The Dark Side of the Moon is probably Pink Floyd’s best album. Beyond the fact that it doesn’t contain a single bad song, the album has many messages that are explained in beautiful ways. Pink Floyd made similar albums about people (Animals, Wish You Were Here), but this album has a deeper meaning than those albums. The layout of the album’s songs and the transitions between them are seamless and beautiful, and relate to one another in unexpected ways. Female vocals are used in the choruses of some songs, as Pink Floyd often does. In some cases, songs even build upon another within the album, like “Breathe In the Air” and “Time.” Let us examine the album, shall we?

The Dark Side of the Moon begins with “Speak To Me,” where several different frightening noises are introduced, but the album explains each of them, and you learn that the sounds are not what they seem. For example, in the beginning of the album you hear screams—but later in the album, those screams are revealed to be a woman singing. They do the same with a chime, a cash register, insane laughing, and then connect them all together in the final track.

Songs That Stood Out To Me

“Time”

The song “Time” begins by explaining the chime we hear in the beginning track, and building on to it, explaining that that the chime in the beginning symbolizes time and how you shouldn’t waste it. At the end, as a third phase, it morphs into the tune of the second song: “Breathe in the Air,” and expands its meaning to enjoy your life while you can. Take in every breath.

Overall, it is a skillfully-composed song that can turn into an earworm, whose introduction has a very Western ambiance. Since it is a Pink Floyd song, it also has an excellent guitar solo. The reason it isn’t higher on the list is because there’s a chime in the middle of silence that can scare one easily.

“Money”

The song “Money” begins with the sound of a cash register, but it begins immediately, so it isn’t frightening. It then uses the sound of a cash register as a metronome and structures most of the song along its beat. It has excellent saxophone and guitar solos that can get stuck in your head easily. The song explains the darkness of money, and how people who love their money too much cling to it desperately.

I have had this song in my head many times, and it’s also a well-composed song.

“Us and Them”

The song “Us and Them” is my favorite song from this album. Thanks to the soft organ and piano, it produces a calming sensation when you listen to it. There are beautiful transitions from soft to loud, as well as a soft saxophone solo. David Gilmour’s singing is beautiful, and at times quite intense. The chorus gets loud, but only after a guitar gets louder and louder in a crescendo. The piano is very beautiful. It’s also a wonderfully composed song. I honestly don’t know what it’s about. By the way, this song was apparently composed by Richard Wright (the keyboard player of Pink Floyd). Why he was fired by Roger Waters, I’ll never know. This is also one of the first power ballads, which is weird because there’s not a lot of drums in this song. But overall, “Us and Them” is a beautiful song.

Album-as-a-Whole

In terms of the whole album, it’s a great album, with multiple messages and great songs that all connect among themselves. There isn’t a single bad song, and many of the other songs explain the odd leadoff track. The insane laughing in the beginning is eventually revealed to be a normal person laughing about something. I think one of the biggest messages of the album is that things are not what they seem to be. It explains that time and money are the most important things to mankind, and furthermore that time is a precious thing and it shouldn’t be wasted, and that money is more important to people than anything—and that is not, always, a good thing. Overall, this album is flawless. I simply can’t think of anything I don’t like about it.