Published World Copyrights Ltd Label Harvest | Length 4:33 | |
Released 3 June 1972 (UK)
15 June 1972 (US) Recorded March 1972
Château d'Hérouville, Pontoise, France Genre Progressive rock, blues rock | ||
"Childhood's End" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1972 album Obscured by Clouds. It was the last Pink Floyd song to be composed entirely by David Gilmour, as well as the last to feature lyrics written by him, until A Momentary Lapse of Reason in 1987. The song was inspired by the 1953 science-fiction novel of the same name by Arthur C. Clarke. Coincidentally, this song and Genesis' "Watcher of the Skies" were both influenced by the novel and released in the same year.
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Live
"Childhood's End" was performed live during Pink Floyd's European tour in late 1972 and at a few shows in March 1973 on their next North American tour. The live versions usually featured a fairly long instrumental section not found in the studio version, with an exception being the last version played on 10 March 1973 at Kent State University, when they stuck to the studio arrangement. The live versions were also performed in F-sharp minor, a step higher than the studio version (E minor).