Pink Floyd

Released: June 29, 1968

Songwriter: Roger Waters

Producer: Norman Smith

[Verse 1]
Little by little the night turns around
Counting the leaves which tremble at dawn
Lotuses lean on each other in yearning
Under the eaves the swallow is resting

[Hook]
Set the controls for the heart of the sun

[Verse 2]
Over the mountain watching the watcher
Breaking the darkness, waking the grapevine
One inch of love is one inch of shadow
Love is the shadow that ripens the wine

[Hook]
Set the controls for the heart of the sun

[Bridge]
The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun
The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun
The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun
The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun
The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun
The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun
The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun

[Verse 3]
Witness the man who raves at the wall
Making the shape of his question to Heaven
Whether the sun will fall in the evening
Will he remember the lesson of giving?

[Hook]
Set the controls for the heart of the sun

[Outro]
The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun
The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun
The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun
The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun
The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun
The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun
The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun

Pink Floyd was a British rock band who managed to carve a path for progressive and psychedelic music in a way that was uniquely fascinating at the time and has remained equally momentous in the modern age. The name “Pink Floyd” came from two blues musicians that founding member Syd Barrett idolized—Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.

The band was formed in 1965 London by Barrett (guitars, vocals), Nick Mason (drums), Roger Waters (bass), and Richard Wright (keyboards). Sometime after releasing their debut album, 1967’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the group saw the addition of a second singer-guitarist, David Gilmour. This acted largely as a means of replacing Barrett, who was forced to leave in 1968 for mental health reasons, resulting in Waters taking over as the main vocalist.

The band broke into the mainstream with 1973’s Dark Side of the Moon, an album that became one of the best-selling and most influential records in music history. Their follow-up efforts, 1975’s Wish You Were Here and 1977’s Animals, also sold well. However, the band started to see some in-fighting while making their next album, a rock opera about how Waters felt frustrated and detached from his audience. Waters seemingly became extremely controlling, firing Wright over disputes about touring and his contributions to the album. The result, 1979’s The Wall, became the best-selling double album of all time. It spawned iconic songs such as the #1 hit, “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2,” and the melodic “Comfortably Numb.”

more tracks from the album

A Nice Pair

From the albums

Pink Floyd popular songs

Set the Controls for the Heart of the SunPink Floyd

Pink Floyd

A Nice Pair