Who Was Pink Floyd's Chief Songwriter?

[Real Pink in the Inside]

You will not believe what I stumbled upon on an old hard drive: A categorized list of the songwriting credits for the vast majority of Pink Floyd's catalog from SoS through The Final Cut. By popular request, I present yet another list that objectively answers an oft-debated question:

Pink Floyd songs written solely by Waters:

Let There Be More Light - Waters
Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun - Waters
Corporal Clegg - Waters
Cirrus Minor - Waters
The Nile Song - Waters
Crying Song - Waters
Green Is The Colour - Waters
Cymbaline - Waters
Grantchester Meadows - Waters
Several Species... - Waters
If - Waters
Julia Dream - Waters
Bidding My Time - Waters
San Tropez - Waters
Free Four - Waters
Money - Waters
Brain Damage - Waters
Eclipse - Waters
Welcome To The Machine - Waters
Have A Cigar - Waters
Pigs On The Wing (Part One) - Waters
Pigs (Three Different Ones) - Waters
Sheep - Waters
Pigs On The Wing (Part Two) - Waters
In The Flesh? - Waters
The Thin Ice - Waters
Another Brick In The Wall (Part I) - Waters
The Happiest Days Of Our Lives - Waters
Another Brick In The Wall (Part II) - Waters
Mother - Waters
Goodbye Blue Sky - Waters
Empty Spaces - Waters
One Of My Turns - Waters
Don't Leave Me Now - Waters
Another Brick In The Wall (Part III) - Waters
Goodbye Cruel World - Waters
Hey You - Waters
Is There Anybody Out There? - Waters
Nobody Home - Waters
Vera - Waters
Bring The Boys Back Home - Waters
The Show Must Go On - Waters
In The Flesh - Waters
Waiting For The Worms - Waters
Stop - Waters
Outside The Wall - Waters
The Post War Dream - Waters
Your Possible Pasts - Waters
One Of The Few - Waters
The Hero's Return - Waters
The Gunners Dream - Waters
Paranoid Eyes - Waters
Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert - Waters
The Fletcher Memorial Home - Waters
Southhampton Dock - Waters
The Final Cut - Waters
Not Now John - Waters
Two Suns In The Sunset - Waters

Total: 58 songs (Note: 46 songs if you exclude TFC)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pink Floyd songs written solely by Gilmour:

A Spanish Piece - Gilmour
The Narrow Way (Parts I-III) - Gilmour
Fat Old Sun - Gilmour
Childhood's End - Gilmour

Total: 4 songs (6 if you count The Narrow Way as three songs)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pink Floyd songs written solely by Wright:

Remember A Day - Wright
See Saw - Wright
Sysyphus (Parts I-IV) - Wright
Summer 68 - Wright
Paint Box - Wright
The Great Gig In The Sky - Wright

Total: 6 songs (9 if you count Sysyphus as four songs)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pink Floyd songs written by Gilmour and Waters:

A Pillow Of Winds - Gilmour/Waters
Fearless - Gilmour/Waters
Obscured By Clouds - Waters/Gilmour
The Gold It's In The... - Waters/Gilmour
Wots...Uh The Deal? - Waters/Gilmour
On The Run - Gilmour/Waters
Wish You Were Here - Waters/Gilmour
Dogs - Waters/Gilmour
Young Lust - Waters/Gilmour
Comfortably Numb - Gilmour/Waters
Run Like Hell - Gilmour/Waters

Total: 11 songs

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pink Floyd songs written by Waters and Wright:

Burning Bridges - Waters/Wright
Stay - Waters/Wright
Us And Them - Waters/Wright

Total: 3 songs

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pink Floyd songs written by Gilmour, Waters, and Wright (And Mason in some cases):

A Saucerful Of Secrets - Waters/Wright/Mason/Gilmour
Party Sequence - Waters/Wright/Gilmour/Mason
Main Theme - Waters/Wright/Gilmour/Mason
Ibiza Bar - Waters/Wright/Gilmour/Mason
More Blues - Waters/Wright/Gilmour/Mason
Quicksilver - Waters/Wright/Gilmour/Mason
Dramatic Piece - Waters/Wright/Gilmour
Atom Heart Mother - Mason/Gilmour/Waters/Wright/Geesin
Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast - Waters/Mason/Gilmour/Wright
Careful With That Axe, Eugene - Waters/Wright/Mason/Gilmour
One Of These Days - Waters/Wright/Mason/Gilmour
Seamus - Mason/Gilmour/Waters/Wright
Echoes - Mason/Gilmour/Waters/Wright
When You're In - Mason/Gilmour/Waters/Wright
Absolutely Curtains - Mason/Gilmour/Waters/Wright
Breathe In The Air - Waters/Gilmour/Wright
Time - Mason/Waters/Wright/Gilmour
Breathe (Reprise) - Waters/Wright/Gilmour
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V) - Gilmour/Waters/Wright
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-IX) - Waters/Wright/Gilmour

Total: 20 songs (Note: I treated SOYCD as two songs for simplification)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other:

Jugband Blues - Barrett
Up The Khyber - Mason/Wright
The Grand Vizier's Garden Party (Parts I-III) - Mason
Mudmen - Gilmour/Wright
Speak To Me - Mason
Any Colour You Like - Gilmour/Mason/Wright
The Trial - Waters/Ezrin

Total: 7 songs (9 if you count GVGP as three songs)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Number of songs each had a hand in WRITING:

Waters - 93 songs
Gilmour - 37 songs (39 if you consider The Narrow Way as three songs)
Wright - 32 songs (35 if you consider Sysyphus as four songs)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I excluded "When The Tigers Broke Free" and probably missed at least a couple other songs.

Please feel free to make an addendum and/or offer your thoughts.

[The Gunner's Dream]

Well then, Nick Mason was clearly the genius behind Pink Floyd...

[Sonic Destruction]

Was there ever any real question as to who PF's chief songwriter was? Not even Gilmour could possibly think it was anyone other than Waters!

[Damn!t]

I hope this isnt intended to be another which one's PINK discussion...
Besides, what is there to discuss? You've said it all in your first post.

[Keith Jordan]

I bet that list was off your current hot hard drive. Don't be starting no Gilmour Vs Waters arguments around here.

This thread is a complete non-issue. Everyone knows Waters was the chief songwriter.

[snifferdog]

Agreed.

[Eclipse]

Sure, he was the main songwriter, but both Gilmour and Wright's musical sensibility which made albums like Meddle, DSOTM, Animals and especially WYWH be so interesting can't be ignored.

[Sonic Destruction]

Sure, he was the main songwriter, but both Gilmour and Wright's musical sensibility which made albums like Meddle, DSOTM, Animals and especially WYWH be so interesting can't be ignored.

Yes, that is absolutely correct, and it seems that the whole band had a large part in arranging a lot of the stuff, even at times when there was just one credited writer. Surely Nick's drum patterns added more than just a little to "Set The Controls", and Dave must have had a large input into the guitar parts on tracks like "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" and "Sheep".

On what I consider to be the greatest PF albums, every band member seems to have had a high degree of creative input, regardless official writing credits.

Having said that, Waters seems to have been the chief architect of the overall album concepts, particularly in the latter days.

[danielcaux]

This thread is a complete non-issue. Everyone knows Waters was the chief songwriter.

Well, that depends on how you define "songwriting"

[Real Pink in the Inside]

This thread is a complete non-issue. Everyone knows Waters was the chief songwriter.

I am not sure about that, boss.

I am sure there will be at least one user who signs up, is relatively new to Floyd and comes across this thread. There might be a dozen or more users who fall into this category. They might not know who Pink Floyd's chief songwriter was, or who wrote what, and therefore which solo albums they would like to try out first. That's just an example of how this thread will help this forum. You know as well as anybody that you have a lot of lurkers, so maybe us regular posters already know the answer to the question but I am sure there are some lurkers who do not and are too afraid to ask. With that said, it's also a good thread to reference in the future, especially when a question such as, "anybody have a tidy list of who wrote what?" or "Well, how many songs were written by who compared to who?" pops up. Obviously this answers those questions, which we all come across from time to time. Finally, we'd obviously like to have corrections/additions made to the list, so it is only appropriate for it to be in a thread that allows comments.

[snifferdog]

Well..if you want it to be a definitive list of who wrote what, changing the subject line would be a good start.

[Real Pink in the Inside]

Well..if you want it to be a definitive list of who wrote what, changing the subject line would be a good start.

Love the new avatar. Best. Theme. Song. Ever.

I do not think there is anything wrong with the subject line. It's a question, like numerous threads, and the thread answers the question. It's more colorful than simply, "List of Who Wrote What." Besides, there are still some people who oddly say that Roger Waters' was not the chief songwriter of Pink Floyd, so what's wrong with them having their say, and facts to back them up, posted in here too? This is a good forum where everybody is free to post their thoughts on our favorite band, and obviously this is a helpful reference tool too.

[snifferdog]

I think something along the lines of who wrote what would be better IMHO. Credit where credit's due and all that. I mean, Rick would have been far from being Pink Floyd's chief songwriter but he did write or co-write some of their better known songs. I'm surprised that anybody would think that Roger didn't write most of Pink Floyd's songs.

[bong2]

I have to say that I agree with rpity 100%
That this is definitely a good resource for people who are new to floyd and want to be able to tell at a glance, who wrote what.
If I may be so bold as to post another resource which was found buried somewhere in my email box, it also gives vocal credits for the various songs up to the final cut, because we know that AMLOR and TDB don't really count. But that is not up for debate. This however clearly shows that although Dave's melodic harmonies are much more recognizable and easily picked out than Roger's gargling with broken glass, it is clearly Roger once again who has sang vocals on more songs than Dave.

The Early Singles & + Relics + Works
1 to 5- Syd Barrett
6-Wi
7-Gi-Wa*
8-Wi
9-Gi
10-Wa
+(Binding my time) Wa
+(Embryo) Gi (not 100% sure)
Total: Wa: 2 1/2
Gi: 2 1/2
A Saucerful of Secrets
1-Gi
2-Wi
3-Wa
4-Gi-Wa*
5-In
6-Wi
7-Syd Barrett
Total: Wa: 1 1/2
Gi: 1 1/2
More-Soundtrack
1-Gi-Wa*
2-Gi
3-Gi
4-In
5-Gi
6-Gi
7-In
8-In
9-Gi
10-In
11-In
12-In
13-In
Total: Wa: 1/2
Gi: 5 1/2
Ummagumma (studio side only)
1-In
2-Wa
3-Wa
4-Gi
5-In
Total: Wa: 2
Gi: 1

Zabriskie Point-Soundtrack
(Heart Beat, Pig Meat) In
(Crumbling Land) All are singing
(Come up no 61) already cited, see Careful with that Axe Eugene.
Atom Heart Mother
1-In
2-Wa
3-Wi
4-Gi
5-In
Total: Wa: 1
Gi: 1
Meddle
1-In
2-Gi
3-Gi
4-Wa
5-Gi
6-Gi-Wi*
Total: Wa: 1
Gi: 3 1/2
Obscured by Clouds-Soundtrack
1-In
2-In
3-Wi
4-Gi
5-Gi
6-In
7-Gi
8-Wa
9-Wi
10-In
Total: Wa: 1
Gi: 3
Dark Side of the Moon
1-In
2-Gi
3-In
4-Gi
5-Gi
6-Clare Tory
7-Gi
8-Gi
9-In
10-Wa
11-Wa
Total: Wa: 2
Gi: 5
Wish you Were Here
1-Wa
2-Gi-Wa*
3-Roy Harper
4-Gi
5-Wa
Total: Wa: 2 1/2
Gi: 1 1/2

Animals
1-Wa
2-Gi + Wa* (a complete credit is given here to Gilmour and a half to Roger)
3-Wa
4-Wa
5-Wa
Total: Wa: 4 1/2
Gi: 1
The Wall
1-Wa
2-Gi-Wa*
3-Wa
4-Wa
5-Gi
6-Wa-Gi*
7-Gi
8-Wa
9-Gi
10-Wa
11-Wa
12-Wa
13-Wa
14-Gi-Wa*
15-In
16-Wa
17-Wa
18-Wa
19-Wa-Gi*
20-Gi
21-Wa
22-Wa
23-Gi-Wa*
24-Wa
25-Wa
26-Wa
In the film only:
(What shall we do now) Wa
(When the Tigers broke Free) Wa
Total: Wa: 20 1/2
Gi: 6 1/2
The Final Cut
1-Wa
2-Wa
3-Wa
4-Wa
5-Wa
6-Wa
7-Wa
8-Wa
9-Wa
10-Wa
11-Gi-Wa*
12-Wa
(The Hero's Return- part 2) Wa
Total: Wa: 12 1/2
Gi: 1/2

[Damn!t]

So basically, Roger Waters is Pink Floyd and the others have just been playing some guitar/keyboards/drums parts that he orchestrated and made some coffee for the fuhrer?