Recorded 1993 | Label EMI (UK)
Columbia (US) | |
Published Pink Floyd Music (1987) Ltd Released 28 March 1994 (UK)
5 April 1994 (US) Genre Progressive rock, instrumental rock Length 5:28
2:02 ("Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd" version) | ||
"Marooned" is an instrumental track on Pink Floyd's 1994 album, The Division Bell; the track won a Grammy Award in 1995.
Contents
Writing and recording
The piece was written by Richard Wright and David Gilmour. It has sounds that describe the setting as an island, such as the sounds of seagulls and waves crashing on the shore. It was composed while jamming aboard the Astoria in early 1993. The high-pitch guitar sounds on the track came from a Whammy pedal which makes the guitar sound an octave higher, also known as a pitch shifter. Also in the background can be heard the wailing guitar effects from the original recording of the Pink Floyd song "Echoes", which were redubbed onto this song by Gilmour for increased textural effect.
David Gilmour has mentioned that "pretty much" all of "Marooned" is improvised and that he "probably took three or four passes at it and took the best bits out of each".
Grammy
The track was given a Grammy Award in the category of Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the Grammy Awards of 1995.
Live and other releases
This song has only been played live three times: On the two dates in Oslo, Norway (one of which is featured on the Pulse DVD) on the 1994 "The Division Bell" tour and at the "The Strat Pack" charity concert, for the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar, where Gilmour played his "#0001" Stratocaster.
An excerpt of the music is featured on Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd.
In 2014, for the twentieth anniversary of the original release of The Division Bell, a music video for the song was produced and released on the official Pink Floyd website as well as the anniversary box set of the album. Aubrey Powell of Hipgnosis directed the video, filming some parts in Pripyat, Ukraine during the first week of April 2014.
Personnel
with: