"Marooned" is an instrumental track on

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

's 1994 album, '' The Division Bell''. It is the only Pink Floyd track to ever win a Grammy Award.

Writing and recording

The piece was written by Richard Wright and

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...

. It has sounds that describe the setting as an island, such as the sounds of seagulls and waves crashing on the shore. It was composed while jamming aboard the Astoria in early 1993. Gilmour processed the guitar sound with a DigiTech Whammy pedal to pitch-shift notes entire octaves."Sounds of Silence" interview, Guitar World, September 1994
, retrieved 28 July 2010 Also in the background can be heard wailing guitar effects by Gilmour, reminiscent of the song "

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". Wright's grand piano parts (originally played and recorded on a Kurzweil) were recorded at

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a renowned British independent commercial recording studio based in Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st century, including Jimi Hendr ...

in London. David Gilmour has mentioned that "pretty much" all of "Marooned" is improvised and that he "probably took three or four passes at it and took the best bits out of each".. Wright also said this was the first song to be mixed for The Division Bell in an interview with In the Studio host Redbeard.

Reception

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opined that the instrumental "stands out primarily as a song that sounds as much like Pink Floyd as anything on their mid-'70s releases. The song roots itself to Gilmour's familiar lonesome melodic guitar descants threading themselves through the trademark mood setting and foundation of Mason's drum work and the invaluable Wright's keyboard deviations." Contrastingly, Vulture wrote that " rooned is how you feel listening to this pallid, five-minute-and-thirty-second guitar solo." The instrumental won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the

37th Annual Grammy Awards The 37th Annual Grammy Awards were presented on March 1, 1995, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Bruce Springsteen was the night's biggest winner with 4 awards, including Song ...

in 1995.

Live and other releases

This song has only been played live three times: On the two dates in Oslo, Norway (one of which is featured in the bonus features on the ''Pulse'' DVD) on the 1994 "The Division Bell" tour and at "

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" charity concert, for the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar, where Gilmour played his "#0001" Stratocaster. An excerpt of the music is featured on '' Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd''. In 2014, for the twentieth anniversary of the original release of '' The Division Bell'', a music video for the song was produced and released on the official

website as well as the anniversary box set of the album.

Aubrey Powell Aubrey Powell may refer to: *Aubrey Powell (designer) Aubrey Powell (born 23 September 1946) is a British graphic designer. He co-founded the album cover design company Hipgnosis with Storm Thorgerson in 1967. The company ran for 15 years un ...

of Hipgnosis directed the video, filming some parts in the abandoned city of Pripyat, Ukraine during the first week of April 2014 and on the International Space Station.

Personnel

– guitars * Richard Wright – piano, organ and Kurzweil synthesizer *

Nick Mason Nicholas Berkeley Mason, (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He is the only member to feature on every Pink Floyd album, and the only constant member since its formation in ...

– drums Additional musicians * Jon Carin - programming and additional keyboards *

Guy Pratt Guy Adam Pratt (born 3 January 1962) is a British musician. He is best known for his prolific work as a session bass player, working with artists including Pink Floyd (also David Gilmour and Nick Mason), Roxy Music (also Bryan Ferry), Gary M ...

– bass guitar

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marooned (Song) 1990s ballads 1994 songs Pink Floyd songs Rock ballads Rock instrumentals Blues rock songs Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance Songs written by David Gilmour Songs written by Richard Wright (musician) Song recordings produced by Bob Ezrin Song recordings produced by David Gilmour Music videos shot in Ukraine Pripyat