A-side "Point Me at the Sky" Format 7" | Released 17 December 1968 Recorded 4 November 1968 | |
Genre Psychedelic rock, art rock, progressive rock Length 5:45 (single version)
8:49 (Ummagumma live version) | ||
"Careful with That Axe, Eugene" is a composition by the British rock band Pink Floyd. The studio recording was originally released as the B-side of their single "Point Me at the Sky" and is also featured on the Relics compilation album; live versions can also be found on Ummagumma and in the film Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii. Pink Floyd re-recorded the track for Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni's film Zabriskie Point, retitling it "Come In Number 51, Your Time Is Up" on the film's soundtrack album. This song was one of several to be considered for the band's "best of" album, Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd. It was included on the multi-artist Harvest compilation, A Breath of Fresh Air – A Harvest Records Anthology 1969–1974 in 2007.
Contents
Composition
The music consists of a light, organ-based jam, with Richard Wright using the Phrygian mode and an accompanying bass guitar playing just one tone (in this case, D) in octaves, with a segue into the song's only lyrics: the title of the song whispered menacingly, followed by Roger Waters' scream. The song becomes much louder and more intense before gradually settling down again. In the heavier parts and later, quieter parts, David Gilmour can be heard with guitar and scat vocals; in concert, Gilmour would often sing along with his guitar line.
For the re-recording made for Zabriskie Point, "Come In Number 51, Your Time Is Up", whispering and a choir were added. Gilmour and Waters provided the vocals, and Waters' screaming is noticeably louder. It is a complete instrumental; unlike the original "Careful with That Axe, Eugene", "Come in Number 51, Your Time Is Up" does not feature the spoken words "Careful with that axe, Eugene", and is in the key of E minor instead of the original D minor. In the film, it plays at the end during an explosion sequence filmed in slow motion. In the booklet of the soundtrack's reissue, David Fricke writes: "'Come In Number 51, Your Time Is Up' is a cryptically titled remake of the Floyd's volcanic 1968 B-side 'Careful With That Axe, Eugene.' But its bonfire sound — all roaring guitars, crashing drums, and death-throe screaming — is the perfect complement to the movie's cataclysmic finish."
The name "Come In Number 51, Your Time is Up" was a surrealistic line by comedian Spike Milligan shouted through a megaphone as part of his act in the BBC TV show Q5. Milligan's phrase, and means of delivery, was based on the type of command issued on boating lakes to individual boat renters to return to shore because their hourly rental period had expired.
Live history
Pink Floyd performed the song frequently in concert from 1968 to 1973 in progressively slower and alternative formats, and once at the Oakland Coliseum in 1977. An embryonic form was performed as early as 31 May 1968 (captured in a recording at the Paradiso in Amsterdam), under the original title of "Keep Smiling People", and another version was recorded on 25 June 1968 at the BBC Piccadilly Studios and broadcast on John Peel's Top Gear radio programme on 11 August 1968 with the title "Murderotic Woman", later re-titled "Murderistic Woman". A version was recorded live in May 1969 for the Ummagumma live disc. This version is considerably longer than its studio counterpart, as well as having the organ parts played on Wright's Farfisa Compact Duo rather than a Hammond. Footage also exists of the group performing the song live in Australia on GTK. The song was also played on their 1969 The Man and the Journey Tour, under the name "Beset by Creatures of the Deep". The live renditions on a whole were much slower, with the piece gradually building in intensity before a drum fill signaled Waters' screams.