Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
| "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" | |
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"Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" is a song by British rock band Pink Floyd and is featured on their second album A Saucerful of Secrets (1968).[1] It was written by Roger Waters[1] and features a drum part by Nick Mason played with timpani mallets. The song was regularly performed between 1967 and 1973[1] and can be heard on the live record of the 1969 album Ummagumma[1] and seen in the 1972 movie Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii.[1] It also appears on the compilation album Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd which was released in 2001.
According to an interview with David Gilmour on the 2006 documentary "Which One's Pink?", the song features minor guitar work both from Gilmour and Syd Barrett, making "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" the only Pink Floyd song that features all five band members, though many listeners couldn't really discern the guitar tracks as Richard Wright's keyboards and organs were overlapping the guitars.
The song's recording commenced in August 1967, with overdubs recorded in October of that year and in January 1968. In an article reprinted in the book Pink Floyd - through the eyes of... by Bruno McDonald, Roger Waters admitted to "borrowing" the lyrics from a book of Chinese poetry from the Tang Dynasty period (which was later identified as the book Poems of the late T'ang, translated by A.C. Graham).[2]
Some of the borrowed lines were written by Li He, whose poem Don't go out the door contains the line "witness the man who raged at the wall as he wrote his question to heaven", and Li Shangyin, whose poetry contained the lines, "watch little by little the night turn around", "countless the twigs which tremble in dawn" and "one inch of love is an inch of ashes."
The song has been a staple in Roger Waters solo tours. Beginning with the 1984-1985 tours, Set the Controls has been presented in a radically rearranged rendition - with female backing vocals, saxophone solos and a guitar solo (and even a shakuhachi solo in 1985). A truncated version (just the three verses) of the song featuring a simple acoustic guitar part was performed on a handful of occasions during the Radio K.A.O.S tour of 1987. The song was included in the set list for Waters' 2006-2008 tour, and previously his In the Flesh tour, featuring stills from the videos of Arnold Layne and Scarecrow projected on large screens. In June 2002, audiences enjoyed a surprise when the two nights at London's Wembley Arena saw the appearance, as guest drummer for the performance of the track, of Waters' former Pink Floyd bandmate Nick Mason, the first indication of a reconciliation following the acrimonious split of the mid-1980s.
Personnel
- Richard Wright – Farfisa organ, vibraphone
- Roger Waters – vocals, bass guitar
- Nick Mason – drums (played with tympani mallets)
- David Gilmour – guitar
- Syd Barrett – guitar
Alternative and live versions
- Pink Floyd performed the song from 1967-1973. The last ever performance with Waters, took place on 13 October 1973 at the Stadthalle, Vienna.[citation needed] In 1984/1985 and from 1999–present, Roger Waters has performed the song.
- On both the live Ummagumma disc and the Live at Pompeii: Directors Cut, the song is significantly extended with a wide range of dynamics. For instance the drums stop in the quiet middle section.
- A version of the song, containing a saxophone solo, features on Waters' In the Flesh: Live DVD.
Cover versions and allusions
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- A cover version was also done by prog metal supergroup OSI and is on the bonus disc of their debut album OSI.
- Another version of the song was done by Israeli doom/death band Salem.
- Independent metal band Kylesa recorded a cover of the song for the Falling Down compilation released in 2008.
- Psychic TV covered the song on the tribute album "The World's Greatest Pink Floyd Tribute".
- The Titanics wrote and sang a song with the same name, however, the lyrics are radically different.
- On Erasure's 1994 release of their single "Run to the Sun," a remix by Chris and Cosey is titled the "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun Mix."
- In 1996 Barry Adamson released a song entitled "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Pelvis" on his album Oedipus Schmoedipus, which featured Jarvis Cocker of Pulp on vocals.
- LCD Soundsystem references the song in "All My Friends," a song on their 2007 album, Sound of Silver. One of the song's lines is: "You switch the engine on/We set controls for the heart of the sun/one of the ways we show our age"
- The Australian Pink Floyd Show incorporate saxophone and electric guitar solos, and a didgeridoo drone is played continuously through the song
- Mika Vainio, half of the Pan Sonic, did a cover version on the album, Oleva (2008).
- Smashing Pumpkins played a twenty minute live version of the song in the final leg of their 2008 tour and released a cover of the song in their Live Smashing Pumpkins album series.
- Sludge metal band Nightstick covered the song on their 1995 album Blotter.
- Darkwave group Trance to the Sun recorded a cover of this song on their 1999 CD "Urchin Tear Soda".
- Tiamat covered this song on their 1995 concert in Düsseldorf.
- Set the Controls for the Heart of the Bass is a Bassomatic album and song.
- Black Metal band 1349 recorded a cover version which appears on their album, Revelations of the Black Flame.
- During the Future Sailors tour, the Mighty Boosh borrow the chorus structure and melody for one of their crimps: "Ice cream headache in the heart of the sun/ Oh-ooh-ooh, the Magnum monk".
- Electronic/Ambient artist "Nemesis" covers this song with an excellent ethereal homage to Pink Floyd on a compilation CD called "The Future Sound Of Ambient Vol I".
- The title of the song is adapted in the lyrics of the song "Son of the Rain" by Saviour Machine: "Set the controls for the heart of the Son".
- One of the levels within the British-made platform game LittleBigPlanet 2 is entitled "Set The Controls for the Heart of the Negativitron".
- The album "Thief" by Destroyer has a track entitled "To the Heart of the Sun on the Back of the Vulture, I'll Go". This track features the lyrics "I'll go to the heart of the sun/ We have set the controls for one."
- Stoner doom /sludge band Bong perform a 27 minute version of the song on their album "Bethmoora".
