(written by Richard Wright)
Lyrics:
Remember a day before today
A day when you were young
Free to play along with time
Evening never come
Sing a song that can't be sung
Without the morning's kiss
Queen — you shall be it if you wish
Look for your king
Why can't we play today?
Why can't we stay that way?
Climb your favorite apple tree
Try to catch the sun
Hide from your little brother's gun
Dream yourself away
Why can't we reach the sun?
Why can't we blow the years away?
Blow away (2x)
Remember (2x)
Lead vocals: Rick Wright
Guitar: Syd Barrett
Remember a Day is an outtake from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, recorded on 5 September 1967 (one month after the release of Piper). Syd plays some beautiful slide guitar on this song, which was virtually complete, but apparently needed to be touched up a little bit for release, with Dave Gilmour probably doing a couple of very minor overdubs (Dave: "Syd had done the basic stuff on one of Rick's ones..."). This tune was released in the US as a single, with Let There Be More Light on the flip side. The working title for the song may have been Sunshine.
Remember a Day reveals an interesting side to Rick. When he wrote it he was about to turn 22 — and yet it is a plaintive yearning for the days of childhood, when everything seemed so simple and there was enough time to 'Dream yourself away.' Perhaps the pressures of success forced the young members of the group to grow up sooner than they would have liked; it certainly put stress on them that no one in their early twenties should have to cope with. The line 'Why can't we stay that way?' is particularly touching, protesting against the necessity of changing from a free and happy child into a responsible (read: dull) adult.
TRACK LISTING
Let There Be More LightRemember a Day
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
Corporal Clegg
Saucerful of Secrets, A
See-Saw
Jugband Blues
this was recorded on September 5, 1967 - a month after Piper was released... and we don't really know when it was written.
ReplyDeleteI've edited the entry to correct the recording date. Thanks for your input!
ReplyDeleteCertainly a companion piece for "See-Saw" and indeed continues Syd's childhood themes.....
ReplyDeleteA lot of odd popping sound effects in this song too. A beautiful, perfect little ultra psychedelic song. Brilliant genius timeless.
ReplyDeleteA lot of odd popping sound effects in this song too. A beautiful, perfect little ultra psychedelic song. Brilliant genius timeless.
ReplyDeletewhat buggs me the most are 5th to 8th verse. the song is about childs way of viewing the world, we can say that the child is more connected with its core (self in Jungian terms) because its less differentianted than an adult. child expresses these moments of pure creativity and it seems like its speaking its mind. the author here is yearning for these moments. the verses i mention before make sense to me only in some deep mythological terms where the sun represents the core/the self (these are all Jungs ideas). the child is better connected with its core but differentiation of the psyche is necessery for functioning in our civilization. they are trying to conmect this differentiated psyche with its core... so they say you can sing a song that cant be sung without a mornings kiss, or without the kiss of the sun. next two lines could represent a pretense game but it isnt obvious like in other lines which represent play. i know they were really intuitive and i dont think my view of this is just an overcomplication but id like to hear your opinion. What do you think?
ReplyDelete