Pink Floyd Explain The Endless River

The new Pink Floyd album ‘The Endless River’ is the continuation of their last album from 1994 ‘The Division Bell’.

David Gilmour of Pink Floyd has revealed the title of the album comes from a lyric on the very last Floyd album 20 years ago. “The last phrase but one on the end of ‘The Division Bell’ is ‘The Endless River’, forever and ever at the end of the song ‘High Hopes’, Gilmour says in a video statement at the Pink Floyd website.

‘High Hopes’ concludes with the lyrics:

The grass was greener
The light was brighter
The taste was sweeter
The nights of wonder
With friends surrounded
The dawn mist glowing
The water flowing
The endless river
Forever and ever

“The Endless River is a continuous flow of music that builds gradually over four separate pieces over the 55 odd minutes,” he says. “There is a continuum from The Division Bell album to this.”

‘The Endless River’ was recorded during the sessions for ‘The Division Bell’ and therefore includes and in fact centres around the late Richard Wright, the Pink Floyd keyboard player who died in 2006. Gilmour says it is not quite a concept album but is a reminder of the past. “The only concept is the concept of Nick and Rick and I playing together in a way that we had done way, way in the past but kind of forgotten that we did. It was instantly familiar”.

Floyd drummer Nick Mason says the record is very much a tribute to Richard Wright. “I think that Rick would be thrilled,” he said. “I think that this record is a good way of recognising what he does. I think the most significant element was hearing what Rick did. Having lost Rick, it really brought home what a special player he was”.

Gilmour concurs. “It is a tribute to him,” he added. “It is very evocative and emotional in a lot of ways. Certainly listening to a lot of this stuff it made me regret his passing all over again. This is the last chance anyone will get to hear him playing along with us in that way that he did”.