
With parting smiles, whats sad is gone
I'll see youve got to travel on and on and on around the stars...(then someone says take on accident)

Those lines marked with a

means I'm not 100% sure they are correct, just as close as I could hear. The others I am pretty sure on. Some new stuff in there, and some same. I kinda like the spacey theme lyrics over the ocean themed. It goes better with the song and the rest of the lyrics. I know they wanted to kinda break away from the space theme.

Gundam74 · Post by **Gundam74** » Sun Jun 01, 2003 2:07 am

Gonzo wrote:Now that I have heard the sound byte. The original title to Echoes during the early live performances was titled: "Return of The Son of Nothing."

well i wanted to say the same thing.... ok u were faster than me

FFloyidanFemme · Post by **FFloyidanFemme** » Sun Jun 01, 2003 4:21 pm

The original lyrics for Echoes - Verse 1 are:
Overhead the albatross lies motionless in the air
And deep beneath the ocean waves and labyrinths of coral caves

The only reason I know this is because a few years ago, a new MEDDLE CD was released, and it had the lyrics included.

FloydNZ · Post by **FloydNZ** » Mon Jun 02, 2003 10:15 am

Hey Phyllis, I'm assuming that you are not just trying to be funny.....
What we are discussing is the Lyrics to Echoes when it was preformed live.....way before they recorded the Meddle album.....

And also....I must point out that in the lines that you have written above from the cd booklet, you have made several mistakes.....

Post by **Keith Jordan** » Mon Jun 02, 2003 10:31 am

The original lyrics are....

http://www.neptunepinkfloyd.co.uk/albums/?id=meddle

Echoes

Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air
And deep beneath the rolling waves
In labyrinths of coral caves
The echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand
And everything is green and submarine

And no-one showed us to the land
And no-one knows the where or whys
But something stirs and something tries
And starts to climb towards the light

Strangers passing in the street
By chance two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand the best I can

And no-one calls us to move on
And no-one forces down our eyes
And no-one speaks and no-one tries
And no-one flies around the sun

Cloudless everyday you fall upon my waking eyes
Inviting and inciting me to rise
And through the window in the wall
Come streaming in on sunlight wings
A million bright ambassadors of morning

And no-one sings me lullabies
And no-one makes me close my eyes
And so I throw the windows wide
And call to you across the sky

FFloyidanFemme · Post by **FFloyidanFemme** » Fri Jun 06, 2003 3:10 am

FloydNZ wrote:Hey Phyllis, I'm assuming that you are not just trying to be funny.....
What we are discussing is the Lyrics to Echoes when it was preformed live.....way before they recorded the Meddle album.....

And also....I must point out that in the lines that you have written above from the cd booklet, you have made several mistakes.....

Hello Rik, Hope you don't think I have been ignoring you...I just am having many problems getting my replies posted. I know I had the incorrect lyrics as soon as I pressed the submit button. Will have to be more conscious in the future

Alternative Echoes lyrics for verse 1

Alternative Echoes lyrics for verse 1

I've got it!

Alternative Echoes lyrics for Verse 1