Welcome to the Machine-
What does the song mean?
I know what the other songs in the album stand for:
Shine On and Wish you were Here - Sung to Barret.
have a Cigar - Satire on Producers.
Welcome To the Machine - ???
Incidently, if you know what any other Pink floyd song stands for, please send a mail.
Thanks.
“The Machine” is a metaphor for the music industry. Similar to “Have a Cigar” in that respect.
The whole album is a paean to Barrett who, somewhat assisted by some serious psychedelics, went insane.
The band picked up David Gilmour as a replacement and went on to huge things. Roger Waters clearly maintained a soft spot for dotty old Syd … the “machine” is the whirlwind of fame the band ascended into.
It’s a washing machine. (You can hear it in the beginning.)
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Somehow, the music industry metaphor seems to be credible.
“The Machine” refers to both the record industry and the capitalist system in general. The song “Welcome to the machine” reflects on the irony of a rock star’s life. Typically, a young man turns to rock and roll out of anger at “the system,” and determination to be a rebel. Many idealistic 60s rockers (probably including the young Roger Waters and the young Syd Barrett) saw themselves as revolutionaries who were going to undermine big business and the capitalist system. Ironically, rock and roll BECAME a big business! In essence, “Welcome to the Machine” is a representative of big business mocking a rock star- “You idiot! Did you really think you were a rebel? Did you really think you were a maverick? Did you REALLY think you could beat the System? The System anticipates guys like you! You turn your anger and rebellion into music, we turn that music into a product, and we sell that product for millions of dollars! You’re not a revolutionary, you’re part of the system, just like us!” In short, big business took over the Revolution, and turned it into yet another commodity to be bought and sold.
THink about it- the Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” is a Nissan jingle. John Lennon’s “Revolution” was turned into a sneaker jingle. Roger Waters was merely recognizing that rock & rollers were kidding themselves if they didn’t see that they themselves were now part of the corporate system they claimed to hate. Waters probably believes that contradiction is PART of pushed Syd barrett into insanity
Well, that and sucking down a steady stream of LSD for months on end 
Even if there’s no chemical damage, it can’t be good for your point of view.
“I guess it is possible for one person to make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.”
As for other Floyd projects, Animals was a play on George Orwell’s socialist satire “Animal Farm” while Floyd’s REAL last album, 1981(3?)s critiacally acclaimed but commercially disastrous “The Final Cut” was basically a Roger Waters solo album.
In it he describes the bitterness of losing his father in WW2 and lashes out on world leaders because his father died for nothing because there is still war and death and etc etc…
I think we all know what “The Wall” is about.
“Oh, and by the way, which one is Pink?”
The O-man.
Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.–Mark Twain
Great post astorian.
BTW, I was wondering. I’ve heard somewhere that Pink Floyd was really some business conglomerate made up of many musicians and business people, and the band is only a front. Has anyone heard of this? Could this be true?
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BTW, I was wondering. I’ve heard somewhere that Pink Floyd was really some business conglomerate made up of many musicians and business people, and the band is only a front. Has anyone heard of this? Could this be true?
no.
Formerly known as Nec3f on the AOL SDMB
No C & P.
No, Pink Floyd has not turned into a corporate front (though Roger Waters probably thinks it is!), but it’s not the band it used to be. The “classic” Pink Floyd Era (or at least, the era during which they were hugely popular) lasted from the early 70s until the early 80s, from “Dark Side of the Moon” through “The Final Cut.” (To be sure, there are Floyd die-hards who will insist they were better BEFORE they became hugely popular). After “The Final Cut,” Roger Waters, who’d been the group’s undisputed leader for years, broke up the band- permanently, he thought. But several years later, Pink Floyd’s guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour reasoned that HE had invested many years in the band, and was entitled to use the name “Pink Floyd.” So, he got back together with former FLoyd keyboard player Rick Wright and former Floyd drummer Nick Mason, and a host of session men, then made the hit CD “A Momentary Lapse of Reason.”
Waters was furious, insisting that Gilmour had no right to the name Pink Floyd. Waters said, quite correctly, that it was equivalent to Ringo and George making a new album and calling themselves the Beatles. Anyway, there were lengthy legal battles, and in the end, Gilmour got to continue recording and touring under the name Pink Floyd.
Is this right/just/fair? Hard to say. In my opinion, the post-Waters Pink Floyd has made some very good music, though the lyrics are noticeably weaker, and the albums have lacked compelling, coherent themes (something Waters’ records always had). I DO think it’s fair to say that the current Pink Floyd is not truly a band- it’s David Gilmour and a bunch of sidemen. Nick Mason isn’t much of a drummer any more; Mason tours with Floyd, but there’s another drummer on stage alongside him, doing most of the real work), and it’s rumored that session men did most of the drumming on the records. I get the feeling (though I can’t prove it) that right now, David Gilmour IS Pink Floyd, and that he keeps Mason and Wright around just to make his claim to t he band’s name a little stronger.
Oh, I don’t BLAME Gilmour for that. It’s a smart business decision. He made several excellent solo albums that SOUNDED just like Pink Floyd, but which never got any radio airplay, because the name “David Gilmour” meant nothing to radio station managers. The name “Pink Floyd” on the other hand, guarantees that you’ll get plenty of airplay. Once GIlmour realized that his records would sell INFINITELY better if he released them under the name “Pink FLoyd,” he’d have been crazy not to grab the band name for himself!
What ever happened to Syd? I know he cut a few solo albums. What is he doing now ? I thought he had some of the best psychedelic improvisations around with PF. Took my head to another plane 
Where is LuciferSam ? Thought for sure he would sniff this thread out. Love his sig !
Oblio
A point in every direction is like no point at all
BTW what’s the deal with the cover of wish you were here (two men shaking hands, one is one fire)???
Oh, I don’t BLAME Gilmour for that. It’s a smart business decision. He made several excellent solo albums that SOUNDED just like Pink Floyd, but which never got any radio airplay, because the name “David Gilmour” meant nothing to radio station managers. The name “Pink Floyd” on the other hand, guarantees that you’ll get plenty of airplay. Once GIlmour realized that his records would sell INFINITELY better if he released them under the name “Pink FLoyd,” he’d have been crazy not to grab the band name for himself!
Suppose that kinda proves the song “Welcome to the machine” huh.
As far as syd is concerend, he did make a few solo albums (I’m not sure how well they sold though) and the last interview I heard with David (recored in 86 or 89 or something) he mentioned that Syd is now able to go to the landromat and the grocery store and thats about it without any help. (He also said that drugs (including psychedelic drugs) were not needed to make the music more meaningful or to understand it and that it just so happens that it tends to attract those people (or something to that nature I heard it about a week ago and don’t quite remember it word for word))
Formerly known as Nec3f on the AOL SDMB
In addition to ASTORIAN’S excellent recount of the Gilmour- Waters rivalry, Roger Waters in an 80s magazine interview told an interesting story.
David Gilmour just got done doing his Waterless Floyd demo tape in 1986 and played it for his kid. The kid asked who was this? Gilmour explained that it was the new Pink Floyd music to which the kid replied, it doesn’t even sound like Pink Floyd!
So, according to Waters, Gilmour redid the music with session musicians to make it “sound” more like Pink Floyd.
Also, keyboardist Rick Wright wasn’t even credited as a member, only as a session musician on the cassette cover of 1987’s “Momentary Lapese of Reason” and on the inside there is a picture of only Gilmour and Nick Mason. Rick Wright was added to the 1988 tour but was paid a muscians salary.
This may have added more ammo to Water’s argument as to Gilmour’s Floyd being a fraud, except that Waters is guilty himself of using the Floyd name under questionable circumstances. On what really was a solo project, “The Final Cut” during the recording he fired the hapless Wright. None of the other musicians had any real input on the writing or production of that album.
If you want to know what’s behind Pink Floyd songs, read “Another Brick in the Wall: the Stories Behind Every Pink Floyd Song,” by Cliff Jones, copyright 1996 Carlton Books. (Something in the fine print–can’t remember what–gave me the impression that the book had been called “Echoes” in England.)
The album WISH YOU WERE HERE is not a paen to Syd Barrett. Rather, it is a reaction to the stress of fame and success that followed after “Dark Side of the Moon.” (Up till then, the Floyd had been pretty much a cult or underground band.) Only the song “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” refers directly to Barrett. “Welcome to the Machine” describes just another part of the disillusionment that lyricist Roger Waters was feelings at the time over his role in the music industry.
By the way, Waters was never the “undisputed leader” of the band (except, perhaps, in his own mind). That’s just his PR since the breakup. During the glory days (up till WISH YOU WERE HERE), the rest of the band contributed musically, while Waters gradually took over the lyrical and conceptual side because he was good at it, and the rest of the band were happy to have him do it. It was really only during THE FINAL CUT that he started absolutely rejecting any other contribution and insisting that only his ideas be used. This is why the record has been called “a Waters solo record in all but name.” (Cant’ understand how theuglytruth reconsiles this with also calling it “Floyd’s last REAL album.”)
Also, the various histories posted on the band’s “breakup” seem heavily influenced by the Waters PR machine. The group never really “broke up.” After forcing founding member Richard Wright out, Waters himself left, convinced that without him, the rest of the band would not be able to continue. At that time, as far as he was concerned, he was willing to let Gilmour et al have the rights to the name–but only because he was convinced they wouldn’t be able to do anything with it.
After it became apparent that Gilmour would be able to revive the franchise sans Waters–only then did Waters take legal action, on the rather dubious basis that that band was “artistically dead.” How he ever expected a judge to make a ruling based on artistic merit, rather than a legal foundation, is beyond me, but it seems borderline delusional.
As far as the story Waters told about Gilmour’s music not sounding like Pink Floyd, that’s just bullshit. It’s Waters’ music that doesn’t sound like Floyd. Up until nearly the very end of the original Floyd (THE WALL), Gilmour was the architect of the band’s sound, while Waters was increasinlgly worrid that the music was overshadowing his lyrics (this is why Waters disallowed any musical contributions from Gilmour on THE FINAL CUT, which is also why the album, while lyrically interesting, is musically monotonous).
As far as Waters’s famous quote about George Harrisona and Ringo Starr not being the Beatles… I’ve always been curious: What does that make Waters? Paul McCartney? Or John Lennon? Either comparison is silly. The fact is that Waters was not the initial founder of the band; it was Syd Barrett. Barrett even named the group, but no one said that it wasn’t really “Pink Floyd” anymore after Barrett became unstable and was replaced by Gilmour.
Other than his lyrical and vocal talents (well, he played bass, too, but not exceptionally), Waters claims have no leg to stand on. You can argue that Floyd is not as good without him, but you can’t argue that it’s not Floyd. Yes, I know MOMENTARY LAPSE OR REASON is basically Gilmour solo, with Mason and Wright along for the ride, but THE DIVISION BELL is a group work, with Wright contributing compositions and lead vocals, and all three members playing on all the tracks (augmented with studio musicians, but not to the extend of LAPSE).
Yes, the lyrics aren’t as consistently good as the used to be, but tracks like “Sorrow” and “Keep Talking” show that even without Waters, Floyd can still come up with great songs.