"Marooned" is an

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

track on

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, 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 experiments ...

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

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

Writing and recording

The piece was written by Richard Wright and David Gilmour. 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., retrieved 28 July 2010 Also in the background can be heard wailing guitar effects by Gilmour, reminiscent of the song " Echoes". Wright's grand piano parts (originally played and recorded on a Kurzweil) were recorded at Olympic Studios 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

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'' 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 The Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance was an honor presented to recording artists for quality instrumental rock performances at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958, and ended after the 2011 award, and or ...

at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards in 1995.

Live and other releases

This song had only been played live three times before 2024: 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 " The Strat Pack" charity concert, for the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar, where Gilmour played his "#0001" Stratocaster. In 2024, David Gilmour played it as a part of his Luck and Strange tour. 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 of Hipgnosis directed the video, filming some parts in the abandoned city of

Pripyat Pripyat, also known as Prypiat, is an abandoned industrial city in Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, located near the border with Belarus. Named after the nearby river, Pripyat (river), Pripyat, it was founded on 4 February 1970 as the ninth ''atomgrad'' ...

, Ukraine during the first week of April 2014 and on the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

Personnel

* David Gilmour – guitars * Richard Wright – piano, organ and Kurzweil synthesizer * Nick Mason – drums Additional musicians * Jon Carin - programming and additional keyboards * Guy Pratt – bass guitar

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marooned (Song) 1990s ballads 1994 songs Pink Floyd songs Rock ballads Rock instrumentals British 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