"On the Turning Away" is a song from Pink Floyd's

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

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 ...

''. The song was a staple of live shows from the 1987–89 world tours in support of ''A Momentary Lapse of Reason'' and was one of the songs in rotation during the 1994 tour in support of ''

The Division Bell ''The Division Bell'' is the fourteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 March 1994 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and on 4 April by Columbia Records in the United States. The second Pink Flo ...

''. The song was resurrected by David Gilmour on his 2006 On an Island Tour for one night only. Live recordings exist on ''

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 ...

'' (1988) and ''

Live in Gdańsk ''Live in Gdańsk'' is a live album by David Gilmour. It is a part of his ''On an Island'' project which includes an album, tour, DVD, and live album. It was released on 22 September 2008. A David Gilmour Signature Series Fender Stratocaster ...

'' (2008).

Music and lyrics

The song has often been described as a

protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...

and is one of the more political tracks Pink Floyd released after the departure of Roger Waters. The main concept came from Anthony Moore, but David Gilmour has stated that he re-wrote the last verse of both "On the Turning Away" and " Learning to Fly". Musically, it has been called a

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romance (love), romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn m ...

. Bassist Guy Pratt has said about its musical structure (referring to the fact that he had to guide Phil Manzanera and Steve DiStanislao through a completely unplanned performance of it in 2006): "The song only has five chords in it, but they don't necessarily show up where you think they will." It has also been noted for being one of Pink Floyd's rhythmically most complex songs, constantly alternating between various time signatures. Some reviewers have described it as Celtic sounding.

Release

Released as the second single from the album, it reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Album Rock Tracks chart in early 1988. In the United Kingdom, the song charted at number 55 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Song charted at 47 in the Netherlands, and 34 in New Zealand '' Cash Box'', referring to Waters' departure and Gilmour taking over the songwriting duties, said that "

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geograp ...

shrugged Shrugged is a comic series published by Aspen MLT, publishers of '' Soulfire'' and ''Fathom A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems equal to , used especially for measuring the depth of water. The fathom ...

, and the results are stunning" and that the song "is filled with apocalyptic imagery and roughhewn rock foundations that Floyd fans crave."

Video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for the track featured a live recording and concert footage filmed during the band's three night run at

The Omni Omni Coliseum (often called The Omni) was an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Completed in 1972, the arena seated 16,378 for basketball and 15,278 for hockey. It was part of the Omni Complex, now known as the CNN Center. It was ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in November 1987 directed by Lawrence Jordan (who has directed concert films for Rush, Mariah Carey, and Billy Joel). Promotional videos for " The Dogs of War" and " One Slip" also used footage of this concert. The video made it to number nine on MTV's Video Countdown in January 1988.

Personnel

Studio

;Pink Floyd * David Gilmour – lead and backing vocals,

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

& acoustic guitars Additional musicians: * Richard Wright – Hammond organ, backing vocals *

Jon Carin Jon Carin (born October 21, 1964) is a musician, singer, songwriter and producer who has been a longtime collaborator with the bands Pink Floyd and The Who, and the solo careers of David Gilmour and Roger Waters, Pete Townshend, Eddie Vedder, ...

– synthesizer *

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 *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Dow ...

– drums * Darlene Koldenhoven (as Darlene Koldenhaven) – 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

Live Personnel 1987–1994

*David Gilmour – lead vocals, lead guitar *Nick Mason – drums *Richard Wright – keyboards, backing vocals Additional musicians: *Jon Carin – synthesisers, backing vocals * Guy Pratt – fretless bass guitar, backing vocals *

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 ...

– acoustic guitar, backing vocals *

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, drums (on the 1992 Amnesty International Big 30 concert and together with Nick Mason on the 1994 The Division Bell tour) *

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 ...

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 ...

, Margaret Taylor – backing vocals (1987-1989) *Sam Brown, Durga McBroom, Claudia Fontaine – backing vocals (1994)

David Gilmour Live 2006

*David Gilmour – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, lead guitar *Richard Wright – organ, backing vocals *Guy Pratt – bass guitar, backing vocals * Steve DiStanislao – drums *

Phil Manzanera Phillip Geoffrey Targett-Adams (born 31 January 1951), known professionally as Phil Manzanera, is an English guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music, and was the lead guitarist with 801, and Quiet Su ...

- acoustic guitar *Jon Carin – synthesisers

Covers

Richie Havens performed the song live (as the encore) during his 1998 tour. Progressive metal band Oceans of Slumber covered the song on their 2015 EP, Blue.

References

{{Authority control Pink Floyd songs 1987 singles 1980s ballads Protest songs Songs about poverty Hard rock ballads Folk rock songs Songs written by David Gilmour Songs written by Anthony Moore Song recordings produced by Bob Ezrin Song recordings produced by David Gilmour Columbia Records singles EMI Records singles