"Sorrow" is a song by the English

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

band Pink Floyd. Written by the band's singer and guitarist David Gilmour, it’s the closing track on their thirteenth studio album, ''

A Momentary Lapse of Reason ''A Momentary Lapse of Reason'' is the thirteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in the UK on 7 September 1987 by EMI and the following day in the US on Columbia. It was recorded primarily on guitarist ...

'', released in 1987.

Lyrics and music

The piece was written and composed by singer and guitarist David Gilmour. He has stated that although words are not his strong point, the song is one of his best lyrical efforts, even as the opening lines were appropriated from John Steinbeck's ''

The Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Priz ...

''. Drummer Nick Mason has since stated that the song was almost entirely written by Gilmour over the space of a weekend on his houseboat '' Astoria''. When Mason returned from the weekend, only "some spit and polish", according to Mason, was needed. Gilmour has also mentioned that his solo at the end of "Sorrow" was done on the boat, his guitar going through a small

Gallien-Krueger Gallien-Krueger, also referred to as 'GK' (as in their logo), is a manufacturer of bass amplifiers and speaker cabinets . The company is based in Stockton, California, and was founded in 1968. History Robert Gallien started his company, then ...

amplifier. As on many tracks from the album, Gilmour played a Steinberger GL " headless"

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

on this song. The guitar intro was recorded inside

Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was a multi-purpose arena at Exposition Park, in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was located next to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and just south of the campus of the University of ...

and piped through Pink Floyd's large sound system, yielding an extremely deep, cavernous sound. The drum machine on the song was programmed by David Gilmour — no real drums were used.

Live Versions

Live versions of the song are featured on 1988's ''

Delicate Sound of Thunder ''Delicate Sound of Thunder'' is a live album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was recorded over five nights at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, in August 1988 and mixed at Abbey Road Studios in September 1988. It was ...

'' album and 1995's ''

Pulse In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the n ...

'' album, with running times of 9:27 and 10:49 respectively, mostly taken up by extended guitar solos by Gilmour and an additional outro. A slightly shortened version of the song appears on Pink Floyd's greatest hits collection, '' Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd'', which is edited so that the song "

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" (also edited) segues into "Sorrow". David Gilmour played the song at the Strat Pack guitar concert, an event which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuousl ...

. Gilmour played the song on the second set of his

Rattle That Lock Tour The Rattle That Lock Tour was a concert tour by English singer and musician David Gilmour to support his fourth solo studio album, ''Rattle That Lock''. The tour became a commercial success, grossing $47 million and selling 288,997 tickets in 16 ...

2015/16.. The song was also performed in 1990 during the band's set at Knebworth for the Silver Clef Award Winners Concert. For many years, an official release of this performance was unavailable, but the 2019 boxset ''

The Later Years ''The Later Years'' is a box set by British rock band Pink Floyd released on 13 December 2019 by Pink Floyd Records. It follows the 2016 box set '' The Early Years 1965–1972'', and compiles Pink Floyd's work under the leadership of David Gilmo ...

'' included it as part of the complete set list on both Blu-Ray/DVD and CD.

Personnel on studio version

;Pink Floyd * David Gilmour – lead and backing vocals, electric guitar, keyboards, drum machine, programming Additional musicians: * Richard Wright – Kurzweil synthesiser *

Bob Ezrin Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezrin's car ...

– keyboards *

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer, specializing in electric bass, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (since 1 ...

– bass guitar * Darlene Koldenhoven – backing vocals * Carmen Twillie – backing vocals *Phyllis St. James – backing vocals *

Donny Gerrard Donald Bradford Gerrard (March 19, 1946 – February 3, 2022), known professionally as Donny Gerrard was a Canadian singer. He was a member of the band Skylark in the early 1970s, and in later years performed and recorded as a baritone backup si ...

– backing vocals

Personnel on live versions

''Delicate Sound of Thunder'' and ''Pulse''

;Pink Floyd *David Gilmour – lead vocals, lead guitar * Nick Mason – drums *Richard Wright – keyboards, backing vocals ;Additional musicians * Guy Pratt – bass guitar *Jon Carin – keyboards, backing vocals, programming *

Tim Renwick Timothy John Pearson Renwick (born 7 August 1949) is an English guitarist. He is best known for his association with Al Stewart in his early career and for his long-standing role as lead guitarist for the Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. His single ...

– rhythm guitar *

Gary Wallis Gary Wallis is a British drummer, percussionist, drum programmer, producer and musical director. He has worked with a wide range of artists and bands, including Nik Kershaw, Pink Floyd, 10cc, Il Divo, Westlife, Girls Aloud, Atomic Kitten, Pau ...

–

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

, drums *

Durga McBroom Durga McBroom is an American singer who has performed backing vocals for Pink Floyd and is a member of the house music band Blue Pearl, best known for their hit single " Naked in the Rain". She works as an actress, dancer, and singer in the Unit ...

– backing vocals (''Delicate Sound of Thunder'' and ''Pulse'') *

Rachel Fury Rachel Fury is the stage name of Rachel Brennock, an English singer, songwriter, and actress best known for performing with Pink Floyd on tour from 1987 to 1989. Career Brennock attended the Barbara Speake Stage School and began her acting care ...

– backing vocals (''Delicate Sound of Thunder'') *Margaret Taylor – backing vocals (''Delicate Sound of Thunder'') *Roberta Freeman - backing vocals (''Delicate Sound of Thunder'' live) * Sam Brown – backing vocals (''Pulse'') * Claudia Fontaine – backing vocals (''Pulse'')

''Live at Pompeii''

* David Gilmour – lead vocals, lead guitar * Steve DiStanislao – drums *

Chester Kamen Chester Kamen (born in Hackney, London) is an English session guitarist, whose work has included performing with Paul McCartney, Bryan Ferry, Bob Geldof, Madonna, Duran Duran, Robbie Williams, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Seal, Massive Attack, Ki ...

– guitar, backing vocals * Guy Pratt – bass, backing vocals *

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, singer-songwriter, and musical director based in Los Angeles, California. A prolific session musician, Phillinganes has contributed the role of keyboards to numerous alb ...

– keyboards, backing vocals * Chuck Leavell – keyboards, backing vocals * Brian Chambers – backing vocals * Lucita Jules – backing vocals * Louise Clare Marshall – backing vocals

References

{{Authority control Pink Floyd songs 1987 songs Rock ballads Songs written by David Gilmour Song recordings produced by Bob Ezrin Song recordings produced by David Gilmour