Friday, March 12, 2010

Oenone

Oenone  6:20
Studio recording December 1969 

* Unreleased
     (written by Waters, Gilmour, Mason, Wright)

Recorded in Rome, Italy
Recorded over two weeks in December 1969
Recording supervised by Michaelangelo Antonioni
Produced by Pink Floyd

Instrumental

One of four pieces composed for the Zabriskie Point soundtrack but rejected for both the album and film. In the case of Oenone, this is not surprising, as the style of the piece doesn't fit in well with the film at all. It is very reminiscent of Quicksilver on the More soundtrack — an extended keyboard-dominated effects piece primarily used to create atmosphere. However, this kind of surreal, head-trip music was not suited to Zabriskie Point, a film in which drugs play a negligible role. Although it could also be used simply to create a sinister or quietly spacey atmosphere, there really were no atmospheric scenes in the film.

This piece has survived on bootlegs in varying lengths, the time listed above taken from the longest surviving clip.

In yet another bit of title trivia, Oenone is a character drawn from Greek myth, a nymph who was deserted by her husband, Paris, for Helen of Troy.  Oenone is also a play on the name of Zabriskie Point director, Antonioni.

Alternate titles: Oneone

TRACK LISTING (only Pink Floyd contributions)
Heart Beat, Pig Meat
Crumbling Land
Come in Number 51, Your Time is Up

The following tracks were recorded for Zabriskie Point but were not used in the film or soundtrack:
Oenone
Fingal's Cave
Rain in the Country
Violent Sequence, The

2 comments:

  1. Oenone is also a play on Antonioni's name.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great, thanks for your input! I've added your comment to the main entry.

    ReplyDelete