Format 7" | ||
A-side "Let There Be More Light" Released 19 August 1968 (US single)
1968 (Japanese single) Recorded 9 May 1967
October 1967
De Lane Lea Studios, London Genre Psychedelic rock, space rock Length 4:33
2:40 (US single)
4:21 (Japanese single) | ||
"Remember a Day" is a song by the British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, written and sung by their keyboardist Rick Wright, and is on their second album, A Saucerful of Secrets (1968). It was performed live only twice; as an encore in May 1968, and forty years later, in September 2008, by David Gilmour in memory of Wright, who had recently died of cancer. The dreamy, poetic lyrics are about nostalgia for the lost paradise of early childhood.
Contents
Recording
The song, written and sung by Wright, was recorded during two different sessions. During the first session (May 1967), Wright's vocals, piano, and Farfisa organ were recorded and during the second session (October 1967) Syd Barrett's slide guitar was recorded at De Lane Lea Studios in London. The sessions also produced "Jugband Blues".
Andrew King, Pink Floyd's manager, recalls: "I remember De Lane Lea... we did 'Vegetable Man' there... and 'Remember a Day', which Syd does a guitar solo on."
"I was self-taught and my only group was Pink Floyd. I was not featured on 'Corporal Clegg' but did play on another track written by Richard Wright. I forget the title but it had a steel guitar in the background. There have been complications regarding the LP but it is now almost finished and should be issued by EMI in a few months. I now spend most of my time writing." — Syd Barrett, 1968.
During the sessions for the song, the band's drummer Nick Mason became agitated that he could not come up with the right drum part. Producer Norman Smith, however, knew what he wanted with the drums, so he played the part himself.
Release and aftermath
A rare United States single release (Tower 440) contains edited mono versions of this and the song before it in the album, "Let There Be More Light". This single was never released in the United Kingdom, although it was intended to be a single before being replaced by "Apples and Oranges".
An instrumental version of the studio version appeared in the film of the same name, Remember a Day.
2008 performance
On 23 September 2008, David Gilmour performed the song on a live broadcast of Later... with Jools Holland on BBC Two as a tribute to Rick Wright, who had died eight days earlier. In an interview later in the show, Gilmour said that Wright had intended to perform with him that day, but had sent Gilmour an SMS message a couple of weeks before his death to advise him that he would not be well enough to attend. This was the first live performance of the song since 1968 by any member of the band, although none of the original lineup that recorded the song took part in the performance. Gilmour's band comprised Phil Manzanera, Guy Pratt, Jon Carin and Steve DiStanislao.
Personnel
with: