3 Pink Floyd Songs That Are Better Than Acid

Many music fans know that if you sync up the 1973 Pink Floyd Album The Dark Side of the Moon with the famed 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, you’ll get some trippy coincidences. Start the record after the MGM lion’s third roar and the beginning of songs will line up with crucial events in the fantastical film.

If you thought the album was wild, that’s one thing. If you thought the movie was strange, that’s another. But combined? It’s like an acid trip without the illicit substances. But that’s what Pink Floyd brings to the table. While there are no other movies quite like The Wizard of Oz, audiences are privy to a plethora of Pink Floyd tracks.

Here below, we wanted to explore a trio of them. Three tunes that might make you feel you let an acid tab dissolve on your tongue. They’re like individual lucid dreams, only amplified.

“Hey You” from the wall (1979)

Who, me? This song singles you out. It points a long finger at your third eye. You must immediately pay attention. And then all of a sudden, you’re in communion with a piece of music. Does it know your inner thoughts? Can it see you, hear you? Who, me?

Released on the band’s seminal 1979 LP, The Wall, this is a song that will have you wondering if music is actually alive.

“Us and Them” from The Dark Side of the moon (1973)

Really, every song from this album is a candidate for this list. The entire 1973 record, which does match up strangely well for the first half of The Wizard of Oz, is like you’ve gone over the rainbow. Or to use the parlance of another fairy tale, you’ve gone down the rabbit hole or through the looking glass.

It’s an oasis of music. But it’s not always a serene place. There are storms and there are rises and falls. But all the while your brain and body feel transported.

“Careful with That Axe, Eugene” (Single, 1968)

Released in 1968 as the B-side to the single, “Point Me at the Sky,” this instrumental song is like the lifting off of some great NASA-built thing. It slowly rises minute after minute with drums and cymbals and droning bass. And then it gets to a massive crescendo with hectic instrumentation and splashing sounds.

It’s as if a rocket has just left the Earth’s orbit. And then, without gravity, we are floating between the stars in the great galaxy. Except, you remember, you are still in your living room with your headphones in.